The 2016–17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by eighth-year head coach Sean Miller, and played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members in the Pac-12 Conference. Coming into the 2016–17 season Arizona has been ranked in 78-consecutive AP polls & 81-straight coaches polls. The 97-consecutive weeks in the AP poll is currently the second-longest streak in the nation behind Kansas at 161 weeks. They have been ranked every week in the 2016-2017 season, bringing those totals to 97 weeks for the AP & 100 weeks for the coaches poll. Arizona won its first 10 conference games, the best start since the '97-'98 season when they started 16–0. They finished the season with a record of 31–4, tied at 16–2 with Oregon in Pac-12 play for first place to win their 3rd Pac-12 regular season championship title for the 15th time. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 Tournament as a 2-seed, the Wildcats defeated 7-seed Colorado in the quarterfinals, 3-seed UCLA in the semifinals and 1-seed Oregon (avenged from 85–58 loss on February 4 in Eugene, OR) in the championship game, Wildcats won their 2nd Pac-12 Tournament championship title for the 6th time since 2002. Arizona received as an automatic bid to the 5th straight NCAA tournament (34th NCAA tournament appearances) as a 2-seed in the West regional, The Arizona Wildcats defeated the 15-seed North Dakota 100–82 in the first round, 7-seed Saint Mary's 69–60 in the second round before being upset by 11-seed Xavier 73–71 in the Sweet Sixteen.
Due to 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal, all wins from this season have been vacated.
Previous season
The Wildcats finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 25–9, 12–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie with California for third place. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 tournament as a 4 seed where they beat Colorado in the quarterfinals, but fell in the semifinals to Oregon in overtime. Arizona received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, the program's 33rd overall appearance, as a No. 6 seed in the South Region. They lost in the First Round to Wichita State.
Off-season Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Ryan Anderson PF 6’9” 235 RS Senior Lakewood, CA Graduated. Mark Tollefsen SF 6’9” 205 RS Senior Danville, CA Graduated. Kaleb Tarczewski C 7'0" 250 Senior Claremont, NH Graduated. Gabe York SG 6'3" 190 Senior West Covina, CA Graduated. Jacob Hazzard PG 6'0" 170 Senior Los Angeles, CA Walk-on; Graduated. Elliott Pitts G 6'5" 190 Junior Dublin, CA Dismissed from the team due to undisclosed reasons. Transferred to Diablo Valley College. Trey Mason G 6'2" 195 Junior Los Angeles, CA Walk-on; Left team but will continue as a student. Justin Simon G 6'5" 200 Freshman Temecula, CA Transferred to St. John's.
Incoming transfers Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Talbott Denny G 6'6" 210 RS Senior Tucson, AZ Graduate transfer from Lipscomb. Keanu Pinder F 6'8" 220 Junior Perth, AU Junior college transfer from Hutchinson Community College. Dylan Smith G 6'5" 170 Sophomore Mobile, AL Transferred after freshman year from UNC Asheville.Will sit out for 2016–17 season due to NCAA transfer rules and have three years of eligibility starting in 2017–18.
2016 recruiting class
Arizona's recruiting class has been ranked among the top 5 in the nation. However, due to eligibility concerns, five-star recruit Terrance Ferguson chose to play internationally and not attend Arizona.
Personnel
Roster
Aug 24, 2016 – Talbott Denny will miss the 2016–17 season after tearing his left ACL. Nov 1, 2016 – Allonzo Trier suspended indefinitely for a test positive for PED. On Jan. 20, it was announced Trier would make his return for the UCLA game after 19 game absence. Nov 1, 2016 – Sean Miller announced in a statement that Chance Comanche suspended indefinitely due to academic reasons. Suspension was lifted by season opener. Nov 3, 2016 – Ray Smith tore his ACL in his right knee in the team's first exhibition game on November 1. Two days later, Smith announced on Twitter that he will end his basketball career. Nov 30, 2016 – Parker Jackson-Cartwright suffered a high ankle sprain during game against Texas Southern. Made return for conference opener on December 30.
Depth chart
before Jan. 20
after Jan. 20
Coaching staff Name Position Year at Arizona Alma Mater (year) Sean MillerHead coach 8th Pittsburgh (1992)Joe Pasternack Associate head coach 6th Indiana (1999)Emanuel Richardson Assistant coach 8th Pittsburgh-Johnstown (1998)Mark Phelps Assistant coach 2nd Old Dominion (1996)Ryan Reynolds Director of Basketball Operations 8th Xavier (2007)Austin Carroll Assistant director of Basketball Operations 1st American (2014)
Schedule and results In Arizona's non-conference schedule the team hosted Cal State Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, Texas Southern, UC Irvine, Northern Colorado and Sacred Heart. Arizona had one true road game against Missouri. The Wildcats also played five games in four neutral sites. They played Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii (later announced that game was moved to Stan Sheriff Center to accommodate more fans), Gonzaga in the first ever HoopHall LA event at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Texas A&M at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and also played at Orleans Arena as part in the Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, where they face off against three of the following: Butler, Santa Clara or Vanderbilt.
In the unbalanced 18-game Pac-12 schedule, the team will face neither the Rocky Mountain teams (Colorado/Utah) on the road, nor the Oregon teams (Oregon/Oregon State) at home.
Arizona's pre-season Red-Blue scrimmage took place on October 14, 2016 at McKale Center. The Red team beat the Blue, 53–49.
!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style=| Pac-12 regular season
!colspan=12 style=| Pac-12 Tournament
!colspan=12 style=| NCAA tournament
Ranking movement
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
Player statistics Player GP GS MPG FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Rawle Alkins 373628.0 143–309 44–119 74–101 4.9 2.1 0.9 0.5 10.9 Kadeem Allen 343330.0107–236 32–75 86–116 4.0 3.0 1.6 0.6 8.7 Chance Comanche 37218.1 89–156 0–0 54–74 3.6 0.4 0.1 0.4 6.3 Paulo Cruz 8 0 2.6 0–4 0–2 0–0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Jake Desjardins 7 0 1.7 0–2 0–0 2–2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 Parker Jackson-Cartwright 311024.9 57–133 30–71 38–54 2.5 4.1 1.2 0.1 5.9 Kory Jones 4 0 1.8 1–1 1–1 0–0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.8 Lauri Markkanen 373730.8 185–376 69–163 137–164 7.2 0.9 0.4 0.5 15.6 Keanu Pinder 35 0 12.0 29–54 1–4 19–33 2.9 0.3 0.5 0.6 2.2 Dušan Ristić 363422.8 164–295 1–2 62–81 5.5 0.4 0.3 0.4 10.9 Kobi Simmons 37 16 23.5 111–281 32–98 69–89 1.6 2.0 0.6 0.1 8.7 Allonzo Trier 181331.9 91–198 34–87 94–116 5.3 2.7 0.4 0.1 17.2 Tyler Trillo 8 0 3.9 0–3 0–3 0–0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0
Awards and honors
Preseason Award Watchlists Allonzo Trier Jerry West Award Watchlist (October 18, 2016) Lauri Markkanen Karl Malone Award Watchlist (October 20, 2016) Naismith Award Watchlist (November 10, 2016) Wooden Award Watchlist (November 15, 2016)
Midseason awards Lauri Markkanen Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 (January 12, 2017) Wayman Tisdale Award & Oscar Robertson Award Midseason watch list (January 23, 2017) Karl Malone Award Finalist (February 2, 2017) Naismith Trophy Top 30 (February 9, 2017) Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 (January 12, 2017)
Season awards Sean Miller 2017 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year semifinalist (March 3, 2017) Pac-12 Coach of the Year (March 7, 2017) Coach of the Year (Bleacher Report, Fox) AP Pac-12 Coach of the Year (March 7, 2017) NABC District 20 Coach of the Year (March 22, 2017) Lauri Markkanen 2017 Wooden Award Top 15 Finalist (March 4, 2017) Allonzo Trier Pac-12 Tournament MOP (2017)
Weekly awards Lauri Markkanen 2x Pac-12 Player of the Week (January 20, 2017 – February 20, 2017) Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (January 24, 2017) Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week (February 20, 2017) Wayman Tisdale National Freshman Player of the Week (February 20, 2017)
All-Conference Pac-12 team Lauri Markkanen All-Pac-12 Freshman team (2017) All-Pac-12 first team (2017) All-Pac-12 tournament team (2017) AP All-Pac-12 first team (2017) Rawle Alkins All-Pac-12 freshman team (2017) Kadeem Allen All-Pac-12 defensive team (2017) All-Pac-12 second team (2017) Allonzo Trier All-Pac-12 second team (2017)
All-American teams Lauri Markkanen 2017 All-American 3rd team (AP, USA Today, SN, NBC, B1G Man) District IX All-District team (2017) NABC All-District First Team (District 20, March 22, 2017)
See also 2016–17 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team
References