Arizona is back atop the college basketball landscape.
The battle-tested Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time since late 2023, won’t be able to rest on their laurels for long, however, as they will take on No. 12 Alabama on Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala.
Arizona (8-0) ascended to the top spot in the rankings thanks in part to four Top 25 wins across the first month of the season, matching No. 3 Duke and No. 5 UConn for the most in the country.
Coach Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona team is coming off a 97-68 dismantling of then-No. 20 Auburn on Saturday and now will play the Tigers’ in-state rival.
“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 chips in an average of 14.5 points per game on 58.3% 3-point shooting for Arizona.
Alabama (7-2), meanwhile, has been a wrecking crew since its 10-point loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 24. Across a four-game winning streak, the Crimson Tide have won by an average of 30 points.
Coach Nate Oats knows his team can score — Alabama boasts the nation’s seventh-highest-scoring offense at 95.1 points per game — but an emphasis has been placed on producing a complete effort in recent outings.
“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 on Sunday, the Crimson Tide was 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 ppg average pace Alabama, while Jalil Bethea is averaging 11.5 points in two games since making his season debut on Dec. 3.
