The 2012–13 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Sean Miller and played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members of the Pac-12 Conference.
Seeded 6th in the West Region of the 2013 NCAA tournament, the team defeated (11) Belmont and (14) Harvard by a combined score of 40 points before losing 73–70 to (2) Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen.
After starting the season undefeated in non-conference play, the team went 12–6 in conference and fell to UCLA in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals. The team's mid-season record of 14–0 was the second best start in program history since the 1931–32 team opened the season 16–0.
Arizona entered the season ranked 11th in the Coaches and 12th in the AP preseason polls, climbed to 3rd in both after going undefeated into January, and then fell to 20th (Coaches) and 21st (AP) just prior to the start of the NCAA tournament.
Before the season began Sean Miller and his staff recruited the nation's 3rd-ranked class of 2012 and brought in three well-regarded transfers, among them starting point guard Mark Lyons, who led the team in scoring with 15.6 points-per-game, including 24.3 points-per-game in NCAA tournament play.
Offseason
Recruiting class
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown NotesMark Lyons 2 PG 6'1" 188 Senior Schenectady, New York Lyons left Xavier to play his senior year at Arizona. He was eligible to play immediately under the NCAA's graduate transfer rule.T. J. McConnell 4 PG 6'1" 180 Junior Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania McConnell elected to transfer after his sophomore year at Duquesne and redshirted the 2012–13 season under NCAA transfer rules.Matt Korcheck 31 PF 6'9" 220 Junior Tucson, Arizona A junior college transfer from Cochise College, Korcheck elected to redshirt the season and had two years eligibility starting in 2013–14.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown NotesAlex Jacobson 50 C 7'0" 253 Senior Santa Ana, California GraduatedJesse Perry 33 SF 6'7" 217 Senior St. Louis, Missouri GraduatedBrendon Lavender 24 SG 6'5" 212 Senior Mesa, Arizona GraduatedKyle Fogg 21 SG 6'3" 188 Senior Brea, California GraduatedDondre Wise 0 PG 6'1" 220 Senior Houston, Texas GraduatedKyryl Natyazhko 14 C 6'11" 275 Junior Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine Natyazhko announced his intention to turn professional in April, 2012. He played for Ukrainian club Azovmash Mariupol in 2012–2013.Sidiki Johnson 1 PF 6'8" 235 Freshman Brooklyn, New York Suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules, Johnson transferred to Providence in December 2011.Josiah Turner 11 PG 6'3" 192 Freshman Sacramento, California Suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules in March 2012, Turner transferred to SMU but withdrew to pursue a professional career.
Roster
Depth chart
Preseason
Summer Exhibition Tour Practices began earlier than otherwise allowed by the NCAA in preparation for a six-day foreign tour to the Bahamas in August. (NCAA rules allow teams to conduct 10 practices in preparation for a foreign tour.) Although NCAA rules allow for foreign tours once every four years, the Bahamas tour was Arizona's first since 2006. It was the seventh in program history. The team won its games 136–66 and 99–57.
Red-Blue Game Arizona's annual pre-season Red-Blue scrimmage took place at McKale Center on October 21, selling out for the second-straight season. A half-time ceremony celebrated the 25-year anniversary of the 1987-88 basketball team, the first in program history to reach the Final Four. The team's 35 victories remain the most in school history. Members of the team present included Tucson-native Sean Elliott, Arizona's all-time leading scorer, with 2,555 career points; Steve Kerr, whose 57.8% three-point field-goal percentage in the 1987–88 season is the best in NCAA history (with a minimum of 100 shots made); and Anthony Cook, who recorded a program-best 278 career blocked-shots.
Schedule
!colspan=9 style="background:#; color:white;"| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="background:#; color:white;"| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#;"| Pac-12 regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#;"| Pac-12 Tournament
!colspan=9 style="background:#;"| NCAA tournament
Awards Solomon Hill 2012 Diamond Head Classic MVP, All-Tournament Team Pac-12 All-Conference First Team USBWA All-District IX Team NABC All-District 20 First Team Nick Johnson Honorable mention Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Mark Lyons 2012 Diamond Head Classic All-Tournament Team Pac-12 Player of the Week – January 21, 2013 Pac-12 All-Conference First Team USBWA All-District IX Team NABC All-District 20 First Team Kaleb Tarczewski Honorable mention Pac-12 All-Freshmen Team
Rankings
+ Ranking movementLegend: ¦¦ Increase in ranking. ¦¦ Decrease in ranking. ¦¦ Not ranked the previous week. Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18 Wk 19 Post Final AP 12 12 10 9 8 8 4 3 3 4 7 6 8 7 9 12 11 18 18 21 - Coaches 11 12 10 9 8 8 5 3 3 3 7 6 8 7 9 12 11 18 18 20 14
References
External links Arizona Wildcats men's basketball official website