Students and members of ZonaZoo spent their Thursday evening camped inside McKale Center hoping to get early tickets and wristbands for Arizona’s game against Duke Friday at 8:30 p.m.
This was Arizona’s first ever campout for a basketball game. Duke was ranked No. 12 in the country where as Arizona is No. 17 ensuring the game would be an intense matchup.
The last matchup between the two teams was in November of 2023. Arizona came away from that game with a win by five points. Students and fans knew that this years game could go either way for the Wildcats and they didn’t want to miss it.
In addition to staying overnight in McKale, ZonaZoo offered chances to earn “points” that could generate a higher chance of getting seats for the Duke game.
These points came from attending other Arizona Athletic events, encouraging students to spread Wildcat pride amongst all sports.
Staying in McKale tallied with points from attending other events generated the highest chances of getting seats against Duke.
Students came to the stadium as early as 6 p.m. Thursday evening to ensure they would get good seats for one of the best matchups of the season.
A group of freshman girls came unprepared to McKale, sleeping on nothing but hard concrete.
“It was really fun, but we weren’t prepared. We didn’t bring an air mattress or anything. So yeah, it was really uncomfortable,” UA freshman Stella May said.
This seemed to be the case for many Arizona students.
“I mean, sleeping on the ground, well the concrete, was not fun. But it’s going to be worth it. It’s going to be a good game,” UA student Brandon Jonas said.
Despite the business and regular schedule on Friday, Arizona fans showed their dedication and commitment to men’s basketball. Many ZonaZoo students woke up early Friday morning to go home, get food, sleep, or even attend classes after receiving their wrist bands ensuring they would get let into the game.
Olivia Marko, UA student, was one of the few students who left McKale early in the morning to go to her Friday classes.
“We got here at like 6:15,” Marko said about Thursday night, “We slept over and then had classes this morning.”
Many ZonaZoo fans shared various predictions about how the game would turn out. Everyone rooted for Arizona’s victory.
“You know, one thing that we all know is going to happen here tonight is a Trey Townsend legacy game, and that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can’t afford to miss it,” Dominick D’Emilio, UA student, said.
Other students said it would be a close game, as Duke is a high-level competitor.
“I’m predicting a 79-74 win for Arizona,” Logan Simonsen said, another student camper. “I slept on the concrete, all I had was a pillow.”
When asked if he would do it again, Simonsen said, “Oh, definitely. If we do it for the Iowa State game, I’m definitely doing it again.”
Arizona is set to play Iowa State on January 27, 2025. Another student shared that he would repeat the campout for the game against Houston as well, scheduled for February 15, 2025.
Despite Arizona losing the match 69-55, fans remained positive and created an incomparable atmosphere. ZonaZoo members spread enthusiastic energy and said they would do it all over again.
“Obviously I wanted to win, but I mean this game was still really fun even though we lost,” said UA camper Christian Sanchez. “The atmosphere was great and overall this is a learning curve and it just makes us better.”
