Arizona’s tentative rematch against national runner-up Purdue in Las Vegas next season has been called off indefinitely in order to allow the Wildcats to meet their home-game minimum.
The Wildcats and Boilermakers met last season in Indianapolis, with Purdue winning 92-84 over then-top-ranked UA, and a “semi-neutral” return game was considered for next season as part of a series that was announced last June.
However, the rematch was never certain to be played because Arizona has a self-imposed 18-game home minimum for season-ticket packages and financial planning purposes. When the first game was announced, UA said only that a series of future neutral site games was possible and the school confirmed Thursday it will not be played next season.
The prospect of a UA-Purdue rematch remained unclear throughout last season while Arizona looked into alternatives — and how many Big 12 road games it would play — before the NCAA’s Andy Katz tweeted that both head coaches confirmed the game is off.
It is not clear if the game might be played in a future season in Las Vegas or another semi-neutral site.
Arizona is expecting a 20-game Big 12 schedule next season, though the conference has not announced the length of its schedule, and the Wildcats are already contracted to play five games away from McKale Center during the nonconference season: At Wisconsin, against Alabama in Birmingham and three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis at Nassau, Bahamas.
That leaves only six regular-season games for UA to play at home and meet the 18-game minimum, in addition to its expected 10 Big 12 home games and two exhibition games. Teams participating in multi-team events such as the Battle 4 Atlantis can play a maximum of 31 regular-season games.
Arizona is scheduled to host Duke on Nov. 21 at McKale Center but still has five other home games yet to schedule. All are expected to be one-time guarantee games against mid- or low-major opponents.
Arizona’s Dylan Anderson (44) drives against Lewis-Clark’s Grayson Hunt (11) looking for space to shoot in the first half of their exhibition game at McKale Center on Oct. 20, 2023.
Anderson picks Boise State
Boise State announced it has added former Arizona center Dylan Anderson.
The Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year at Gilbert Perry High School, Anderson spent most of his UA career behind closed doors. He played in only 15 games for the Wildcats in 2022-23 and opted to redshirt this season before entering the transfer portal last month.
Anderson reposted Boise State’s announcement of his arrival to X and Instagram, with former UA teammates Oumar Ballo and KJ Lewis among the first to congratulate him.
“Go eat big fella,” Ballo posted.
Without Anderson, power forward Keshad Johnson and Ballo, who transferred to Indiana, Arizona rebuilt its post roster for next season. The Wildcats are expected to move rising sophomore Motiejus Krivas into the starting center spot, with Oakland transfer Trey Townsend expected to start at power forward.
UA also has Tennessee transfer forward Tobe Awaka, five-star freshman forward Carter Bryant, redshirt sophomore forward Henri Veesaar and four-star freshman center Emmanuel Stephen in the post for next season.
Arizona guard Caleb Love (2) dunks in front of Purdue guard Lance Jones (55) in the first half of their game in Indianapolis on Dec. 16, 2023.
Love added to NBA early-entry list
Guard Caleb Love’s name has been added to the NBA’s early entry list, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony after it was left off the NBA’s official release Tuesday due to a reported mistake.
Love is testing the NBA Draft with the option of returning to college and has until May 29 to make a stay-or-go decision. He is expected to find out over the next few days if he’s invited to the NBA Combine.
Kriisa again a ‘Wildcat’
How many lives does Kerr Kriisa have? The former UA guard will make his third college stop at Kentucky, noting on Instagram that he’s a “Wildcat for life.”
Kriisa committed to Arizona under former coach Sean Miller and played briefly for the Wildcats at the end of the 2020-21 season after serving out an NCAA suspension related to having signed a pro contract in Lithuania. He then spent all of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons as UA’s starting point guard before playing for West Virginia last season.
Because Kriisa played during the 2020-21 “COVID” season, he has an extra year of eligibility remaining. The move to Kentucky means he won’t face Arizona during the regular season as he would have at West Virginia.
Son of Arizona AD walking on
Jackson Francois announced this week he will make what was an expected transfer from Missouri to Arizona: The walk-on guard is the son of new Arizona AD Desiree Reed-Francois.
In his announcement, Francois thanked Mizzou coach Dennis Gates, staffers and teammates for impacting and helping him.
“The last two years here have been everything I could have ever asked for and I wouldn’t trade them for the world,” Francois posted. “It’s been my greatest honor to be a Missouri Tiger and I’m proud to say I’ll always be one.”
Bruce Pascoe is a veteran Arizona Daily Star sports reporter covering University of Arizona basketball. He has traveled with the team all the way to Israel and has been reporting at the Star since the late 90’s. Bruce worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal prior to the Star and he graduated from Northwestern University. David and Bruce talk about the highlights of covering basketball and sports in a college town, the difficulties of the beat, Bruce’s love for sports and where that came from and how his reporting impacts the community.
Bruce Pascoe is a veteran Arizona Daily Star sports reporter covering University of Arizona basketball. He has traveled with the team all the way to Israel and has been reporting at the Star since the late 90’s. Bruce worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal prior to the Star and he graduated from Northwestern University. David and Bruce talk about the highlights of covering basketball and sports in a college town, the difficulties of the beat, Bruce’s love for sports and where that came from and how his reporting impacts the community.
Bruce Pascoe is a veteran Arizona Daily Star sports reporter covering University of Arizona basketball. He has traveled with the team all the way to Israel and has been reporting at the Star since the late 90’s. Bruce worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal prior to the Star and he graduated from Northwestern University. David and Bruce talk about the highlights of covering basketball and sports in a college town, the difficulties of the beat, Bruce’s love for sports and where that came from and how his reporting impacts the community.
