TUCSON - The 10th ranked Arizona men's basketball team (10-3, 1-1 Pac-12) returns home to the McKale Center to host Colorado (11-2, 2-0 Pac-12) in the Pac-12 home opener for the Wildcats. The game marks the first in Tucson for Arizona since a Dec. 9 win over Wisconsin. Thursday's game will be televised on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton on the call.
1) The Wildcats have been ranked 45 straight weeks and 45 out of 48 weeks under head coach Tommy Lloyd. They have been in Top 10 for 37 weeks and in the Top 5 for 21 weeks.
2) Oumar Ballo enters tonight's game with 979 career points between his time at Arizona and Gonzaga. Pelle Larsson has 975 career points in his time between Utah and Arizona.
3) Arizona is 13-0 in games following a loss under Lloyd, winning by an average of 20.5 ppg.
4) Over the last SIX games, Caleb Love is averaging 22.2 pts, 5.3 rebs and shooting 44.3% overall and 35.7% from the 3-point line.
5) The Arizona offense has recorded a 10-0 run 17 times through 13 games this season, tied for second-most in the country. Sunday's game at Stanford was Arizona's first this season without at 10-0 run.
SERIES VS. COLORADO
• In Friday's win at Cal, Arizona shot a season-high 59.3% from the floor, it's best percentage in a Pac-12 road game since 2018.
• Pelle Larsson is averaging a career-best 12.1 points and shooting 50% from the 3-point line this season (12 of 24). He's scored in double figures 11 of 13 games and has 16 assists to just three turnovers in the last four games.
• Fifth year forward Keshad Johnson has made 12 3FG this season, surpassing the 11 he made in 39 games last year at San Diego State. He also has 24 assists this year, two shy of his total at SDSU a season ago.
• Motiejus Krivas scored 18 points in 18 minutes of action at Cal on Friday, two points shy of his season high in scoring.
• Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is in his third season with the Wildcats and has a record of 71-14, the third-most wins of any team in the country over that span.
• Under Lloyd, Arizona has recorded 20+ assists in 45 out of 85 games to lead the nation.
• As of Dec. 27, Arizona had played five of the top 11 most efficient offenses in the country and the Wildcats defensive efficiency still ranks second in the country. The Wildcats are the only team in the country to rank in the Top 10 of KenPom.com's offensive (6) AND defensive (2) efficiency ratings.
• The preseason All Pac-12 teams featured four Wildcats: senior Oumar Ballo (first team), senior Caleb Love (second), sophom*ore 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 1,872-980.
THIS AND THAT
The 85 FGA against Florida Atlantic were the most by an Arizona team since attempting 91 shots against Northern Arizona on 11/24/2003
Kylan Boswell had five steals in back-to-back games against Alabama and FAU, becoming the first Wildcat since Jason Terry in 1999 to do that.
Oumar Ballo had 21 rebounds against FAU, the most by a Wildcat since Jordan Hill grabbed 22 in 2008.
MAGIC NUMBER: 90
Arizona is 27-1 under Tommy Lloyd when scoring at least 90 points in a game. The lone loss was a 96-95 double overtime defeat against FAU on Dec. 23, 2023.
BALANCE
All five starters are averaging between 10.9 and 17.4 points per game this season. At least five players have scored in double figures in nine of 13 games.
LLOYD LEADS THE WAY
Head coach Tommy Lloyd's record is 71-14 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.
THINGS YOU 'LOVE' TO SEE
Senior guard Caleb Love leads the Wildcats in scoring (17.4), is third on the team in assists (41) and has a career-best assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0.
Over the last six games, Love has scored 20+ in five times and is averaging 22.2 points while shooting 44.3% overall and 35.7% from the 3-point line. Five of the six games have been away from home. He was 3 of 3 from long distance at Cal, the 37th time in his career he has made at least 3 3FG in a game, but the first time he didn't have a miss with that many attempts.
In five games this year vs. Top 25 opponents, Love is averaging 20.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
Comparatively, in 24 games vs. Top 25 opponents while at UNC, Love averaged 15.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and shot 32.9% from the floor.
BALLO BACK IN BUSINESS
Redshirt senior Oumar Ballo was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week (Dec. 26) after averaging 15.5 points and 16.5 rebounds over two games against Alabama and FAU. The native of Mali has recorded a double-double in three of his last four games and has 18 career double-doubles after going for 17 points, 11 rebounds at Cal. He has scored in double figures every game this season and 17 straight overall dating back to last season. Ballo is shooting 63.7% overall from the floor this season, which ranks 14th nationally.
His career FG% currently ranks as the best in Arizona history (.638).
He shot 64.7% from the floor during the 2022-23 season, which ranked eighth nationally and is the second-best single-season percentage in Arizona history.
BOSWELL BLOSSOMS
After graduating high school a year early, Kylan Boswell played his freshman season with the Wildcats at age 17. That year of experience had led to a breakout sophom*ore campaign.
Stat 22-23 23-24
Min/Gm 15.2 28.4
FGM 58 53
3FG Made 30 27
3FG% 39.0% 40.3%
Total Reb 55 35
Assists 56 54 (leads team)
Steals 26 22 (leads team)
Points/Gm 4.6 10.9
After scoring a career-high 18 points in the season opener against Morgan State, Boswell had 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists at No. 2 Duke on his way to being named Pac-12 Player of the Week. He tallied 10 points and nine assists in the win over No. 23 Wisconsin.
After a sizzling month of November to start the season, Boswell's numbers have cooled off in December. He averaged 8.7 points on 32.4% shooting overall (26.3% 3FG) in seven December games but still handing out 4.3 assists.
In six November games, he averaged 13.5 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 55.8% from the floor (58.6% 3FG).
SWEDISH ARMY KNIFE
Senior wing Pelle Larsson is a jack of all trades for the Wildcats while experiencing a career year offensively. He's averaging a career-best 12.1 points and shooting a career-best 54.3% from the floor. He also has a better than 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio (46-17). Against Wisconsin, he scored a career-high 21 points on 6 of 6 shooting from the field, including 4 of 4 from the 3-point line. He matched his career-high with 7 assists against Cal.
Always willing to be the first one on the floor for a loose ball, Larsson also leads the Wildcats on the defensive end with the ability to effectively guard one through four on the court and is the team leader in charges drawn.
