The University of Arizona men’s basketball team gave a glimpse of what to expect for the upcoming 2024-2025 season in McKale Center on Friday, Oct. 4 at the annual Red and Blue showcase.
To kick off the night, the Arizona men’s wheelchair basketball team played in a scrimmage. The short game ended 27-25 as fans trickled into McKale. Adaptive Athletics has been at the UA for 50 years with many accomplishments which include producing 51 paralympians.
A nearly sold-out McKale roared with excitement as fans welcomed back the team during their introductions, which was followed by a unified “U of A” chant motivated by head coach Tommy Lloyd. Lloyd said his team is ready to take on the Big 12 with a lot of talent on this year’s squad.
To add to the excitement, the Road Trippin’ Podcast, including former Wildcats Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, alongside co-host Allie Clifton hosted the event. The hosts introduced the new University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella and his wife Lakshmi Garimella, who were greeted with a warm welcome from Arizona fans.
To lead off the events for the evening, the Taco Bell 3-point contest included Wildcats Caleb Love, Carter Bryant, Anthony Dell’Orso and Liam Lloyd. Love and Dell’Orso went on to play in the final round with Love coming out on top with 17 of 30 points.
Following the 3-point contest, KJ Lewis, Tobe Awaka, Jaden Bradley and Bryant all participated in the McDonald’s slam dunk contest. Bryant and Lewis made it to the final round, both grabbing perfect scores and pushing it to the playoffs. Bryant, a freshman, ultimately secured the win with a 360 degree spin after catching a pass off the side of the backboard.
The packed arena got to see the whole team in action during the National Bank of Arizona Scrimmage. The Blue team consisted of Bryant, Awaka, Trey Townsend, Dell’Orso and Conrad Martinez. They took on Love, Lewis, Emmanuel Stephen, Henri Veesaar and Bradley of the Red team.
The game began slowly but both teams were ignited after a 3-point shot from Lewis. This was answered back with an enormous dunk from Bryant. The Blue team pulled away from the Red team, earning an 8-point lead.
Lewis and Love had great chemistry for the Red team on offense along with Veesaar’s height coming into play on multiple defensive occasions. Dell’Orso and Bryant put points up on the board for the Blue team along with hustle from both Martinez and Awaka on defense. This kept the Blue team in the lead until the end of the first half, 29-25.
The second half of the scrimmage had lots of energy from both the court and the crowd. After pulling the score to a 1-point difference, Love got a steal and Lewis got a 3-point shot to put the Red team in the lead 39-37 with five minutes left in the half.
The Red team held this lead, winning 47-44.
Looking ahead
The Wildcats will face off against Eastern New Mexico University in McKale Center on Monday, Oct. 21 in their first exhibition game of the season. The team’s first regular season game will be Nov. 4 against Canisius University in McKale Center.
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