TUCSON, Ariz. - Playing its first game as the No. 1 team in the country, the Arizona Wildcats will play host to No. 23 Wisconsin Badgers at the McKale Center on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 1:15 p.m. MST on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Jay Bilas. The Wildcats have started the season 7-0 and have two wins over Top 25 opponents on their ledger already this season while the Badgers are 7-2 and have won six games in a row.
STARTING FIVE
1) For the first time in the Tommy Lloyd era, Arizona is ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 this week. Overall, it's the 38th week in program history being at the top spot and the first time since January of 2014.
2) Since arriving at Arizona prior to the 2021-22 season, Tommy Lloyd is 13-4 against AP Top 25 teams, the best winning percentage (.765) in the country.
3) Caleb Love has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.38 this season, easily ahead of his career ratio of 1.28. He also leads the team in scoring (13.3), assist (31) and steals (11).
4) Sophomore guard Kylan Boswell ranks fourth in the country in 3FG%, connecting at a 54.3% clip so far this season. He's a 43.8% 3FG shooter for his career (42 games).
5) Arizona leads the country in rebound margin (+19.1 per game), is second in scoring margin (+30.9), third in scoring (93.4) and fourth in assists per game (21.0).
SERIES VS. WISCONSIN
• Wisconsin leads the all-time series, 5-2, with the last meeting coming in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Touranment, a 85-78 Wisconsin win in Los Angeles on March 28, 2015.
• Lloyd was part of the Gonzaga coaching staff that beat Wisconsin, 74-61, on Nov. 24, 2009.
• This will be the first visit to Tucson for the Badgers. Arizona will make the return trip to Madison on Nov. 15, 2024.
NOTING THE WILDCATS
• According to KenPom, Arizona plays at the 5th-fastest tempo in the country while Wisconsin's tempo ranks 343.
• In the last game against Colgate, only four Arizona players scored in double figures. It is the only game this year with less than five double figure scorers.
• Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is in his third season with the Wildcats and has a record of 68-11 and is 37-2 at home. Lloyd is also 4-0 against Big Ten opponents.
• Under Lloyd, Arizona has recorded 20+ assists in 43 out of 79 games to lead the nation. The next best total is 28 games by Utah State.
• The Wildcats have been ranked for 41 straight weeks and 41 out of 43 weeks under Tommy Lloyd. They have been in Top 10 for 33 weeks and in the Top 5 for 18 weeks.
• Arizona is the only Pac-12 team still undefeated and one of 13 undefeated teams in the country (through games played 12/6)
• Arizona is outscoring its opponents, 334-170, in the paint through seven games.
• The Wildcats are one of eight teams in the country with two wins over AP Top 25 teams this season (Purdue, Kansas, Marquette, UNC, Georgia Tech, UConn, Wisconsin).
• Freshman Motiejus Krivas scored 20 points off the bench against Belmont, the first Arizona post player to score 20 off the bench since Oumar Ballo did it on Jan. 20, 2022 at Stanford.
• The preseason All Pac-12 teams featured four Wildcats: senior Oumar Ballo (first team), senior Caleb Love (second), sophomore Kylan Boswell (second) and senior Pelle Larson (honorable mention).
• Ballo was named to the preseason watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, Love is on the preseason list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and Keshad Johnson is on the preseason list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.
• The 2023-24 season marks the 119th year of men's basketball for the University of Arizona, and the Wildcats have an all-time record of 1,869-977.
WORLDWIDE WILDCATS
Eight different countries, including the United States, are represented on Arizona's 18-man roster. The countries include Serbia, Sweden, Mali, Estonia, Lithuania, England, Spain and the United States.
NOTING DUKE
The 78-73 win at then No. 2 Duke on Nov. 10 was Arizona's first true road win against a team ranked in the top 2 since defeating No. 1 Stanford in 2001.
BIG TV NUMBERS
On Nov. 23, a record-setting television crowd watched Arizona defeat Michigan State on FOX on Thanksgiving Day. A total of 5.18 million people tuned in, the most watched regular season college basketball game on any network since 2008.
BEING NUMBER ONE
• The last time Arizona was No. 1 in the AP Poll was Jan. 27, 2014.
• This is the 38th week dating back to 1949-50 season that Arizona has been No. 1. That total ranks ninth in NCAA history.
• It is the seventh different season that the Wildcats have made it to No. 1 in the AP poll.
2023-24 - 1 week
2013-14 - 8 weeks (Elite Eight)
2002-03 - 13 weeks (Elite Eight)
2000-01 - 3 weeks (National Runner-Up)
1997-98 - 3 weeks (Elite Eight)
1988-89 - 4 weeks (Sweet 16)
1987-88 - 6 weeks (Final Four)
• Arizona is the only team to be ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll during the Pac-12 era (since 2011-12).
LLOYD LOVES IT
Head coach Tommy Lloyd's record is 68-11 in his third season as a head coach. After setting the NCAA record for most wins in his first two seasons (61), the focus turns to the three-year record. The NCAA record for most wins through three seasons is 89 wins by Brad Underwood and Brad Stevens.
