TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona men’s basketball program has finalized its 2015-16 non-conference schedule, which features nine regular-season home games and a late-November trip to Southern California for the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy.
Of the 16 known and potential opponents on the Wildcats’ non-conference schedule, eight made postseason appearances in 2015, including five NCAA Tournament participants (Boise State, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Providence and UC Irvine). UA could face CIT champion Evansville in the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy and has scheduled games against CIT runner-up Northern Arizona and CIT participant Northwestern State.
The known and potential teams on Arizona’s non-conference schedule combined to post an overall winning percentage of .548 in 2014-15, while six finished in the top 100 in last season’s final NCAA RPI.
Arizona currently owns the nation’s longest home winning streak at 38 games, and ranks seventh nationally with a 24-game regular-season non-conference home winning streak.
The Wildcats will open the regular season with four-straight home games, hosting Pacific on Nov. 13, Bradley on Nov. 16, Boise State on Nov. 19 and Northwestern State on Nov. 22. UA’s game against Boise State at McKale Center is a non-bracketed fourth game of the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy.
The field for the 2015 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy is comprised of Arizona, Boise State, Boston College, Evansville, Michigan State, Providence, Santa Clara and UC Irvine – a group that posted a combined .645 winning percentage, five NCAA Tournament appearances and seven NCAA Tournament victories last season.
The first two days of the championship round, Nov. 26 and 27, will be played at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The final day of the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy, Nov. 29, will be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The tournament bracket is expected to be announced in late July or early August.
Following the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy, the Wildcats will take to the road to conclude their home-and-home series with Gonzaga on Dec. 5 in Spokane, Wash. UA and Gonzaga played one of the marquee non-conference games in all of college basketball last season, with third-ranked Arizona outlasting the ninth-ranked Bulldogs, 66-63, in overtime at McKale Center. Both teams reached the Elite Eight in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
UA has won a Pac-12-best 40 true road games since head coach Sean Miller arrived in Tucson in 2009.
Arizona will wrap up regular-season non-conference play with five-consecutive home games, beginning with Fresno State on Dec. 9. The start of a home-and-home series with SEC member Missouri will take place on Dec. 13, followed by games against Northern Arizona (Dec. 16), UNLV (Dec. 19) and Long Beach State (Dec. 22).
Prior to the start of the regular season, Arizona will host Chico State in an exhibition game on Sunday, Nov. 8.
Times and television information, as well as the 2015-16 Pac-12 schedule, are expected later this summer.
For the latest updates on Arizona men’s basketball and an inside look at the program, follow @APlayersProgram on Twitter and @aplayersprogram on Instagram.
