Tough gets tougher: Arizona's gauntlet schedule heats up with now-ranked Wisconsin up next

This is what one of the roughest December schedules in Arizona basketball history already looked like entering this season: Games with three preseason Top 25 teams and another against a Wisconsin team that sat just outside the rankings.

It’s still pretty much all that. But now, just as Arizona has ascended to the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, Wisconsin has caught fire.

Now in the rankings at No. 23, the Badgers won at Michigan State on Tuesday in a manner arguably more convincing than how the Wildcats beat the Spartans on Thanksgiving Day.

Wisconsin, which will play Arizona at McKale Center on Saturday, outrebounded MSU 36-22, hit 10 of 23 3-pointers and scored 19 second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds. Also, in an area where Arizona typically prides itself, the Badgers set up 17 of their 23 field goals with assists.

They moved the ball. They shot it well. And, though MSU cut their lead to just three points in the second half, Wisconsin never trailed.

“It’s a great win for our guys. It’s great win for a program,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said in a brief postgame interview on Peacock. “We’ve gotten better from mid-November on. I think we’re starting to figure some things out. Guys are understanding their roles and what we need to do to be a good team, and tonight we were able to do enough to beat a very good team.”

Wisconsin’s win came just three days after the Badgers knocked off then-No. 3-ranked Marquette at home, while Wisconsin also beat Virginia and SMU last month in a Florida event.

A week after hosting the Badgers, the Wildcats will find themselves facing the team they took the No. 1 spot from, Purdue, which rebounded from a road loss at Northwestern on Friday by beating Iowa at home on Monday.

That game will be at Indianapolis, just 65 miles from Purdue’s campus.

“I don’t expect our game against Purdue to feel like a neutral game,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said on his radio show earlier this week. “I think that’s going to be a pretty hostile Purdue crowd.”

But the Wildcats will then play the next two games at semi-neutral sites expected to be in their favor. They’ll face Purdue on Dec. 20 in Phoenix and, on Dec. 23, will play Florida Atlantic on Dec. 23 at their favorite non-McKale Center venue — Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, where UA is undefeated under Lloyd.

Scheduling the FAU game was the trickiest part for UA, coming together in September with the backing of Fox only after Southern agreed to move a game with UA from its Lousiana campus to McKale so that the Wildcats could still hold meet their self-imposed minimum of 18 home games.

“We were just kind of talking about it for a while and nothing was happening,” Lloyd said on his radio show. “We didn’t know we we’re going to do it but it kind of slowly started trending that direction. I just thought it was a great opportunity to play a really, really good team.”

FAU lost to 20th-ranked Illinois on Tuesday in New York, but the Owls return a veteran team from last season’s Final Four.

“I know it’s a little bit close to Christmas but… for us to be get that exposure from the program is something that’s really valuable,” Lloyd said of playing FAU. “We’ll have a short Christmas, but hopefully it will be a lot of fun. I’m excited. I’m excited about the next month.”

Here’s a look at UA’s upcoming 15-day stretch of four potentially difficult games:

Wisconsin (7-2)

Saturday at McKale Center

Until then: Off

AP Ranking: 23

Kenpom ranking: 12

Best wins: 75-64 vs Marquette on Dec. 2, 70-57 at Michigan State on Dec. 5.

Losses: 80-70 vs Tennessee on Nov. 10, 72-59 at Providence on Nov. 14.

Strength: Rebounding (36.9% offensive, 76.8% defensive)

Weakness: 3-point shooting (31.8%)

He said it: “We’re significantly better than we were a year ago...Our ability to handle their run in the second half showed a lot of maturity.” — Wisconsin coach Greg Gard, after the Badgers won at Michigan State on Tuesday.

Purdue (8-1)

Dec. 16 at Indianapolis

Until then: Alabama at Toronto on Saturday.

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AP Ranking: 4

Kenpom ranking: 2

Best wins: Gonzaga, Tennessee and Marquette all at the Maui Invitational (in Honolulu)

Loss: 92-88 at Northwestern in overtime on Dec. 1

Strength: Center Zach Edey is averaging 23.7 points and 11.2 rebounds, draws the most fouls per 40 minutes than anybody in Division I (10.8) and is fifth in blocks per game at 2.9.

Weakness: While Purdue has the seventh-best defensive efficiency, its opponents turn the ball over only on 13.5% of possessions.

He said it: Edey is “difficult, but I think you have to give credit to the rest of the guys that are out there for them… they’re not a one man show at all. They have shooters, they have drivers, they have size. They stretch your defense in ways that makes it very difficult.” — Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, after Purdue beat the Hawkeyes 87-68 on Monday.

Alabama (6-3)

Dec. 20 in Phoenix

Until then: Purdue at Toronto on Saturday, at Creighton on Dec. 16

AP Ranking: NR (received 30th most votes)

Kenpom ranking: 13

Best win: 99-91 over Oregon on Nov. 25 at Niceville, Fla.,

Losses: 92-81 to Ohio State on Nov. 24 at Niceville, Fla., 85-77 vs Clemson on Nov. 28.

Strength: 3-point shooting (40.9%)

Weakness: Overall defensive efficiency (ranking 72 in Division I), including 50.3% two-point percentage defense.

He said it: “We have been emphasizing defense and I thought it was decent in first half (but) still wasn’t where we needed it to be and got worse in the second half. …Our defensive rebounding needs major work before we play a tough three-game stretch that’s in front of us. So, we’re going to continue to work on our defense and try to get better.” — Alabama coach Nate Oats, after the Crimson Tide beat Arkansas State on Monday.

Florida Atlantic (7-2)

Dec. 23 in Las Vegas

Until then: FIU at home on Dec. 13, St. Bonaventure at Springfield, Mass, on Dec. 16.

AP Ranking: 11

Kenpom ranking: 16

Best wins: 96-89 over Texas A&M in Kissimmee, Fla., 84-50 over Virginia Tech at Kissimmee, Fla.

Losses: 61-52 vs Bryant on Nov. 18, 98-89 to Illinois at New York on Tuesday.

Strength: Scoring inside the 3-point arc (58.0%)

Weakness: Owls commit non-steal turnovers (bad passes, traveling violations, offensive fouls) on 8.9% of possessions.

He said it: “Credit to Illinois, they exposed some of our weaknesses and we have to go back to our drawing board and fix some things. That is why you play these games, to learn more about yourself. We will be better because of this experience.” — FAU coach Dusty May, after the Owls lost to Illinois on Tuesday.