Old nemesis headed to McKale in December as part of home-and-home

Already with Duke on the schedule next season, Arizona also will get a crack at another historic nemesis after agreeing to a new two-year series with Wisconsin.

The Wildcats, who haven’t faced the Badgers since losing back-to-back Elite Eight games in 2014 and 2015, will host Wisconsin on Saturday, Dec. 9, next season. They will return the game on Nov. 15, 2024, at Wisconsin’s Kohl Center in Madison.

While Wisconsin didn’t make the NCAA Tournament last season, the Badgers return all five starters from a team that reached the NIT semifinals. Running the 26th-slowest tempo in the nation, they went 20-15 and finished No. 61 in the Kenpom rankings.

In ESPN’s recently updated Top-25 rankings for next season, Wisconsin is ranked 22nd while Arizona is right behind at 23rd.

“We are excited to bring a high-level program like Wisconsin to the McKale Center,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said in a UA statement. “Coach (Greg) Gard and his staff do a great job putting together a strong team that competes near the top of the Big Ten every year. We know they will come in here and give us their best shot and we look forward to doing the same the following year in Madison.”

The series gives the Wildcats a nonconference schedule that now includes Duke (at Durham, N.C.), Michigan State (at Thousand Palms, Calif.) and Alabama (at Phoenix), with possibly one other high-major opponent to be added.

But no nonconference opponent arguably has inflicted as much pain on the Wildcats over the past decade than Wisconsin, which kept what were probably the two best Sean Miller-era UA teams out of the Final Four, both times before thousands of UA fans in Southern California.

In 2014, No. 2-seeded Wisconsin beat No. 1-seeded Arizona 64-63 in overtime after Nick Johnson couldn’t get a shot off as time expired. In 2015, No. 1 seed Wisconsin beat No. 2 seed Arizona 85-78 in large part by hitting 10 of 12 3-pointers in the second half.

The teams split a pair of earlier NCAA Tournament games, with Wisconsin beating the top-seeded Wildcats 66-59 in the second round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament at Salt Lake City and Arizona beating Wisconsin 94-75 in the first round at Philadelphia in 2006.

Of the other UA-UW matchups, Wisconsin won 65-61 in the 2009-10 Maui Invitational and 104-77 in a 1966 game at Los Angeles. The Wildcats beat the Badgers in their first-ever meeting, 51-46, in Madison during the 1962-63 season.

Higgins named Western officiating chief

One of the more familiar faces in college basketball officiating, John Higgins, will take over as coordinator of officials for the Western Officiating Consortium starting next month.

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Higgins, a 35-year veteran of officiating who has worked nine Final Fours and countless McKale Center games, will now oversee officials for the Pac-12, Big Sky, Big West, Mountain West, Western Athletic, and West Coast conferences. He will take over for the retiring Bobby Dibler.

In a joint statement, conference commissions within the consortium said of Higgins: “Over the course of the last decade, John has made our consortium stronger, not only with consistent calls and effective communication on the court but in providing leadership and mentorship to officials across our roster.

“He has established and earned the respect of both colleagues and coaches alike during a more than three-decade career in college basketball, and we anticipate a smooth transition from one of the sport’s most respected officials ever in Bobby Dibler to John Higgins for the upcoming 2023-24 season and beyond.”

As part of the job, Higgins will likely travel to observe officiating around the West as did Dibler, who made several trips from other schools or his El Paso home to take in McKale Center games in recent seasons. Higgins will also work with Tucson-based NCAA coordinator of officials Chris Rastatter.

“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to lead men’s basketball officiating for the six conferences in the WBOC and to provide guidance and direction for our leadership team and officiating staff,” Higgins said in a statement. “The consortium has grown immensely under Bobby Dibler’s tenure, and I look forward to partnering with our officials, coaches and administrators, as well as NCAA national coordinator and former WBOC colleague Chris Rastatter, to further advance our group and make our sport better.”

Johnson: Transfer wasn’t ‘all about NIL’

After San Diego State transfer forward Keshad Johnson announced his commitment to Arizona on Saturday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Johnson has been expected to earn six-figures in NIL income as a transfer compared to the $2,000 each month that SDSU players earned last season from a collective supporting the Aztecs known as the MESA Foundation.

However, Johnson last month said, “it’s not all about NIL” in a direct message to the Union-Tribune.

“It’s mainly about putting myself in the best position to achieve my goal and make my dream come true,” Johnson wrote.

Johnson has not been available for comment since his Saturday announcement, but the Union-Tribune said he was known to want a more diverse offensive role than he had at SDSU, which switched to a two-in, three-out system midway through last season.

Arizona also has largely used two big players inside under coach Tommy Lloyd but could modify its system somewhat with power forward Azuolas Tubelis expected to stay in the NBA Draft. Expected to give the Wildcats defensive toughness, Johnson might start at power forward and play both forward spots.