Cats Host Western New Mexico in Exhibition Game

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Two weeks after suiting up for the First Watch Red-Blue Game, the Arizona Wildcats get to sit on the same bench as a team Tuesday night when they welcome in Western New Mexico for the first exhibition game of the 2018-19 season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (MST), and will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.

It will mark the first of two exhibition games for the Wildcats, who will also host Chaminade on Nov. 4.

Arizona vs. Western New Mexico (Exhibition)
Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7:00 p.m. (MST)
TV: Pac-12 Network (Daron Sutton and Matt Muehlebach)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown

Arizona will welcome in five new starters to open the 2018-19 season. All five starters from 2017-18 are playing professionally.
The Wildcats welcome a pair of graduate transfers to their roster in guard Justin Coleman (Samford) and forward Ryan Luther (Pittsburgh). Coleman averaged 13.5 points per game and 6.6 assists per game last year, while Luther averaged a double-double for the Panthers.
After sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, center Chase Jeter will see his first action as a Wildcat this season. Jeter, a McDonald's All-American, played his first two seasons at Duke.
Coach Sean Miller has 247 wins at Arizona in 321 games, which ranks among the fastest in college basketball to reach 250 wins at one school.
Arizona shot 50.4 percent from the field as a team in 2017-18, ranking fourth in the nation. That mark was the fifth highest in the UA record book and marked the first season of shooting 50 percent or greater since 1991-92
Arizona and Western New Mexico met in exhibition play in 2009-10; Sean Miller's first season at Arizona. The Wildcats won 96-55 with Nic Wise leading the way with 21 points and eight assists.
Arizona's returning leading scorer is redshirt junior guard Dylan Smith, who averaged 4.3 points per game.
Western New Mexico went 6-21 in 2017-18 and 3-15 in conference play. Guard Willie McCray, who played his prep ball at Westwind Prep in Phoenix, was the team's leading scorer last season, averaging 12.9 points per game
Arizona welcomes two true freshmen on the roster this season in Brandon Williams and Devonaire Doutrive.

COMING OFF A CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
The 2017-18 season saw the Arizona Wildcats build upon their championship pedigree in the Pac-12 Conference. UA won both the regular season conference championship and the Pac-12 Tournament in the same year for a second consecutive season. It marked just the second time in Pac-12 history that a program has won four conference titles in two years with Arizona also achieving the feat in the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.

AYTON MAKES ARIZONA HISTORY
Deandre Ayton, who compiled one of the greatest seasons in program history as a freshman in 2017-18, added another chapter to the storied history of Wildcats and the NBA Draft. Ayton became the first UA player to be selected No.1 overall when the Phoenix Suns selected the Bahamas native in the 2018 NBA Draft in June.

ONE OF THE WINNINGEST PROGRAMS OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS
With the 2018-19 season set to begin, Arizona has solidified itself as one of the winningest programs in the nation in the past five seasons. Arizona, Villanova and Kentucky have jockeyed for the title of winningest program in the nation during this five-year span.

Most wins in the NCAA since start of 2013-14 season (as of Oct. 1)
1st   Villanova             165 wins
2nd   Gonzaga            161 wins
3rd   Kentucky             152 wins
4th   Arizona                151 wins
5th   Wichita State       147 wins
         Kansas                 147 wins
7th   Duke                    143 wins
         Virginia                 143 wins
9th   North Carolina 142 wins
10th Oregon           137 wins

In Coach Sean Miller's nine seasons in Tucson, UA has averaged 27.4 wins per season. Since the start of the 2010- 11 season, the Wildcats have a 231-59 (.797) record, both the most wins and best winning percentage in the Pac-12 in that span.

CONTINUING OFFENSIVE PROWESS
The Wildcats will look to carry over their offensive efficiency from last season that saw the program post one of its top offensive performances in program history. The Cats shot 50.4 percent from the field as a team, which ranked fourth in the nation. That mark was the fifth highest in the UA record book and marked the first season of shooting 50 percent or greater since 1991-92.

PROTECTING HOME COURT
Arizona's home record of 82-3 (.965) since the start of the 2013-14 season is impressive in its' own right. Furthermore, its three home losses rank as the fewest in the country during that time.

TOUGH OUT
Not only does Arizona have a high winning percentage in its last five-plus seasons, but the Wildcats have been a tough out even in defeat. UA's last 34 losses, dating back to the 2012-13 season, have been by a total of 199 points for an average margin of defeat of 5.85 points. In those 34 defeats, 30 have been by single digits with 14 coming in one-possession games.

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Players Mentioned

Deandre Ayton

Justin Coleman

Devonaire Doutrive

Chase Jeter

Ryan Luther

Dylan Smith

Brandon Williams

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