The No. 7 Arizona Wildcats will be starting conference play against a top 10 ranked team in the nation against the No. 9 UCLA Bruins. The game will be played on Friday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. MST in McKale Center and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
Here’s a quick rundown on everything you need to know before tonight’s matchup.
Accomplishments if the Wildcats win
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes will have won her 70th game of her career as a coach. The Wildcats will have won a game where both teams are ranked in the top 10 in school history. They will have won back-to-back games vs. UCLA for the first time since 2005.
Last matchups against top 10 opponents
March 21, 1998: No. 3 UConn-74, No. 9 Arizona-57
Feb. 28, 1998: No. 5 Stanford-108 No. 7 Arizona-90
Dec. 30, 1997: No. 4 Louisiana Tech-75 No. 10 Arizona-64
Aari McDonald preseason national attention
- Preseason Associated Press All-American
- Wooden Award Preseason Watch List
- Naismith Trophy Watch List
- Wade Trophy Watch List
- Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List
- Preseason All-Pac-12
Aari McDonald entered the game with the most consecutive double-figure scoring games among NCAA active players with 67, ahead of Oklahoma State’s Vivian Gray (57) and Central Michigan’s Micaela Kelly (46). She is ranked third on the most consecutive double-figure scoring games since 1999-00 in the Pac-12 only behind Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu (78) and Washington’s Kelsey Plum (83).
Cate Reese
During last week’s game against NAU, Cate Reese had a stellar performance. Reese led the Wildcats with 21 points and 11 rebounds and looked dominant in the low post, using both hands to finish. In a game where the Wildcats looked rusty on the offensive end, Reese shot the ball 9-13 (69%) from the field.
Last time these two teams played
In last year’s pair of games against UCLA, Arizona was outplayed by the Bruins in the first matchup by a score of 58-70. However, when UCLA traveled down to Tucson for the second game, it was a totally different story. The Wildcats had arguably the best game of their season. They dominated UCLA of a score of 92-66 behind McDonald and Sam Thomas. McDonald finished the game with 27 points and 5 rebounds while Thomas scored 20 points to go along with 2 rebounds.
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