Coming into the 2024-25 season expectations were high for No. 9 Arizona (2-0) despite the change of conference from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 following a 45-year run in the West Coast's premier conference.
Now, the Wildcats are in the Big 12 conference and will face a massive test on the hardwood night in and night out. But, before Arizona gets to conference play, it will need to get past Wisconsin in the team's first road test of the season.
Last year, Arizona knocked off Wisconsin 98-73, which was all Wildcats from start to finish. Now, UA will be heading to the northeast as the team takes on the Badgers from the Kohl Center in what is expected to be one of the toughest places to in the Big 12 conference.
This is the ninth meeting all-time between these two programs with Wisconsin leading the series 5-3 over Arizona. The two most memorable games came in the Elite Eight in back-to-back season with the Badgers winning both games to move on to the Final Four.
During Friday's game, Wisconsin will be honoring those teams with former head coach Bo Ryan being inducted into the athletics hall of fame and players from those teams back on campus.
GAME INFO
Who: Arizona (2-0) vs. Wisconsin (3-0) (Wisconsin last game won 87-56 against Appalachian State)
When: 7 p.m. (MST)
Where: Kohl Center | Madison, Wis.
TV: Peacock
Odds: Arizona (-3.5) O/U (152.5)
All-time series: Wisconsin leads 5-3 (Arizona won the last meeting 98-73 in Tucson last season against the Badgers)
SNAPSHOT
Head coach: Greg Gard (10th season | 189-107)
Preseason prediction: T-12th (Big Ten)
2023-24 finish: 22-14, 11-9 (5th)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Scoring offense: Arizona (10th/97.5 PPG) | Wisconsin (102nd/83.7 PPG)
Scoring defense: Arizona (12th/54 PPG) | Wisconsin (50th/61.3 PPG)
Rebounding margin: Arizona (1st/24.5) | Wisconsin (73rd/9.7)
Assists per game: Arizona (19th/20.5) | Wisconsin (138th/15.7)
Turnovers per game: Arizona (25th/9) | Wisconsin (35th/9.3)
