The greatest win in Arizona history was achieved at the same arena the No. 1 Wildcats will play No. 12 Alabama on Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala.
Formerly known as the Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC), the Legacy Arena will showcase the Wildcats (8-0) against the Crimson Tide (7-2). The game at 7:30 p.m., Tucson time, is on ESPN with Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla calling the action. Brian Jeffries and Reggie Geary will announce the game on Wildcats Radio 1290-AM.
En route to Arizona’s national championship in 1997, the Wildcats upset Kansas, the No. 1 overall team in the NCAA tournament, in the Sweet 16 at what was then the BJCC.
Lute Olson’s team with Mike Bibby and Miles Simon leading the way, then defeated Providence in overtime in the Elite Eight to advance to Indianapolis for the Final Four.
Battle-tested Arizona, ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time since late 2023, will put their top ranking immediately to the test playing No. 12 Alabama on Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala.
Arizona (8-0) ascended to the top spot in the rankings after achieving four Top 25 wins during the first month of the season, matching No. 3 Duke and No. 5 UConn for the most in the country.
Tommy Lloyd’s team is coming off a 97-68 rout of then-No. 20 Auburn last week at McKale Center.
“It’s part of being at a program like this, but we have bigger things on our mind,” Lloyd said of the Wildcats’ No. 1 ranking. “We know we have a really tough game against Alabama. We’re just going to stay focused on one thing, and that’s us trying to go play really well on Saturday in a tough atmosphere in Birmingham.”
Two of Arizona’s top scorers are freshmen in Koa Peat (a team-high 15.9 points per game) and Brayden Burries (11.3). Peat has shot 49-for-83 (59%) on two-point baskets through eight career games but also has found success as a facilitator, a staple of the Wildcats’ inside-out game.
“Coach (Lloyd) preaches paint points, and that’s one of our values as a team,” Peat said. “We try to get in the paint, and if we don’t have anything in there, kick out to the three. That’s the best type of thing we can get as a team. It’s been a good formula for us.”
Jaden Bradley, the senior leader who began his career with Alabama, chips in an average of 14.5 points per game on an incredible 58.3% 3-point shooting.
Alabama (7-2) has been on a roll since its 10-point loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 24 at Las Vegas. Across a four-game winning streak against UNLV, Maryland, Clemson and UTSA, the Crimson Tide have won by an average of 30 points.
Nate Oats‘ team boasts the nation’s seventh-highest-scoring offense at 95.1 points per game, with the offense fueled of its defense and forcing turnovers.
He also wants to see more scoring from put-backs.
“We’ve been emphasizing winning the possession game, trying to force more turnovers than we have,” Oats said. “We’re trying to get more offensive boards than we give up, because we haven’t been very good at that.”
In Alabama’s 42-point win over UTSA last week, the Crimson Tide were without second-leading scorer Aden Holloway (18.2 ppg), who hasn’t played since Nov. 27 because of a wrist injury.
The Crimson Tide also sat Taylor Bol Bowen (10.9 ppg), who was a late scratch with back spasms. For a team still looking for its first game with a complete unit, Oats hopes that will happen on Saturday.
“We thought it would be better long-term if (Bol Bowen) sat out knowing we’ve got Arizona on Saturday,” Oats said. “Kind of the same thing with Holloway. We need everybody as healthy as we can have them by Saturday’s game.”
Labaron Philon’s 21.4-point scoring average paces Alabama, while Jalil Bethea is averaging 11.5 points in two games since making his season debut on Dec. 3.
On3.com rates Philon as the No. 1 point guard in the nation in terms of “impact” with no mention of Bradley in the top 10.
It will be interesting to see how Bradley responds to the challenge (and the slight) and being back in Alabama to face his former program.
Hmmm, someone show Jaden Bradley this before tonight’s game. … https://t.co/kYAerTRruv
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) December 13, 2025
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