2022–23 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team led by Tommy Lloyd, in his 2nd season as a head coach. This is the Wildcats' 49th season at the on-campus McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona and 44th season as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 28–7, 14–6 in Pac-12 Play to finish a tie in 2nd place. They defeated Stanford, Arizona State, and UCLA to become champions of the Pac-12 Tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they were upset in the First Round by Princeton, becoming the 11th No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 15 seed.

Previous season

In Lloyd's inaugural season, The Wildcats finished the 2021–22 season at 33–4. During the regular season, Arizona finished with a record of 28–3, 18–2 in conference play to win their 17th regular season title. and 11–0 in non-conference play. Arizona went 17–0 at home, 8–3 on the road, and 2–0 at neutral sites.

Arizona defeated 1-seed UCLA 84–76 in the PAC-12 Tournament title game to win their 8th conference tournament title in Paradise, Nevada. In the NCAA Tournament, the #1 seed Wildcats lost to the #5 seed Houston 72–60.

Offseason

Returning players Arizona Returners Ąžuolas Tubelis 10 F 6’11” 245 lbs Junior Vilnius, Lithuania Kerr Kriisa 25 G 6’3” 180 lbs Junior Tartu, Estonia Pelle Larsson 3 G 6’5” 215 lbs Junior Nacka, Sweden Oumar Ballo 11 C 7’0” 260 lbs Junior Koulikoro, Mali Adama Bal 2 G 6’6” 190 lbs Sophomore Le Mans, France Jordan Mains 50 F 6’6” 200 lbs Senior Scottsdale, AZ Tautvilas Tubelis 20 F 6’7” 220 lbs Junior Vilnius, Lithuania

Departures Due to COVID-19, the NCAA ruled in October 2020 that the 2020–21 season would not count against the eligibility of any basketball player, thus giving all players the option to return in 2021–22. Additionally, any players who have declared for the 2022 NBA draft—including seniors, who must opt into this year's draft—have the option to return if they make a timely withdrawal from the draft and end any pre-draft relationships with agents. Thus, separate lists will initially be maintained for confirmed and potential departures.

Arizona Wildcats DeparturesNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownNotes Bennedict Mathurin 0 G 6'6" 210 Sophomore Montreal, QC Declared for 2022 NBA draft Shane Nowell 1 G 6'6" 210 Freshman Seattle, WA Elected to transfer to UNLV Dalen Terry 4 G 6'7" 195 Sophomore Phoenix, AZ Declared for 2022 NBA draft Justin Kier 5 G 6'4" 195 Graduate Student Grottoes, VA Completed college eligibility Kim Aiken Jr. 24 F 6'7" 245 Senior Redlands, CA Elected to transfer to New Mexico State Christian Koloko 35 C 7'1" 230 Junior Douala, Cameroon Declared for 2022 NBA draft Will Reeves 55 G 6'3" 195 Freshman Spokane, WA Walk-on; Elected to transferReference:

Coaching staff departures Arizona Coaching Changes Ryan Anderson Arizona (2016) Graduate assistant Xavier (director of player development/recruiting)

Acquisitions

Incoming transfers Arizona incoming transfers Courtney Ramey #3 G 6’3”, 185 lbs Senior St. Louis, MO Transferred from Texas 1 June 10, 2022 Luke Champion #21 F 6'8”, 205 lbs Sophomore Suwanee, GA Walk-on, Transferred from Missouri Western State 2 May 17, 2022 Matthew Lang #23 G 6'3”, 185 lbs Senior Portland, OR Walk-on, Transferred from Gonzaga 1 June 21, 2022 Cedric Henderson Jr. #45 G 6'6”, 190 lbs Senior Memphis, TN Transferred from Campbell 1 June 9, 2022 Luc Krystkowiak #24 G 6'4”, 200 lbs Sophomore Salt Lake City, UT Transferred from Irvine Valley College 3 July 6, 2022 Reference:

2022 recruiting class

2023 recruiting class

Coaching staff additions Arizona Coaching Changes Austin Torres TBD Graduate assistant Przemek Karnowski TBD Graduate assistant Ben Lathwell Athletics Videographer Graduate Assistant (Director of Branding & Creative)

Entered 2022 NBA draft

Bennedict Mathurin G Dalen Terry G Christian Koloko C

Preseason

Preseason rankings October 26 – Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day in San Francisco. Arizona was picked to finish 2nd by the Pac-12 Media Day. Arizona was ranked 17th in the AP poll. and ranked 13th in the Coaches poll

Pac-12 media poll 1. UCLA 386 (26) 2. Arizona 352 (3) 3. Oregon 336 (3) 4. USC 300 5. Stanford 239 (1) 6. Colorado 207 7. Arizona State 193 8. Washington State 185 9. Washington 158 10. Utah 102 11. California 69 12. Oregon State 47 Source:

Preseason All-conference teams

Preseason All Pac-12 team (1st)Ąžuolas TubelisFJr.Preseason All Pac-12 team (2nd)Kerr KriisaGPelle LarssonPreseason All Pac-12 team (HM)Oumar BalloCRS Jr.

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Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released Bob Cousy AwardKerr KriisaPGJuniorJulius Erving AwardPelle LarssonSFKarl Malone AwardĄžuolas TubelisPFNaismith TrophyWooden AwardLute Olsen AwardKareem Abdul-Jabbar AwardOumar BalloCRS Junior

Red and Blue game The annual Red-Blue game took place at McKale Center on Friday September 30, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. The Red team consisted of Ben Ackerley, Dylan Anderson, Filip Borovićanin, Kylan Boswell, Luke Champion, Luc Krystkowiak, Matthew Lang, Pelle Larsson, Jordan Mains, Courtney Ramey & Azuolas Tubelis. The Blue team consisted of Adama Bal, Oumar Ballo, Cedric Henderson Jr., Kerr Kriisa, Will Menaugh, Tautvilas Tubelis, Henri Veesaar and Grant Weitman. The blue team won 49–45 with Oumar Ballo and Henri Veesaar leading all scorers with 16 points each.

Personnel

Roster Note: Players' year is based on remaining eligibility. The NCAA did not count the 2020–21 season towards eligibility.

On October 31 Courtney Ramey was suspended for three-games by the NCAA as a result of playing in the Portsmouth Invitational.

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Depth chart

Schedule

!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition

!colspan=12 style=| Regular season

!colspan=12 style=| Pac-12 Tournament

!colspan=12 style=| NCAA tournament

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Game summaries This section will be filled in as the season progresses.

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Western Oregon (exhibition)

Nicholls

Southern

Utah Tech

Cincinnati

No. 17 San Diego State

No. 10 Creighton

at Utah

California

vs Indiana

Texas A&M–Corpus Christi

Tennessee

Montana State

Morgan State

at Arizona State

Washington

Washington State

at Oregon State

at Oregon

USC

No. 5 UCLA

at Washington State

at Washington

Oregon

Oregon State

at California

at Stanford

Utah

Colorado

Arizona State

at USC

at No. 4 UCLA

Stanford (Pac-12 Quarterfinal)

Arizona State (Pac-12 Semifinal)

No. 2 UCLA (Pac-12 Championship)

Princeton (round of 64)

Statistics Updated through 2023 Season

Team total per game Wildcats 2,866 81.9 1,023–2,072 (49.4%) 295–781(37.8%) 525–742 (70.8%) 1,376 662 213 468 110 239,947 17–14,115 Opponents 2,490 71.1 905–2,216 (40.8%) 277–858(32.3%) 403–565 (71.3%) 1,163 443 276 431 122 − −

Player statistics MinutesScoringTotal FGs3-point FGsFree-ThrowsReboundsMiscellaneousPlayerGPGSTotAvgPtsAvgFGM-APct3FG-APctFT-APctOff-DefTotAvgASTPFTOStlBlkBenjamin Ackerley4051.300.00–20.0%0–10.0%0–00.0%1–010.300000Dylan Anderson150563.7211.47–1741.2%1–333.3%6–875.0%4–590.629201Adama Bal2602138.2642.520–5139.0212–3435.3%12–1770.6%5–21261.014171371Oumar Ballo353596727.649614.2189–29264.7%0–00.0%118–20956.5%80–2223028.65679652545Filip Borovićanin140543.9181.47–1353.8%2–450.0%2–366.7%3–9110.968510Kylan Boswell35053615.31614.658–12945.0%30–7739.0%15–1978.9%5–50551.6574129260Luke Champion0000.000.00–00.0%0–00.0%0–00.0%0–000.000000Cedric Henderson Jr.352081023.12838.1102–22146.2%37–9240.2%42–5576.4%38–841223.53977432715Kerr Kriisa3534108531.03479.9109–29337.2%83–22736.6%46–6076.7%12–71832.41808291201Luc Krystkowiak2042.042.01–1100.0%0–00.0%2–2100.0%0–000.022000Matthew Lang81141.8111.44–580.0%3–475.0%0–00.0%2–240.522000Pelle Larsson351896127.53489.9103–21847.2%31–8735.6%111–13383.5%32–1191514.31077961288Jordan Mains81172.160.83–650.0%0–00.0%0–00.0%2–460.811210Will Menaugh3051.741.32–2100%0–00.0%0–00.0%0–220.702001Courtney Ramey323299231.033710.5117–29439.8%83–20640.3%20–3754.1%14–1101243.91136451342Ažoulas Tubelis3534105630.269419.8274–48157.0%10–3231.3%136–17876.4%93–2273209.17098844024Tautvilas Tubelis5081.600.00–30.0%0–30.0%0–00.0%0–110.200000Henri Veesaar2902057.1702.426–4261.9%3–1127.3%15–2171.4%14–29431.5153012412Grant Weitman60122.020.31–250.0%0–00.0%0–00.0%1–120.303100Total 35 7000 200.0 2,866 81.9 1023–2072 49.4% 295–781 37.8% 525–742 70.8% 356–1020 1,376 39.3 662 593 468 213 110

Awards and honors

Weekly honorsOumar Ballo (C) Pac-12 Player of the Week 21.0 Points, 10.7 Rebounds, 0.6 Steals Week 3 November 28, 2022Ąžuolas Tubelis (PF) Pac-12 Player of the Week 20.0 Points, 9.0 Rebounds, 2.0 Assists Week 7 December 26, 2022 NCAA Player of the Week29.5 Points, 8.5 Rebounds, 2.0 Assists, 2.5 StealsWeek 14February 6, 2023 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Week Pac-12 Player of the WeekKylan Boswell (PG)Pac-12 Freshman of the Week14.0 Points, 2.0 Rebounds, 2.0 Assists, 1.0 StealsWeek 17March 6, 2023

Postseason Conference honorsĄžuolas Tubelis (PF) 1st Team All Pac-1219.9 PPG/9.2 RPG/2.0 APG/1.1 SPG Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player18.6 PPG/10.3 RPG/2.3 APG/0.6 SPGAll-Pac-12 Conference Tournament TeamOumar Ballo (C) 1st Team All Pac-1213.9 PPG/8.6 RPG/1.7 APG/1.2 BPGAll-Pac-12 Conference Tournament Team17.0 PPG/8.0 RPG/1.0 APG/1.6 BPG

National awards

National award honors Associated Press 2nd Team All-American Ąžuolas Tubelis PF NABC 2nd Team All-American Sporting News 2nd Team All-American USBWA 2nd Team All-American John Wooden All-American

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

See also 2022–23 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

References