Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Schedule starts off with a bang, continues throughout the season

It won't take long for the UA men's basketball team to get into the competitive spirit.

The competition will come to them.

Beginning tonight with the Preseason National Invitation Tournament, the Wildcats will not have many opportunities to rest.

"Playing easy competition early on doesn't get you ready for the tougher games and the tournament," sophomore forward Michael Wright said. "It's a real good schedule."

If Arizona defeats Kansas State tonight at McKale Center, they face the winner of the New Mexico State-Hofstra game on Friday at home. The Aggies of NMSU made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, while the Flying Dutchmen of Hofstra finished 22-10 in 1998-99.

If Arizona wins that game, they travel to New York City. A probable semifinal opponent is No. 4 Ohio State on Nov. 24. Win or lose that game, Arizona plays again two nights later. Possible opponents could include No. 14 Kentucky, No. 16 Utah and Maryland.

"This is one of the most prestigious tournaments, and I'm excited about playing in it," sophomore swing forward Richard Jefferson said. "I used to watch it on TV and now I get the chance to play in it."

After the Thanksgiving holiday, the schedule doesn't get any easier. In fact, there's an 11-day stretch that would make any team sweat.

On Dec. 1, Arizona returns to McKale Center to face Brigham Young, who took the Wildcats to overtime before Arizona won 78-74 last year. Arizona then travels to Austin to face No. 21 Texas on Dec. 4, then plays defending national champion and No. 8 Connecticut in the Great Eight in Chicago. UConn split its opening two games last week in New York at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, falling to Iowa and defeating Duke.

Dec. 11 is the date all Arizona fans have circled, as No. 2 Michigan State comes to McKale. The Spartans may be without All-American point guard Mateen Cleaves, who injured his foot, but Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, Mike Chappell and freshman sensation Jason Richardson should be enough to keep Arizona's hands full.

"It'll keep us real motivated," Wright said. "We've got UConn, the NIT, Michigan State. It's going to be a bumpy road and we just have to work like dogs."

Arizona gets a breather of some sorts during finals week. The opponent is not Indiana University, nor is it Purdue University, but Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. The Jaguars of IUPUI were 11-16 a year ago.

After finals, Arizona plays in the Las Vegas Showdown against Nebraska Dec. 18. The up-and-coming Cornhuskers were 20-13 last year and have their eyes on an NCAA Tournament berth this year.

Traditional rivals New Mexico come to McKale Center on Dec. 21 in what looks like the final meeting between the two schools for a few years. UA head coach Lute Olson was furious with the Lobos' fans at The Pit during last year's 79-78 loss and said Arizona would never play there again.

After Christmas, Arizona hosts the 15th-annual Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic, which the Wildcats have never lost. North Carolina-Wilmington is Arizona's first opponent. Also featured in the tournament is Delaware, a top-25 pick in many preseason publications, and Alabama, who feature one of the nation's top junior college transfer in Schea Cotton.

Once Y2K hits, Arizona's focus will be on the Pacific 10 Conference, aside from a Jan. 29 road game against Louisiana State. Eugene Edgerson, a native of New Orleans, is redshirting and therefore won't be able to play in his home state.

The Pac-10 season starts off with a bang, as Arizona travels to the Bay Area to take on California and Stanford. The return leg of this road trip comes on the last weekend of the regular season, with a possible Pac-10 championship hanging in the balance.

Also in January is a difficult road trip to UCLA and USC, but the advantage is that the Wildcats won't have to travel as much as the season winds down.

"(The Pac-10) is competitive, I know that," Wright said. "We just have to be ready because anything can happen. That's what I learned last year, anything can happen, we lost to Oregon State, also California after beating them here by 20."

Arizona is the preseason favorite for the Pac-10 title in a media poll, but Olson isn't taking anything for granted.

"Generally, most of the experience is coming back," he said. "The consensus would be the four teams with a shot at winning - Oregon, Stanford, UCLA and Arizona. Washington lost a lot of players, Cal is still okay and Arizona State has a lot of question marks."

The Wildcats also play a non-conference game at Louisiana State University on Jan. 29, sandwiched between Arizona State and Oregon.