Arizona will face Cincinnati for the first time in over a quarter-century to open Maui Invitational play on Nov. 21.
The Wildcats will then face either Ohio State or San Diego State in a second game on Nov. 22 and finish up with a third game against a team from the other side of the eight-team bracket: Arkansas, Louisville, Texas Tech or Creighton.
Competing for the eighth time in the prestigious early season event at the Lahaina Civic Center, the Wildcats will first play the Bearcats on ESPN2 at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 21. If Arizona beats Cincinnati, it will face the winner of Ohio State-SDSU on Nov. 22 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN; if it loses to the Bearcats, UA will play the loser of Ohio State-SDSU at 3 p.m.
The championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Arizona time on Nov. 23.
While the Wildcats have long been scheduled to return to Maui this fall for the first time since 2018-19, when they went 1-2, the tournament made its official bracket announcement Monday.
The Maui Invitational field is characteristically strong, with six of its eight teams having finished among the Top 50 teams in Kenpom rankings last season. Traditional "host" Chaminade, a Division II program in Honolulu, will not participate this season and now only does so every other year.
Cincinnati finished last season at 18-15, with a 101 Kenpom ranking. Second-year coach Wes Miller returns eight players, including leading scorer David DeJulius (14.5 points), who was named a third-team all-ACC pick last season. The Bearcats went 7-11 in the ACC, which they will leave for the Big 12 after next season.
Among the other participants:
-- Arkansas beat top-ranked Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 last season before losing to Duke in the Elite Eight and finished at 28-9, with a Kenpom ranking of 18.
-- Creighton finished last season 23-12 and ranked No. 50 in Kenpom. Returning three double-digit scorers while bringing in highly regarded transfer Baylor Scheierman, the Blue Jays were ranked No. 7 in ESPN’s early Top 25 poll.
-- Louisville finished last season 13-19 and ranked No. 127 in Kenpom. The Cardinals are facing a rebuilding season after Knicks assistant Kenny Payne was hired to take over as head coach for Chris Mack, who left in January.
-- Ohio State finished last season 20-12 and ranked No. 31 in Kenpom. The Buckeyes had significant roster turnover last spring, and will have to replace 85.9% of their scoring from last season.
-- San Diego State finished last season 23-9 and ranked 25 in Kenpom. The Aztecs, ranked No. 21 in ESPN’s early Top 25 poll, return leading scorer Matt Bradley and shot-blocker Nathan Mensah, the Mountain West’s Defensive Player of the Year.
-- Texas Tech reached the Sweet 16 last season, finishing 27-10 and ranked No. 7 in Kenpom. The Red Raiders are listed at No. 22 in ESPN’s preseason rankings, having added five-star recruit Elijah Fisher and North Carolina transfer (and onetime UA target) Kerwin Walton.
The Wildcats, who finished last season at 33-4 and ranked No. 5 in Kenpom, are 13-8 overall in seven previous Maui Invitational appearances, including championships in the 2014-15 and 2000-01 events.
In 2018-19, UA opened with a win over Iowa State before losing to Gonzaga and Auburn. Arizona's loss to Gonzaga in that event was the ninth of 10 games in which current UA coach Tommy Lloyd faced the Wildcats as a member of the Bulldogs' staff.
Arizona has won all three of its previous games against Cincinnati but hasn't played the Bearcats since 1995-96, when Miles Simon hit a three-quarter-court shot to beat them at the buzzer.
Here’s the Wildcats’ 2022-23 schedule to date (the final three nonconference home opponents and the final 18 Pac-12 dates have yet to be announced):
Nov. 7 NAU
Nov. 11 Southern
Nov. 14 Home game TBA
Nov. 17 Utah Tech
Nov. 21 Cincinnati, at Maui Invitational, Lahaina, Hawaii, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
Nov. 22 Ohio State or San Diego State, Maui Invitational, Lahaina, Hawaii, TBD
Nov. 23 Maui Invitational final game, Lahaina Hawaii, TBD
Dec. 1 at Utah
Dec. 4 California
Dec. 10 Indiana (MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas)
Dec. 13 Home game TBA
Dec. 17 Tennessee
Dec. 20 Home game TBA
