TUCSON, Ariz. - The Arizona men's basketball team has announced its 2023-24 non-conference opponents and dates, including a pair of exhibition games in the McKale Center during October ahead of the season opener on Nov. 6 against Morgan State.
The Wildcats will play six regular season home games as part of the non-conference schedule, highlighted by the Dec. 9 meeting with Wisconsin. Other home opponents include the opener against Morgan State, Southern University, Belomont, UT Arlington and Colgate.
When the games away from the McKale Center are factored in, Arizona is likely to have one of the most challenging schedules in the entire country. According to ESPN's "Way Too Early" Preseason Top 25 list that was published on Sept. 5, Arizona will play No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan State, No. 9 Florida Atlantic and No. 22 Alabama in the non-conference portion of the 2023-24 schedule. Arizona checks in at No. 11 in the rankings.
Season tickets are on sale now at the McKale Center ticket office or online at ArizonaWildcats.com. Information on Single-game tickets along with a variety of mini-plans will be available in October.
Tickets for the Wildcats' neutral site matchups against Michigan State in Palm Springs (tickets), Purdue in Indianapolis (tickets) and Alabama in Phoenix (tickets) are available now. More information on location and tickets for the matchup with Florida Atlantic in Las Vegas will be announced at a later date.
Below is a quick look at Arizona's history with each of the schools on its non-conference schedule:
Morgan State (Nov. 6): Arizona leads the all-time series, 2-0; the two teams played against each other last year in Tucson, with Arizona winning that game, 93-68.
Duke (Nov. 10): Arizona leads the all-time series, 5-4; the last meeting was Nov. 29, 2013, in New York City and Arizona came out on top, 72-66.
Southern (Nov. 13): Arizona leads the all-time series, 2-0; the teams met last year in Tucson and Arizona claimed a 95-78 win as part of the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series.
Belmont (Nov. 17): Arizona leads the all-time series, 1-0; the lone meeting came on March 21, 2013 in Salt Lake City as part of the NCAA Tournament, with Arizona winning, 81-64.
UT Arlington (Nov. 19): This will be the first meeting between the two schools; this game is part of the Acrisure Invitational and will be played in Tucson.
Michigan State (Nov. 23): Arizona leads the all-time series, 5-2; the last meeting was on Nov. 11, 2016, when Arizona defeated MSU in Honolulu, 65-63.
Colgate (Dec. 2): This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Wisconsin (Dec. 9): The Badgers lead the all-time series, 5-2; the most recent meeting was on March 28, 2015 in Los Angeles as part of the NCAA Tournament and UW pulled out the 85-78 win.
Purdue (Dec. 16): Purdue leads the all-time series, 7-5; the last meeting came on Nov. 24, 2017, in the Bahamas and Purdue won that game, 89-64.
Alabama (Dec. 20): Crimson Tide lead the all-time series, 3-1; the last meeting was Dec. 9, 2018 in Tuscaloosa (76-73 Alabama win)
Florida Atlantic (Dec. 23): Arizona leads the all-time series with FAU, 1-0; the only meeting came on Nov. 17, 2008, in Tucson and UA tallied a 75-62 win.
