TUCSON, Ariz. - The Arizona men's basketball team has announced that it has agreed to a home-and-home series with the Wisconsin Badgers, with the teams meeting in Tucson during the 2023-24 season and then in Madison in 2024-25.
"We are excited to bring a high-level program like Wisconsin to the McKale Center," Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said. "Coach Gard and his staff do a great job putting together a strong team that competes near the top of the Big Ten every year. We know they will come in here and give us their best shot and we look forward to doing the same the following year in Madison."
The game in the McKale Center will take place on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023 and the game in the Kohl Center will be on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. Start times and TV designations will be announced at a later date.
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Wisconsin leads the all-time series between the two schools, 5-2, with Arizona losing each of the last three meetings. The first meeting between the two programs took place on Dec. 3, 1962, with Arizona coming away with a 51-46 win in Madison. The meeting in Tucson this season will mark the Badgers first time playing Arizona in the McKale Center.
The two programs also have a history of playing high level games against each other in the NCAA Tournament, having met four times in March Madness since 2000. The complete list of all-time meetings is below.
Arizona is led by head coach Tommy Lloyd, who boasts an NCAA record 61 wins over his first two years in Tucson and back-to-back Pac-12 Tournament titles. The up-tempo style of play that Lloyd brought to the desert has seen Arizona lead the country in assists over the last two years while scoring 83 points per game. The Wildcats will return one of the top big men in the country in first team All Pac-12 center Oumar Ballo, who averaged 14.2 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 64.7% from the field last season, the eighth-best percentage in all of college basketball. Also back is Pelle Larsson, a do-it-all wing who averaged 9.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists while shooting 83.5% at the free throw line on more than 130 attempts. Rising sophomore point guard Kylan Boswell will lead the backcourt after garnering Pac-12 All-Freshman team honors in his debut season.
Wisconsin returns a number of its rotation players, including its entire starting five, from a team that advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) semifinals last season in Las Vegas. All-Big Ten honorable mention point guard Chucky Hepburn, All-Big Ten freshman Connor Essegian, fifth-year senior Tyler Wahl, Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit all return after starting last year. Gard, a two-time Big Ten coach of the year, begins his ninth season leading the Badgers in 2023-24.
Arizona vs. Wisconsin All-Time Meetings
Dec. 3, 1962 – Arizona won, 51-46, in Madison, Wis.
Dec. 30, 1966 – Wisconsin won, 104-77, in Los Angeles, Calif., as part of the Los Angeles Classic
March 18, 2000 – Wisconsin won, 66-59, in Salt Lake City in the second round of the NCAA Tournament
March 17, 2006 – Arizona won, 94-75, in Philadelphia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament
Nov. 23, 2009 – Wisconsin won, 65-61, in Lahaina, Hawaii as part of the Maui Invitational
March 29, 2014 – Wisconsin won, 64-63 in OT, in Anaheim, Calif., in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament
March 28, 2015 – Wisconsin won, 85-78, in Los Angeles, Calif., in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament
