SALT LAKE CITYÂ -Â The Arizona Wildcats will make their 38th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday when they take on Long Beach State at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Wildcats are 58-36 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 9-2 in games played in Salt Lake City.Â
Thursday's first round game starts at 11:00 a.m. MST on TBS with Brad Nessler, Brendan Haywood and Dana Jacboson on the call. Â
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STARTING FIVE
1) Arizona is making its 38th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has an on-court record of 58-36 (.617) in those appearances. The Wildcats are 2-2 under Tommy Lloyd.
2) This marks the seventh time Arizona has played in Salt Lake City as part of the NCAA Tournament (1991, 1993, 2000, 2003, 2013, 2017, 2024). UA is 9-2 in those appearances.Â
3) Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love leads Arizona in scoring (18.1 ppg). He's set personal single-season highs in scoring, FG% (42.1%), rebounding (4.7), assist/turnover ratio (1.7) and steals (37). He has 86 3FG made this season, seventh-most in Arizona single-season history.
4) First Team All Pac-12 honoree Oumar Ballo has 18 double-doubles this season and 32 for his career, both totals rank fourth in Arizona history in their respective categories. For the season, he is averaging 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. Ballo needs one rebound to become the 11th player in Arizona history with 800 career rebounds.
5) Arizona won the Pac-12 regular season championship with a 15-5 record. It is the 27th Pac-12 title (reg. season + tournament)Â in program history and the fourth under Lloyd.
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NOTING THE WILDCATS
• Head coach Tommy Lloyd is 86-19 (.819) in his third season at Arizona. He is three wins shy of tying the NCAA record for wins by a first time head coach in his first three seasons.
• Arizona's roster has played in a total of 30 NCAA Tournament games over their careers
• In NCAA Tournament play, Arizona is 4-4 in games played on March 21st, most recently a 73-58 win over Ohio State in 2015.
• The Wildcats are 17-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed.
• In two Pac-12 Tournament games, Arizona allowed 16 points to USC in the first half and 23 points to Oregon in the first half - the two fewest first half opponent totals of the season.
• Caleb Love is a semifinalist for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy and a finalist for the Jerry West Award for the top shooting guard in the country.
• Arizona is one of three teams in the country with three players recording 110+ assists this season, joining BYU and Creighton.
• Senior Pelle Larsson earned Second Team All Pac-12 honors after averaging 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists in conference play. He also shot 51.35 from the floor in Pac-12 games and 38.5% from the 3-point line. He scored in double figures 25 of 33 games this season and was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Feb. 12 after helping the Wildcats sweep a road trip at Utah (27 points) and Colorado (18 points).
• Senior Keshad Johnson earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention accolades while also setting personal career highs in nearly every offensive category this season. He is averaging 11.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists while shooting 38.8% from the 3-point line. He has made 33 3FG this season after making a total of 28 in four years at San Diego State. Johnson has scored in double figures 22 out of 33 games this season at Arizona. In his four seasons, and 113 games, at San Diego State, he scored in double figures 25 times.
• Sophomore Kylan Boswell is tied for the team lead with 119 assists this season and leads the Wildcats with 45 steals. He is averaging 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 38.6% from the 3-point line and has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Freshman KJ Lewis was a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention player this season. He led all scorers with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the floor vs. USC at the Pac-12 Tournament. He also added six rebounds. His top two scoring games of the year have come in the last four games (18 pts at UCLA on 3/7/24). His 36 steals are tied for 10th-most by an Arizona freshman in program history.
• Sophomore Jaden Bradley is in his first season in Tucson after playing his freshman year at Alabama. Coming out of high school, his final two schools were Alabama and Arizona. While his numbers may not jump off the page (6.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists), it is his impact at the defensive end that is noteworthy. According to EvanMiya.com, Bradley is one of the top 10 players in the country in defensive impact on a game. Bradley has scored in double figures six times this season and in the last six games he is averaging 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and shooting 56.3% from the floor. His season high scoring output was a career-high 21 points against Arizona State on Feb. 17.
• Motiejus Krivas is averaging 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while playing 12.5 minutes per game this season. The 7-foot-2 post player from Lithuania is also 49-63 (77.8%) at the free throw line and is shooting 54.8% from the floor. His top offensive game came on Nov. 17 when he scored 20 points against Belmont. He did not attempt a shot from the floor, but he had six rebounds and was a defensive force in the paint at UCLA on March 7.
ARIZONA IN SALT LAKE CITY
NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Arizona is 9-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Salt Lake City.
The Wildcats are 21-25 all-time in games played in SLC, including a 105-99 3-overtime thriller against the Utes this season.
March 14, 1991 - [2] Arizona defeats [15] St. Francis (PA), 93-80 (Huntsman Center)
March 16, 1991 - [2] Arizona defeats [10] BYU, 76-61 (Huntsman Center)
March 18, 1993 - [15] Santa Clara defeats [2] Arizona, 64-61 (Huntsman Center)
March 16, 2000 - [1] Arizona defeats [16] Jackson State, 71-47 (Huntsman Center)
March 18, 2000 - [8] Wisconsin defeats [1] Arizona, 66-59 (Huntsman Center)
March 20, 2003 - [1] Arizona defeats [16] Vermont, 80-51 (Huntsman Center)
March 22, 2003 - [1] Arizona defeats [9] Gonzaga, 96-95 (Huntsman Center)
March 21, 2013 - [6] Arizona defeats [11] Belmont, 81-64 (Delta Center)
March 23, 2013 - [6] Arizona defeats [14] Harvard, 74-51 (Delta Center)
March 16, 2017 - [2] Arizona defeats [15] North Dakota, 100-82 (Delta Center)
March 18, 2017 - [2] Arizona defeats [7] St. Mary's, 69-60 (Delta Center)
