What to watch for when Arizona men’s basketball visits Wisconsin

The only drama associated with Arizona’s first two games of the 2024-25 season ended up being from a degenerate standpoint, as the Wildcats won by a combined 87 points yet failed to cover against Canisius and played such good defense against Old Dominion the over didn’t hit.

Neither of those games were ever in doubt, and it remains to be seen how much can be taken from those results to determine if the fourth Tommy Lloyd team is capable of matching or surpassing the performance of the first three editions.

That’s what this next game is for. And the next one. And the three in three days in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving.

“You’re stepping up a weight class,” Lloyd said Wednesday about Wisconsin, Arizona’s opponent Friday night in Madison. “And obviously, you throw in the added element of being on the road, we know it’s going to be an incredible challenge.”

This game—which tips off at 7 p.m. MT and is available only via the Peacock streaming app—starts a run of five consecutive games for 9th-ranked Arizona (2-0) against strong competition. On Nov. 22 the Wildcats host No. 6 Duke at McKale Center, then comes the Battle4Atlantis where they open against Davidson before facing either Oklahoma or Providence and then possibly No. 4 Gonzaga or No. 16 Indiana.

Here’s what to watch for when the UA takes on Wisconsin in the return game of a home-and-home series that began last year in Tucson:

Road beta test

Wisconsin’s Kohl Center holds 17,287 fans, which is the 20th-largest Division I arena in the country. Among on-campus facilities it’s 10th-biggest, and the Badgers announced a sellout several days ago.

The only arena in the Big 12 that’s bigger is BYU’s Marriott Center, which holds 19,000 and where Arizona will play in early February. Three other Big 12 arenas hold more than McKale Center (14,655) but it won’t be the size of the crowds that matter as much as the hostility that comes from opposing fanbases, something the UA didn’t get to see a lot of in the Pac-12 with so many schools struggling to draw fans.

That will make this road game, the only one for Arizona on the nonconference schedule, almost a practice run for what to expect in the Big 12.

“I’m super excited for the team to go on the road,” sophomore guard KJ Lewis said. “It’s gonna be a big test for us. I think everybody on the team is super pumped and super ready.”

Arizona is 22-11 in true road games under Lloyd, including 2-1 against other power-conference teams. That includes last year’s opening-week win at Duke.

Size vs. size

According to KenPom.com, Arizona has the 39th-tallest team in Division I at an average height of 78.3 inches. Last season it was 78.1 inches.

Wisconsin isn’t far behind, at 77.9, and the Badgers start a pair of bigs in 7-foot senior Steven Crowl and 6-11 sophomore Nolan Winter. Arizona’s frontcourt the first two games has been 6-8 Tobe Awaka and 6-6 Trey Townsend, though 7-2 Motiejus Krivas was the first sub just three minutes into both halves last time out and 7-foot Henri Veesaar is playing almost half the minutes, either at the 4 or 5.

Crowl and Winter are a combined 5 of 10 from 3-point range, and Crowl’s 10 assists are the most of any Badger through three games. Veesaar is 2 of 4 from outside and Arizona’s bigs have combined for nine assists with only four turnovers.

“I think the one thing that is nice is, when you play against size, and you have size, it’s something you’re used to playing against every single day,” Lloyd said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to see how the matchup goes.”

Line life

Arizona has attempted 56 free throws in its first two games, but has only made 37 for a 66.1 percent accuracy that ranks 258^th out of 364 Division I teams. Last year the Wildcats shot 71.7 percent from the line, and Lloyd expects a similar rate if not better once the sample size gets larger.

He said he’s not concerned about the misses to this point, nor is he expecting to get a lot of his points from the line against Wisconsin.

“If you’re planning on beating Wisconsin by shooting a bunch of free throws you probably haven’t paid attention to history or how they play,” he said. “They’re one of the best teams in the country at playing physical without fouling. When we drive in there we’ve gotta be smart. I want guys focused on scoring baskets than drawing fouls.”

Wisconsin’s first three opponents have averaged 10 fouls shots per game, a defensive free throw attempt rate of 18.4 percent that’s 14^th nationally. A year ago the Badgers only gave up 18.4 attempts per game.

More revenge?

Last year’s 98-73 home win over Wisconsin marked the first time the schools had played since meeting in back-to-back Elite Eights in 2014 and 2015. The Badgers won both of those, the first one in overtime, and are on the long list of enemies for Wildcat Nation.

UA players spoke before and after last year’s matchup of getting revenge for the fan base, but not so much this time. Lewis said it’s still in the back of his head because he knows how much those losses stung fans.

“I’m pretty sure everybody who loves U of A and loves basketball knows,” he said.

But in a sign of gamesmanship, Wisconsin picked this game to honor former coach Bo Ryan and members of those teams that beat Arizona.

Maybe next week, when Arizona hosts Duke, it can honor the 2001 national finalist that played the Blue Devils in the title game and definitely didn’t get robbed by the officials on certain calls.