2022–23 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team explained

Conference Link:Pac-12 Conference men's basketball
Mode:Basketball
Year:2022–23
Prev Year:2021–22
Next Year:2023–24
Team:Arizona Wildcats
Conference:Pac-12 Conference
Short Conf:Pac-12
Record:28–7
Conf Record:14–6
Coachrank:17
Aprank:8
Hc Year:2nd
Assoc Coach:Jack Murphy
Ahc Year:4th
Asst Coach2:Riccardo Fois
Ac2 Year:2nd
Asst Coach3:Steve Robinson
Ac3 Year:2nd
Champion:Pac-12 Tournament champions
Maui Invitational champions
Bowl Result:First Round

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

See main article: 2021–22 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team. 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.[1] 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 2-seed UCLA 84–76 in the PAC-12 Tournament title game to win their 8th conference tournament title in Paradise, Nevada.[2] In the NCAA Tournament, the 1-seed Wildcats lost 5-seed Houston losing 60–72.[3]

Offseason

Returning players

Arizona Returners
10 F 6’11” 245 lbs Junior Vilnius, Lithuania
25 G 6’3” 180 lbs Junior
3 G 6’5” 215 lbs Junior
11 C 7’0” 260 lbs Junior
2 G 6’6” 190 lbs Sophomore
Jordan Mains 50 F 6’6” 200 lbs Senior
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.[4] 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 Departures
NameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownNotes
0 G 6'6" 210 Sophomore Declared for 2022 NBA draft[5]
Shane Nowell 1 G 6'6" 210 Freshman Elected to transfer to UNLV[6]
4 G 6'7" 195 Sophomore Declared for 2022 NBA draft[7]
5 G 6'4" 195 Graduate Student Completed college eligibility
Kim Aiken Jr. 24 F 6'7" 245 Senior Elected to transfer to New Mexico State[8]
35 C 7'1" 230 Junior Declared for 2022 NBA draft[9]
Will Reeves 55 G 6'3" 195 Freshman Walk-on; Elected to transfer[10]
Reference:

Coaching staff departures

Acquisitions

Incoming Transfers

Arizona Incoming Transfers
NameNumberPos.Height/Weight YearHometownPrevious SchoolYears RemainingDate EligibleSource
  1. 3
G 6’3”, 185 lbs Senior 1 June 10, 2022 [12]
Luke Champion
  1. 21
F 6'8”, 205 lbs Sophomore 2 May 17, 2022 [13]
Matthew Lang
  1. 23
G 6'3”, 185 lbs Senior 1 June 21, 2022 [14]
Cedric Henderson Jr.
  1. 45
G 6'6”, 190 lbs Senior 1 June 9, 2022 [15]
Luc Krystkowiak
  1. 24
G 6'4”, 200 lbs Sophomore 3 July 6, 2022 [16]
Reference:

Coaching staff additions

Arizona Coaching Changes
Name Alma MaterPrevious positionNew position
Austin Torres TBD Graduate assistant
TBD Graduate assistant
Ben Lathwell Athletics Videographer Graduate Assistant (Director of Branding & Creative)

Entered 2022 NBA draft

See main article: 2022 NBA draft.

G
G
C

Preseason

Preseason rankings

Pac-12 media poll
1. ! style= width=75UCLA 386 (26)
2. ! style= width=75Arizona 352 (3)
3. ! style= width=112Oregon 336 (3)
4. ! style= width=75USC 300
5. ! style= width=75Stanford 239 (1)
6. ! style= width=75Colorado 207
7. ! style= width=75Arizona State 193
8. ! style= width=75Washington State 185
9. ! style= width=75Washington 158
10. ! style= width=75Utah 102
11. ! style= width=75California 69
12. ! style= width=75Oregon State 47
Source:[19]

Preseason All-conference teams

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

Source:[20]

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Bob Cousy AwardKerr KriisaPGJunior[21]
Julius Erving AwardPelle LarssonSF [22]
Karl Malone AwardĄžuolas TubelisPF [23]
Naismith Trophy[24]
Wooden Award[25]
Lute Olsen Award[26]
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar AwardOumar BalloCRS Junior[27]

Red and Blue game

The annual Red-Blue game took place at McKale Center on Friday September 30, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.[28] The Red team consisted of Ben Ackerley, Dylan Anderson, Filip Borovicanin, 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.

Source:[29]

Schedule

|-!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=| Regular season

|-!colspan=12 style=| Pac-12 Tournament|-!colspan=12 style=| NCAA tournamentSource:[30]

Game summaries

This section will be filled in as the season progresses. ----

Source:[31]

Princeton (round of 64)

Statistics

Updated through 2023 Season

Team total per game

TeamPTSPPGFGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA REBASTSTLTOBLKATTPPG
Wildcats 2,86681.9 1,023–2,072 (49.4%) 295–781(37.8%) 525–742 (70.8%) 1,376662213468110239,94717–14,115
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-ThrowsReboundsMiscellaneous
Player GPGSTotAvgPtsAvgFGM-A Pct3FG-A PctFT-A PctOff-DefTotAvgASTPFTO StlBlk
Benjamin Ackerley4051.300.00–20.0%0–10.0%0–0 0.0%1–0 10.300000
Dylan Anderson150563.7211.47–1741.2%1–3 33.3%6–875.0%4–590.629201
Adama Bal2602138.2642.520–5139.0212–3435.3%12–1770.6%5–2126 1.014171371
Oumar Ballo353596727.649614.2189–29264.7%0–0 0.0%118–20956.5%80–222302 8.65679652545
style=white-space:nowrap Filip Borovicanin140543.9181.47–1353.8%2–4 50.0%2–366.7%3–9110.9 68510
style=white-space:nowrap Kylan Boswell35053615.31614.658–12945.0%30–7739.0%15–1978.9%5–50551.6574129260
style=white-space:nowrap Luke Champion0000.000.00–00.0%0–0 0.0%0–0 0.0%0–00 0.000000
style=white-space:nowrap Cedric Henderson Jr.352081023.12838.1102–22146.2%37–9240.2%42–5576.4%38–841223.53977432715
style=white-space:nowrap Kerr Kriisa3534108531.03479.9109–29337.2%83–22736.6%46–6076.7%12–7183 2.41808291201
style=white-space:nowrap Luc Krystkowiak2042.042.01–1 100.0%0–00.0%2–2 100.0%0–00 0.022000
style=white-space:nowrap Matthew Lang81141.8111.44–580.0%3–475.0%0–0 0.0%2–2 40.522000
style=white-space:nowrap Pelle Larsson351896127.53489.9103–218 47.2%31–8735.6%111–13383.5%32–119151 4.31077961288
style=white-space:nowrap Jordan Mains81172.160.83–6 50.0%0–00.0%0–00.0% 2–460.811210
style=white-space:nowrap Will Menaugh3051.741.32–2 100%0–0 0.0%0–0 0.0%0–2 20.702001
style=white-space:nowrap Courtney Ramey323299231.033710.5117–29439.8%83–20640.3%20–3754.1%14–110124 3.91136451342
style=white-space:nowrap Ažoulas Tubelis3534105630.269419.8274–48157.0%10–3231.3%136–17876.4%93–2273209.17098844024
style=white-space:nowrap Tautvilas Tubelis5081.600.00–30.0%0–3 0.0%0–0 0.0%0–11 0.200000
style=white-space:nowrap Henri Veesaar2902057.1702.426–4261.9%3–1127.3%15–21 71.4%14–2943 1.5153012412
style=white-space:nowrap Grant Weitman60122.020.31–250.0%0–0 0.0%0–0 0.0%1–1 20.303100
Total357000200.02,86681.91023–207249.4%295–78137.8%525–74270.8%356–10201,37639.3662593468213110

Awards and honors

Weekly honors
Oumar Ballo (C)Pac-12 Player of the Week21.0 Points, 10.7 Rebounds, 0.6 StealsWeek 3November 28, 2022[32]
Ąžuolas Tubelis (PF)Pac-12 Player of the Week20.0 Points, 9.0 Rebounds, 2.0 AssistsWeek 7December 26, 2022[33]
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 Week[34]
Kylan Boswell (PG)Pac-12 Freshman of the Week14.0 Points, 2.0 Rebounds, 2.0 Assists, 1.0 StealsWeek 17March 6, 2023[35]

Postseason

Conference honors
Ąžuolas Tubelis (PF)1st Team All Pac-1219.9 PPG/9.2 RPG/2.0 APG/1.1 SPG[36] [37]
Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player18.6 PPG/10.3 RPG/2.3 APG/0.6 SPG
All-Pac-12 Conference Tournament Team
Oumar Ballo (C)1st Team All Pac-1213.9 PPG/8.6 RPG/1.7 APG/1.2 BPG
All-Pac-12 Conference Tournament Team17.0 PPG/8.0 RPG/1.0 APG/1.6 BPG

National awards

National award honors!style=
Honorsstyle= Playerstyle= Positionstyle= Ref.
Associated Press 2nd Team All-AmericanPF[38]
NABC 2nd Team All-American[39]
Sporting News 2nd Team All-American[40]
USBWA 2nd Team All-American[41]
John Wooden All-American[42]

Rankings

See also: 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. *AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

See also

2022–23 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021-22 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Standings. https://web.archive.org/web/20211202133642/https://stats.pac-12.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/standings. dead. December 2, 2021. pac-12.com. March 27, 2022. March 27, 2022.
  2. Web site: 2022 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket. https://web.archive.org/web/20211015212655/https://pac-12.com/mens-basketball/mens-basketball-tournament-2022. dead. October 15, 2021. pac-12.com. March 12, 2022. March 27, 2022.
  3. Web site: 2022 DI Men's Basketball Championship Official Bracket. ncaa.com. March 14, 2022. March 27, 2022.
  4. DI Council extends eligibility for winter sport student-athletes . NCAA . October 14, 2020 . November 24, 2020.
  5. Web site: Mathurin Declares for 2022 NBA Draft. 13 April 2022 .
  6. Web site: Shane Nowell To Transfer From Arizona To UNLV . 23 June 2022 .
  7. Web site: Arizona Wildcats G Dalen Terry declares for 2022 NBA Draft . 22 April 2022 .
  8. Web site: New Mexico State basketball nets Arizona transfer Kim Aiken Jr. . 25 August 2022 .
  9. Web site: Arizona C Christian Koloko declares for 2022 NBA Draft . 18 April 2022 .
  10. News: Pac-12 Basketball Transfers: Who's Leaving and Who's Coming In? . Sports Illustrated Cal Bears News, Analysis and More . 24 June 2022 .
  11. Web site: Xavier basketball hires former Arizona standout Ryan Anderson as director of recruiting .
  12. News: Former Longhorns G Courtney Ramey Commits To Arizona . Sports Illustrated Texas Longhorns News, Analysis and More . 10 June 2022 .
  13. Web site: 2022-23 Men's Basketball Roster .
  14. News: Former Gonzaga walk-on Matthew Lang playing grad year at Arizona . Gonzaga Nation . 22 June 2022 .
  15. Web site: Campbell transfer guard Cedric Henderson Jr. commits to Arizona Wildcats . 9 June 2022 .
  16. Web site: Luc Krystkowiak, son of former Utah Utes head coach, joins Arizona as Walk-On . 6 July 2022 .
  17. Web site: AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll. live. AP News. https://web.archive.org/web/20200920163811/https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll . 2020-09-20 .
  18. Web site: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll . .
  19. Web site: UCLA again the favorite in 2022-23 Pac-12 Men's Basketball preseason media poll .
  20. News: Media selects preseason 2023 Pac-12 All-Conference Football Team . Pac-12.com. October 24, 2022. October 24, 2022.
  21. News: 2023 Preseason Award Watchlist. hoophallawards.com. October 24, 2022. October 24, 2022.
  22. News: 2023 Preseason Award Watchlist. hoophallawards.com. October 26, 2022. October 26, 2022.
  23. News: 2023 Preseason Award Watchlist. hoophallawards.com. October 27, 2022. October 27, 2022.
  24. Web site: Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe Headlines 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List.
  25. Web site: John R. Wooden Award Presented by Wendy's Announces 2022-23 Preseason Top 50 Watch List.
  26. Web site: The Watch List for the 2022-23 Lute Olson National Player of the Year award announced Monday.
  27. News: 2023 Preseason Award Watchlist. hoophallawards.com. October 28, 2022. October 28, 2022.
  28. Web site: First Watch Red-Blue Game Set for Sept. 30 . 18 August 2022 .
  29. Web site: 2022-23 Men's Basketball Roster. arizonawildcats.com. Arizona Athletics. April 5, 2022.
  30. Web site: 2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule. arizonawildcats.com. University of Arizona. April 5, 2022.
  31. Web site: 2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule .
  32. Web site: Pac-12 Men's Basketball Performance Awards, presented by Nextiva - November 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221128213104/https://pac-12.com/article/2022/11/28/pac-12-mens-basketball-performance-awards-presented-nextiva-november-28-2022. dead. November 28, 2022.
  33. Web site: Pac-12 Men's Basketball Performance Awards, presented by Nextiva - December 26, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221226201038/https://pac-12.com/article/2022/12/26/pac-12-mens-basketball-performance-awards-presented-nextiva-december-26-2022. dead. December 26, 2022.
  34. Web site: Pac-12 Men's Basketball Performance Awards, presented by Nextiva - February 6, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230206200132/https://pac-12.com/article/2023/02/06/pac-12-mens-basketball-performance-awards-presented-nextiva-february-6-2023. dead. February 6, 2023.
  35. Web site: Pac-12 Men's Basketball Performance Awards, presented by Nextiva - March 6, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230306183233/https://pac-12.com/article/2023/03/06/pac-12-mens-basketball-performance-awards-presented-nextiva-march-6-2023. dead. March 6, 2023.
  36. Web site: 2022-23 Pac-12 Men's Basketball All-Conference honors and Annual Performance Awards, presented by Nextiva .
  37. Web site: 2023 PAC-12 Men's Basketball Tournament . https://web.archive.org/web/20221104204508/https://pac-12.com/mens-basketball-tournament-2023. dead. November 4, 2022.
  38. Web site: The Associated Press 2022-23 Men's All-America Team. . 14 March 2023 .
  39. Web site: NABC Division I All-America Teams Announced. 15 March 2023 .
  40. Web site: Sporting News 2022-23 Men's All-America Team. 6 March 2023 .
  41. Web site: USBWA unveils 2022-23 men's All-America Team.
  42. Web site: John R. Wooden Award Presented By Wendy's Announces 2022-23 Men's All American Team.

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