Top-ranked Arizona will play for the first time in a week Saturday when the Wildcats attempt to achieve a school-record 23 consecutive wins when they host Oklahoma State at McKale Center
It will be the first game since the Wildcats (22-0 overall, 9-0 Big 12) achieved the best start in program history following the 87-74 win at Arizona State.
Tommy Lloyd’s team will attempt to break the school record of 22 straight victories, achieved from 1914 to 1917.
Tipoff against Oklahoma State is at 2 p.m. on ESPN with Mike Monaco and King McClure calling the action. Brian Jeffries and Ryan Hansen will announce the game on Wildcats Radio 1290-AM.
The 2000-01 team that advanced to the NCAA championship game will be showcased in a 25th anniversary celebration during halftime.
“I’m looking forward to having a little break in our schedule, but I’m also cognizant that we got to keep getting better,” Lloyd said. “We got to make sure we stay sharp and have great rhythm.
“We got a tough couple games coming up. You got Oklahoma State coming, and then turn around and you got to play at Kansas (on Monday). Not easy.”
The Cowboys (16-6, 4-5) are coming off a 99-92 win on Wednesday night over No. 16 BYU at Stillwater, Okla., behind a season-high 30 points from Anthony Roy.
The victory was the first of the season against a Quad-1 opponent for Oklahoma State, which some NCAA tournament prognosticators label as a team on the bubble.
Arizona is 10-0 in Quad-1 games, the most Quad-1 wins in the country.
Upsetting BYU prompted Oklahoma State’s fans to storm the court.
“It was a heck of a night,” second-year coach Steve Lutz told reporters. “Obviously, we were able to get our first Quad 1 win against a team that I think can play for a national title. I’m proud of the guys. I think they did a fantastic job.
“They’ve done a much better job over the last couple weeks of being a good basketball team rather than a good group of individuals, and that’s paying dividends for us right now.”
After losing four of five games, including two defeats against Iowa State, Oklahoma State has won the last two games at Utah and against BYU.
Roy, a senior guard playing for his fourth program in as many years, leads the Cowboys with 18.5 points a game.
Formerly of San Francisco, New Mexico State and Green Bay, Roy is shooting 46.5% from the field and 44.8% from 3-point range.
Rebounding will be a concern for Oklahoma State, which has only one player averaging more than five a game – 6-foot-10 center Parsa Fallah at 6.3.
Arizona counters with 6-8 power forward Tobe Awaka (9.8 rebounds a game), 7-2 post player Motiejus Krivas (8.3) and 6-8 forward Koa Peat (5.8).
The Wildcats are third nationally in rebounding margin at plus-13.1. Oklahoma State is No. 138 at plus-2.6.
Arizona counters Oklahoma State’s productive perimeter game that includes Roy and point guard Kanye Clary (5.0 assists and 2.1 turnovers a game) with Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries.
Bradley is averaging 4.5 assists to go with only 1.7 turnovers a game.
Burries leads Arizona with 15.3 points a game.
The Wildcats’ steady backcourt play is a significant reason why Arizona remains unbeaten.
“We value steadiness,” Lloyd said. “A lot of people talk about momentum, momentum, momentum. I understand what momentum is, but I think there’s way more value in being steady and consistent.
“From there, you’re going to get opportunities to create momentum. If you’re just worried about panic and having momentum, you really don’t have any substance to what you’re doing. We talk about just staying steady, steady, steady.”
NOTES
— A win over Oklahoma State would set a Big 12 record for best start to a season, topping the previous
record of 22-0 by the 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks.
— Burries was named Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week on Monday after guiding Arizona to
road wins at No. 13 BYU and Arizona State. He averaged 23 points over the two games.
— Bradley (Bob Cousy Award), Burries (Jerry West Award), Peat (Karl Malone Award) and Krivas (Abdul-Jabbar Award) were all named to the 10-person watch list for their awards this week.
— Arizona leads the series, 4-0, with Oklahoma State after taking last year’s only meeting in Stillwater, 92-78. This is the first meeting in Tucson between the two schools.
— The 72-6 record at home under Lloyd is tied for fifth-most home wins in the country over that span. The .923 home winning percentage is also tied for fifth-best in the country.
— Krivas has a career-high 40 blocked shots and is shooting a career-best 60% from the floor.
— In Big 12 play, Arizona leads the league in scoring (88.3 ppg), scoring margin (+16.4), field-goal percentage (.510), field-goal percentage defense (.395), opponent 3-point field goal percentage (.305), and rebounding margin (+10.8).
— As a team, the Wildcats rank among the nation’s best in rebound margin (third), scoring margin (fifth), free-throw attempts (sixth), field-goal percentage (seventh), fastbreak points (ninth), free throws made (ninth).
— Arizona has scored at least 84 points in all but one Big 12 game so far (77 against Cincinnati).
— The Wildcats have made 182 free throws in Big 12 play this season. Opponents have attempted 137.
— Arizona has shot 50% or better from the floor in 26 of 44 halves and 14 of 22 games this year.
— Only twice this season has the same player led Arizona in scoring in back-to-back games.
— Seven different players have scored 20 or more points in a game this season.
— Burries has seven games of 20-plus points. Over the last five games, he’s averaging 19.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists while shooting 47% from 3-point range.
— Peat has four double-doubles this season and is averaging 15.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and shooting 61%
from the floor over the last four games. He had 21 points at Arizona State, his fourth 20-plus game.
— Bradley is 9 of 13 from the floor (69%) in clutch time this season, according to CBBAnalytics. He
averages 19.7 points on 56% shooting against Top 25 opponents this year.
— Awaka leads the country in offensive rebounds per 40 minutes (7.7). He had 10-plus rebounds nine times this year.
— Roy averaged 28 points and was 10 of 18 from 3-point range in Oklahoma State’s last two wins. He had 26 points in last Saturday’s 81-69 victory at Utah, which snapped the Cowboys’ 15-game Big 12 road losing streak.
— The Cowboys have exceeded their 2024-25 regular season victory total (15-16) with still half the Big 12 schedule left to play. A win over the Wildcats would even their league record at 5-5 and further strengthen their case for an NCAA tournament bid.
— The AP Poll made its debut on Jan. 11, 1949. Nine days later, Oklahoma State pulled the first ever upset of a No. 1-ranked team, defeating Saint Louis, 29-27. The Cowboys have since beaten three other No. 1’s: Oklahoma (1989), Kansas (2010) and Baylor (Jan. 15, 2022 in Waco).
— OSU’s 86.5-point scoring average is just ahead of the school-record pace set by the 2015-16 team (85.7). The Cowboys are 16-0 this season when scoring at least 81 points (0-6 otherwise).
— Seven Cowboys average at least seven points per game, led by Roy (18.2 points per game). The senior
guard ranks among the nation’s best 3-point marksmen by both quantity (15th, 3.42/game) and quality (9th, 44.8%). He’s also shooting a league-best 88.6% at the foul line.
— Lutz is one of just four active DI coaches with 100-plus career wins in less than five full seasons of experience, joined by Hubert Davis (North Carolina), Lloyd and Jon Scheyer (Duke).
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