Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Ahead of Saturday's road game against Illinois, the Arizona men's basketball team took an unconventional route to Champaign, Illinois.

According to ESPN's Myron Medcalf, poor visibility due to snow, rain and tornadoes across the Midwest forced the team's flight to divert from Savoy, Illinois, to Indianapolis on Friday night.

As a result, the Arizona players and coaches decided to take Uber rides to Champaign rather than waiting for buses to arrive.

Arizona spokesperson Nathan Wiechers confirmed that everyone involved with the team is "OK" and that there were "no issues" getting to Champaign.

Medcalf noted that an Uber ride from Indianapolis to Champaign costs $127, although it may have cost more Friday amid the poor weather.

Saturday's contest is a significant one, as Arizona is off to a red-hot start under first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd, who replaced Sean Miller.

The Wildcats haven't reached the NCAA tournament since the 2017-18 season, but they are 8-0 and ranked No. 11 in the nation despite beginning the season unranked.

Most impressively, Arizona scored an 80-62 win over the Michigan Wolverines last month.

Illinois is not ranked after starting the year ranked 11th, but the Fighting Illini are 7-2 and have won five games in a row.

A win over the Wildcats would likely ensure a return to the Top 25, while beating the Illini would likely help Arizona crack the Top 10.

The University of Washington announced that the men's basketball team's road game against No. 11 Arizona, which was scheduled for Thursday in Tucson, has been postponed because of COVID-19 protocols within the UW program.

The Pac-12 conference will work with Washington and Arizona to find an acceptable makeup date.

Arizona will now open the Pac-12 slate at Oregon State on Sunday evening.

Washington's next scheduled game is home against UCLA on Sunday, though as Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times noted, that game would appear to be in jeopardy with the school needing to postpone a matchup three days prior.

Arizona has begun its season with a 6-0 record. Its most recent game was a 105-59 win over Sacramento State last Saturday.

The 4-4 Huskies last played Saturday, when they lost to Winthrop 82-74 at home.

The Pac-12 had a COVID-19 scheduling concern earlier this year when Cal football was forced to postpone its Nov. 13 game against USC, although that game has now been rescheduled to this Saturday.

In addition, the Arizona women's basketball team's Friday game against UC Riverside was canceled because of concerns within the Highlanders' program.

As for the recently postponed Washington vs. Arizona game, finding a spot may not be too difficult given that the regular season will go on for three-plus months.

For now, it's unclear when Washington will play again. If the UCLA game Sunday is also canceled, the Huskies' next scheduled matchup is Sunday, Dec. 12, versus Gonzaga. 

The Arizona Wildcats upset the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines 80-62 on Sunday to move to 5-0 on the season. Arizona's win marked its first victory against a top-five team since Dec. 30, 2017. 

The Wolverines dropped to 3-2 with the loss. 

It was an incredible night for Arizona's Christian Koloko, who notched 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and four blocked shots in the win. Bennedict Mathurin was also impressive, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal. 

DENIED 🚫@kolokojunior1 doing @kolokojunior1 things

📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/3mfDyb5AEH

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 22, 2021

🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨@BennMathurin to @kolokojunior1

📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/PsgwS5V64u

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 22, 2021

The Wildcats were impressive defensively throughout the night, but once things were tied at 21 with seven minutes remaining in the first half, Arizona took control and pulled away in the second half. 

Arizona began the second half by making its first nine shots to push the lead to 62-45. 

The Wildcats shot 4-of-21 from deep (19 percent), but went 33-of-66 from the field (50 percent). Michigan, meanwhile, was awful from deep on Sunday, with Brandon Johns Jr. making the team's only three pointer on 14 attempts. 

Eli Brooks was the Wolverines best player Sunday, notching 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Hunter Dickinson, meanwhile, finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals. 

Outside of Brooks and Dickinson, Michigan failed to get much production from anyone else. The Wolverines also had an unacceptable 10 turnovers in the first half and 15 overall. 

If Michigan has Final Four dreams, it's going to have to get better following a loss to an unranked opponent. Head coach Juwan Howard, who is in his third season, has quite a bit of work to do. Arizona, meanwhile, is looking impressive and could find themselves with Michigan among the nation's top 25 teams next week. 

The Wolverines will next face the Tarleton Texans on Wednesday, while the Wildcats won't face their next opponent, the Sacramento State Hornets, until Saturday. 

Tommy Lloyd will reportedly be the next head coach of the Arizona men's basketball team, according to Stadium's Jeff Goodman. 

The Wildcats had an opening after firing Sean Miller after 12 seasons with the program. The coach had one year remaining on his contract, but the team finished a disappointing 17-9 in 2020-21 and haven't participated in the NCAA tournament since a first-round loss in 2018.

The NCAA also levied five Level 1 charges against the school in March with the team self-imposing a postseason ban this year.

It could create a difficult rebuilding process for the new coach, as he tries to get the program back to elite status.

Arizona always expects to contend in the Pac-12 and has won one national championship with four Final Fours in its history, all under Lute Olson. Miller also guided the team to the Elite Eight three times during his time at the school.

The program has also developed its share of NBA talent, including in recent years with lottery picks Deandre Ayton, Aaron Gordon, Lauri Markkanen and Stanley Johnson coming through the system.

These factors will ensure Arizona remains a top destination for elite recruits, especially on the west coast.

With young talent on the current roster, the tools are in place for a quick return to glory.

The pressure will be on Lloyd, who gets the job after 20 years as an assistant under Mark Few at Gonzaga.

Despite a lack of experience as a head coach, he has been a key part of the Bulldogs' success, including this year's team that won 31 straight games before losing in the national title game. It was the school's second trip to the Final Four in the last four tournaments.

Lloyd has especially been known for bringing international players to Gonzaga, including Domantas Sabonis, Rui Hachimura and Joel Ayayi.

The experience could be enough to help Arizona become a top contender nationally before too long.

You can take Richard Jefferson's name out of the running for the vacant head coaching job at his alma mater.

The former Arizona Wildcats standout and NBA player said in no uncertain terms that he wasn't interested in becoming the men's basketball head coach after Sean Miller was fired last week.

"No, I will not throw my hat into the Arizona coaching search," he said on Instagram Live on Monday (h/t Jeremy Cluff of the Arizona Republic). "That's already a debacle."

Jefferson was supportive of Miller last month, saying he was a "Sean Miller guy" on the Pac-12 Network.

"I think Arizona did the right thing."@Rjeff24 talks @APlayersProgram self-imposed post-season ban.

Watch Pac-12 Gamebreak Show now⤵️
📺: Pac-12 Network
📱: https://t.co/7bHMYBa4SA#Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/ebemNCnABU

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) March 11, 2021

"If you were to put him nationally with other coaches and other programs, he would probably be top five, top seven. Coaches like that don't grow on trees," Jefferson added. "And so I'm a big Sean Miller guy, and I hope that they can turn this around and get going in the future.”

The Wildcats went 17-9 in 2020-21 but were ineligible for the NCAA tournament after self-imposing a postseason ban. The NCAA reportedly hit the program with a notice of allegations after a 2017 federal investigation into fraud and corruption across men's college basketball recruiting, which included former Arizona assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson's guilty plea to a felony count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Miller went 302-109 in 12 seasons with the Wildcats, leading the team to seven NCAA tournaments, five Pac-12 regular-season championships and three Pac-12 tournament championships.

The Wildcats haven't played in the NCAA tournament since the 2017-18 season, however.

As for the program's next head coach, buzz has centered around Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd. Former Wildcat Gilbert Arenas told Jefferson on Instagram Live he wasn't interested in Lloyd.

"An assistant coach doesn't have credentials," he said. "... I don't even want to say his name because he doesn't deserve it. You're an assistant coach, OK. You assist."

Arenas said former Arizona player Damon Stoudamire was his top choice, followed by another former player in Miles Simon. Stoudamire is the men's basketball head coach for Pacific, while Simon is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Arenas also dropped Josh Pastner's name but noted he already has a gig. Pastner, another former Arizona player, is the head coach for the Georgia Tech men's basketball team.

Former Arizona men's basketball head coach Sean Miller, who was relieved of his duties on Wednesday, released a statement Thursday noting that "it was an honor" to lead the program, which he did for 12 seasons.

“It was an honor to be the head basketball coach at the University of Arizona.”

A statement from Sean Miller: pic.twitter.com/sgWbDR35Oe

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) April 8, 2021

Miller coached Arizona from 2009-21. The Wildcats made seven NCAA tournaments, reaching the Elite Eight three times.

The program had fallen on hard times over the past four years, however.

Arizona won the Pac-12 regular-season title and tournament in 2018 but fell to No. 13 seed Buffalo in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats then missed March Madness entirely in 2019 following a 17-15 season.

They were likely headed back to the tournament in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the remainder of the season during Championship Week.

However, Arizona did not make the 2021 tournament, and that was because the Wildcats gave themselves a self-imposed ban. ESPN's Jeff Borzello explained why on Dec. 29.

"The decision comes as a result of the NCAA investigation stemming from the 2017 federal investigation into corruption in college basketball and college basketball recruiting. ESPN and The Athletic reported in October that Arizona had been hit with nine NCAA violations, including five Level I allegations. The Athletic reported that Arizona was charged with lack of institutional control and failure to monitor, and head coach Sean Miller was charged with lack of head coach control."

Arizona may have had trouble making the tournament even without the decision as it finished just fifth in the Pac-12 with an 11-9 record.

For context, fourth-place UCLA, which lost in the quarterfinals, barely snuck into the tournament field as an at-large team, participating in the First Four before its Final Four run.

The Wildcats did not participate in the conference tournament due to the ban.

Miller's Arizona career ends with him going 302-109 in Tucson with three Pac-12 titles. Before his Arizona stint, he spent the previous five seasons in Xavier, leading the Musketeers to four NCAA tournaments and one Elite Eight appearance.

The Arizona Wildcats are reportedly considering Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd to replace Sean Miller at the head of the Pac-12 program, according to Jim Meehan of The Spokesman-Review. 

Arizona fired Miller on Wednesday after 12 years in Tuscon during which he compiled a 302-109 record but failed to advance past the Elite Eight.

Lloyd is currently the head coach-in-waiting at Gonzaga, where he's worked on Few's staff since 2000.

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Meehan noted Lloyd serves as a massive recruiting tool for Few, helping land notable international players like Rui Hachimura, Killian Tillie, Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Pangos, Kelly Olynyk and Ronny Turiaf. Leading recruiting efforts at a West Coast program is certainly a strong qualifier in general. 

Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth told Meehan that Lloyd had received interest from three other programs this year alone before the latest Arizona rumors. That comes as no surprise to Roth, who believes the coach is destined to run his own team one day.

Said Roth:

We’re committed to Tommy here and he knows that. We’ve made that public. If Gonzaga is committed to Tommy, where our program is and where it’s been built and Tommy has been such an important part of this, why wouldn’t any other school have him on their list, even high on their list.

“We’ll continue to do our best to let him know this is where we want him to be a head coach someday when the time comes and we want him between now and then to help us be one of, if not the best, basketball programs in the country.”

Arizona is the latest high-profile program to feature a head coaching vacancy this offseason after Roy Williams retired at North Carolina, Shaka Smart left Texas for Marquette and Chris Beard left Texas Tech for the Longhorns. 

Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported Damon Stoudamire, Miles Simon and Josh Pastner remain in consideration for the Wildcats job.

Sean Miller's time as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team is over.

On Wednesday, the school announced Miller would be leaving the program, though his contract would still be honored.

Arizona Vice President and Director of Athletics Dave Heeke addressed the matter in a statement:

"We appreciate Sean's commitment to our basketball program and to the university. After taking the many factors involved into account, we simply believe that we need a fresh start and now is the time. I want to thank Sean, Amy and their sons for their service to the university and wish them the very best in the future."

Jeff Goodman of Stadium previously reported the Pac-12 school parted ways with Miller with one year remaining on his contract. Goodman noted the administration "stuck by" the coach during the federal investigation into corruption in college basketball, but Miller was charged with failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance by the NCAA in March.

Arizona hired Miller prior to the 2009-10 season after he coached five seasons for the Xavier Musketeers.

In 12 years as Arizona's coach, Miller went 302-109 with five Pac-12 regular-season titles, three Pac-12 tournament titles and seven NCAA tournament appearances. The Wildcats advanced to five Sweet 16s and three Elite Eights in that span, although they never got over the hump to reach the Final Four.

However, they missed the Big Dance in 2019 and again this season, although the latter was because of a self-imposed postseason ban in response to the NCAA's notice of allegations.

As part of the FBI's probe into college basketball recruiting and corruption, Emanuel "Book" Richardson, who was previously on the Wildcats' staff, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes as part of a scheme to convince Arizona players to eventually sign with sports agent Christian Dawkins.

Mark Schlabach of ESPN reported in 2018 that the FBI intercepted conversations between Dawkins and Miller that featured discussions about paying $100,000 to make sure Deandre Ayton joined Arizona.

Ayton eventually played for the Wildcats and was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft.

Miller has denied paying for prospects to join his program.

The program eventually received three Level 1 violations from the NCAA related to the federal investigation, as well as another for the athletics department as a whole for lack of institutional control.

As for the now vacant position, Goodman reported Pacific head coach Damon Stoudamire, Los Angeles Lakers assistant Miles Simon, Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner and Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd are potential candidates. Stoudamire, Simon and Pastner are former Arizona players who became Wildcats assistant coaches.

Arizona checks in at No. 23 in the 247Sports' composite rankings for 2021 recruiting classes.

It'll be an all-Pac 12 matchup for the first time in the history of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament final as No. 1 seed Stanford will take on No. 3 Arizona.

Stanford held on for dear life to win 66-65 in a hard-fought Final Four game over No. 1 South Carolina, which missed two potential game-winning buckets in the final couple seconds. Haley Jones' 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting led Stanford.

Arizona then stunned UConn 69-59 behind another phenomenal performance from Aari McDonald (26 points) and fantastic team defense that held the Huskies to just 35.7 percent shooting. The Wildcats led wire-to-wire.

Now Stanford and Arizona will face off on Sunday in the national championship. Stanford is looking for its third national title, while Arizona is shooting for its first.

Here's a look at how the two teams' previous matchups went down alongside three reasons for why each team can win this one. You can also find a score prediction at the end.

    

Previous Matchups

Stanford beat Arizona in both of their regular-season matchups, and neither game was particularly close.

The Cardinal opened a 44-20 halftime lead before winning 81-54 in the first meeting, with Jones posting an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Arizona shot just 25.8 percent from the field, with McDonald going 3-of-18.

The second game was a far closer affair, but Stanford still led wire-to-wire in the second half in a 62-48 win. Four Cardinal players scored in double digits, with Lacie Hull's 16 points paving the way.

McDonald led all scorers with 20 points but needed 24 shots to get there. The Wildcats made just 17-of-55 field goals (30.9 percent).

     

Why Arizona Can Win

1. Variance

The Wildcats shot 34-of-121 (28.1 percent) over the pair of Stanford losses.

Stanford is an excellent team with a 33.0 percent field goal defense rate, but Arizona is a far better shooting team that what it showed against the Cardinal.

The Wildcats began the Final Four making 41.3 percent of their field goals, and the guess here is that they won't be held around the 30-percent range for a third time.

   

2. Defense

Arizona's defense has been sensational, as best evidenced by its performance against UConn. The Wildcats have held their five tournament opponents to an average of 52.2 points per game on 96-of-261 shooting (36.8 percent).

Arizona set that defensive tone in the first round against Stony Brook, forcing the Seawolves to commit 25 turnovers. Overall, Arizona's tournament opponents have committed 80 turnovers.

That's largely because of the dynamic defensive duo of McDonald and Sam Thomas, who have combined for 29 steals and seven blocks. McDonald is the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and Thomas was Pac-12 All-Defense in 2020.

3. McDonald

Obviously. McDonald put UConn on its heels with hot shooting in the first half, scoring 15 of Arizona's 32 first-half points in a low-scoring affair. She was 4-of-6 from three-point range at one point and ended up with more buckets from downtown than the entire UConn team.

It's been the McDonald show this entire tournament, though. Her 32-point, 11-rebound performance in a 66-53 win over Indiana put Arizona in the Final Four.

That followed a 31-point outing against a Texas A&M team that could have arguably had a No. 1 seed but fell on the No. 2 line. McDonald's effort guided Arizona to a 74-59 win.

A 17-point, 11-rebound, four-steal performance in a 52-46 win over BYU followed a 20-point afternoon versus Stony Brook.

McDonald is simply relentless and can never be counted out. If she gets the three-point shot going, watch out.

     

Why Stanford Can Win

1. History

An obvious answer here, but Stanford has gotten the job done against Arizona twice before. The Cardinal led by double digits for the entire second half in the first game and the whole fourth quarter in the second matchup.

Their defense was relentless, and their scoring depth helped too. Four players scored in double digits during each contest.

Granted, a pair of strong Stanford wins doesn't guarantee an automatic victory for the Cardinal, but their performances could be harbingers of what's to come.

    

2. Depth

It's pick your poison when playing this Stanford team. Five players score 7.6 points or more per game, with four posting 9.9 PPG at minimum. If one player has an off-night, another one could be going off and ruining the opposition's evening.

That's more or less what happened in the Final Four against South Carolina. Lexie Hull (third in scoring) had an off-night shooting (4-of-17), but Jones was excellent.

However, Hull was the star in the Elite Eight against Louisville, scoring a team-high 21 points. Before that round, Hannah Jump splashed five three-pointers against Missouri State in the Sweet 16.

The bottom line is that this deep rotation is relentless, and it can cause problems even for an elite defensive team like Arizona.

    

3. Downtown

Stanford makes nearly nine three-pointers per game, and its 286 makes on the year places the Cardinal fourth in all of Division I. The Cardinal are also sixth in three-point percentage (38.6).

Guard Kiana Williams leads the way with 81 makes, and Hannah Jump (57) and Lexie Hull (44) buoy her efforts.

Stanford simply buries teams from three, making 10 or more on 12 different occasions. Breaking that down further, Stanford has made 13 shots from beyond the arc seven times.

If the Cardinal get hot from deep on Monday, then Arizona may be forced into a track meet where McDonald and Co. have to match them. That's advantage, Stanford.

     

Prediction

Arizona will come into this game as the clear underdog even if the Wildcats are coming off a fantastic win over a pre-tournament favorite in UConn. Simply put, Stanford has had the better season and beat Arizona twice by a combined 41 points.

However, this game should be a lot closer. Arizona isn't nearly as poor of a shooting team as it showed against Stanford earlier this season, and its defense should be able to keep the Cardinal within arm's length.

Plus, there's a scenario where McDonald becomes invincible and goes for 30-plus points an 10-plus rebounds while contributing elite defense. If that happens, Stanford is obviously in trouble.

The No. 1 overall seed will also find itself with problems if it goes cold from three. The Cardinals have lost two games this season (back-to-back to UCLA and Colorado), and it's no coincidence that the team shot a combined 7-of-32 from beyond the arc against the conference foes.

The formula for Arizona is to slow this game down a bit, play excellent defense, defend the three and hope McDonald produces some more magic.

The guess here is that happens. Yes, Stanford's offense can be relentless, and there's a scenario where the Cardinal just bury the Wildcats from three. A number of players could get hot from deep and give Arizona problems. Jones could also take this game over in the post herself, much like she did against South Carolina.

However, Arizona is fearless, relentless and playing fantastic ball. The Wildcats are the pick.

Pick: Arizona 63, Stanford 62

Sean Miller's status as Arizona's men's basketball coach is clearly on shaky ground, but it appears he'll return next season.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported the two sides are "moving forward with the idea that their marriage will continue through the 21-22 season and possibly beyond."

Miller's contract ends after the 2021-22 season. The Wildcats are ineligible for this year's NCAA tournament because of recruiting violations that happened during Miller's tenure, most notably an assistant's involvement in a pay-for-play scheme.

Miller has managed to keep his job despite the investigation and Arizona's relatively poor play in recent seasons. The program hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since 2017 and has finished no better than fifth place in the Pac-12 since winning the conference in 2018.

"You know, I'm just not there right now," Miller told reporters of his contract status last month. "Right now, for me and our team and everything that we're doing, it's more about ... how are you gonna finish this season, how are you going to be the most ready you can be, what are your goals, what are you talking to your guys about? That's the box that we're in."

The program could be in a difficult spot if Miller's not offered an extension this offseason. Recruits looking beyond next season would understandably be wary about signing with a coach who may not be there when they arrive, and Miller's effectiveness in pitches will wane if he's in a lame-duck season.

If Miller's returning next season, odds are an extension will be in order sometime this offseason.