At the 14:19 mark in the first half, Utah transfer Pelle Larsson checked into the game for the first time as a Wildcat.

The Nacka, Sweden native suffered a broken foot injury in August, and didn’t participate in Arizona’s Red-Blue Game or the exhibition contest against Eastern New Mexico.

In his first action at Arizona, Larsson logged 13 minutes and tallied seven points on 3-for-4 shooting from the field and one assist.

Before transferring to the UA, Larsson was one of the top shooters in the Pac-12. He ranked third in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (46.3) and second in free-throw percentage (88.3).

Kolok-no: UA center sets career-high

Third-year center Christian Koloko set a career-high in blocks with five on Tuesday. Koloko’s previous best was four against NAU and Cal State Bakersfield last season.

Three ex-Wildcats added to Ring of Honor

Donning an β€œEazy-E” t-shirt and cigar-colored Air Jordan sneakers, Aari McDonald β€” arguably the best player in UA women’s basketball history β€” returned to McKale Center to watch the team she led to the national championship game last season, rout Cal State Northridge.

McDonald is one of three players whose names have been recently added to the Ring of Honor at McKale Center.

McDonald, who finished her UA career as the program’s career leader in points per game (21.9), was added to a Ring of Honor that also includes current Arizona head coach Adia Barnes as well as ex-Wildcats stars Shawntinice Polk, Dee Dee Wheeler, Davellyn White and Ify Ibekwe.

In three seasons at Arizona, McDonald was a three-time Associated Press All-American, a two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, the 2021 Pac-12 Player of the Year, three-time All-Pac-12 defender and the 2020 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner for the nation’s top shooting guard. McDonald recently finished her rookie season with the Atlanta Dream after becoming the highest-selected Wildcat in WNBA draft history. In 30 games with the Dream in 2021, McDonald averaged 6.3 points and two assists in 16.4 minutes.

McDonald planned to play professionally in Hungary, but returned back to the U.S. to recover and train for her second season in the WNBA.

McDonald wasn’t the only addition to the Ring of Honor: Former men’s basketball standouts Josh Green and Zeke Nnaji were also added to a Ring that include Sean Elliott, Jason Terry, Mike Bibby, Damon Stoudamire, Salim Stoudamire, Andre Iguodala and Deandre Ayton, among others.

Both Nnaji and Green were a part of the 2019-20 Arizona team that ended its season with a first-round win over Washington in the Pac-12 Tournament, before the remainder of the season was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Nnaji’s qualification for the Ring of Honor is his Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honor, while Green is added because he medaled with Australia during this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Nnaji (Denver Nuggets) and Green (Dallas Mavericks) are in their second season in the NBA.

Simon gets first win as head coach

Former Wildcat Miles Simon, who was the 1997 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading Arizona to a national championship, earned his first-career victory as head coach of the South Bay Lakers, the G League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers.

South Bay held off the G League Ignite 112-105 on Friday. Simon was then properly treated to a water-bottle shower by his team following the game. Simon has coached within the Lakers organization since 2017, and was retained by Frank Vogel after the firing of ex-Wildcat Luke Walton.

Since joining the Lakers’ staff, Simon has been the head coach of L.A.’s Summer League team and was an assistant on the NBA Finals squad in 2020.

Now Simon joins former UA teammate Jason Terry as head coaches in the G League; Terry coaches the Denver Nuggets’ G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold.

The big number 612

Days since the last time Arizona fans attended a regular season game at McKale Center. The previous time McKale Center welcomed a crowd for a regular season game was on March 7, 2020, when Arizona fell to Washington 69-63. How different did Arizona look then? Koloko and walk-on Jordan Mains are the only current Wildcats who played for that team in 2019-20.

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Contact sports producer Justin Spears at 573-4312 or jspears@tucson.com. On Twitter: @JustinESports