The 2016-17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team will represent the University of Arizona during the 2016-17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by eighth-year head coach Sean Miller, and will play their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members in the Pac-12 Conference. Coming into the '16-'17 season Arizona has been ranked in 78-consecutive AP polls & 81-straight coaches polls. The 97-consecutive weeks in the AP poll is currently the second-longest streak in the nation behind Kansas at 161 weeks. They have been ranked every week in the 2016-2017 season, bringing those totals to 97 weeks for the AP & 100 weeks for the coaches poll. Arizona won its first 10 conference games, the best start since the '97-'98 season when they started 16-0. They finished the season with at record of 31-4, tied at 16-2 with Oregon in Pac-12 play for first place to win their fifteen Pac-12 regular season championship title. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 Tournament as a 2-seed, the Wildcats defeated 7-seed Colorado in the quarterfinals, 3-seed UCLA in the semifinals and 1-seed Oregon (avenged from 85-58 loss on February 4 in Eugene, OR) in the championship game, Wildcats won their sixth Pac-12 Tournament championship title since 2002. Arizona received as an automatic bid to the 5th straight NCAA Tournament (32nd NCAA tournament appearances) as an 2-seed in the West regional, The Arizona Wildcats defeated the 15-seed North Dakota 100-82 in the first round, 7-seed Saint Mary's 69-60 in the second round and losing to Xavier 71-73 in the Sweet Sixteen.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Previous season
The Wildcats finished the 2015-16 season with a record of 25-9, 12-6 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie with California for third place. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 Tournament as a 4 seed where they beat Colorado in the quarterfinals, but fell in the semifinals to Oregon in overtime. Arizona received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the program's 33rd overall appearance, as a No. 6 seed in the South Region. They lost in the First Round to Wichita State.
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Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
2016 Recruiting class
Arizona's recruiting class has been ranked among the top 5 in the nation. However, due to eligibility concerns, five-star recruit Terrance Ferguson chose to play internationally and not attend Arizona.
Personnel
Roster
- Aug 24, 2016 - Talbott Denny will miss the 2016-17 season after tearing his left ACL.
- Nov 1, 2016 - Allonzo Trier suspended indefinitely for an test positive for PED. On Jan. 20, it was announced Trier would make his return for the UCLA game after 19 game absence.
- Nov 1, 2016 - Sean Miller announced in a statement that Chance Comanche suspended indefinitely due to academic reasons. Suspension was lifted by season opener.
- Nov 3, 2016 - Ray Smith tore his ACL in his right knee in the team's first exhibition game on November 1. Two days later, Smith announced on Twitter that he will end his basketball career.
- Nov 30, 2016 - Parker Jackson-Cartwright suffered a high ankle sprain during game against Texas Southern. Made return for conference opener on December 30.
Coaching staff
Schedule and results
In Arizona's non-conference schedule the team hosted Cal State Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, Texas Southern, UC Irvine, Northern Colorado and Sacred Heart. Arizona had one true road game against Missouri. The Wildcats also played five games in four neutral sites. They played Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii (later announced that game was moved to Stan Sheriff Center to accommodate more fans), Gonzaga in the first ever HoopHall LA event at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Texas A&M at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and also played at Orleans Arena as part in the Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, where they face off against three of the following: Butler, Santa Clara or Vanderbilt.
In the unbalanced 18-game Pac-12 schedule, the team will face neither the Rocky Mountain teams (Colorado/Utah) on the road, nor the Oregon teams (Oregon/Oregon State) at home.
Arizona's pre-season Red-Blue scrimmage took place on October 14, 2016 at McKale Center. The Red team beat the Blue, 53-49.
Ranking movement
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
Player statistics
Awards and Honors
Preseason Award Watchlists
- Allonzo Trier
- Jerry West Award Watchlist (October 18, 2016)
- Lauri Markkanen
- Karl Malone Award Watchlist (October 20, 2016)
- Naismith Award Watchlist (November 10, 2016)
- Wooden Award Watchlist (November 15, 2016)
Midseason Awards
- Lauri Markkanen
- Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 (January 12, 2017)
- Wayman Tisdale Award
& Oscar Robertson Award Midseason watch list (January 23, 2017) - Karl Malone Award Finalist (February 2, 2017)
- Naismith Trophy Top 30 (February 9, 2017)
- Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 (January 12, 2017)
Season Awards
- Sean Miller
- 2017 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year semifinalist (March 3, 2017)
- Pac-12 Coach of the Year (March 7, 2017)
- Coach of the Year (Bleacher Report, Fox)
- AP Pac-12 Coach of the Year (March 7, 2017)
- NABC District 20 Coach of the Year (March 22, 2017)
- Lauri Markkanen
- 2017 Wooden Award Top 15 Finalist (March 4, 2017)
- Allonzo Trier
- Pac-12 Tournament MOP (2017)
Weekly Awards
- Lauri Markkanen
- 2x Pac-12 Player of the Week (January 20, 2017-February 20, 2017)
- Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (January 24, 2017)
- Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week (February 20, 2017)
- Wayman Tisdale National Freshman Player of the Week (February 20, 2017)
- 2x Pac-12 Player of the Week (January 20, 2017-February 20, 2017)
All-Conference Pac-12 team
- Lauri Markkanen
- All-Pac-12 Freshman team (2017)
- All-Pac-12 first team (2017)
- All-Pac-12 tournament team (2017)
- AP All-Pac-12 first team (2017)
- Rawle Alkins
- All-Pac-12 freshman team (2017)
- Kadeem Allen
- All-Pac-12 defensive team (2017)
- All-Pac-12 second team (2017)
- Allonzo Trier
- All-Pac-12 second team (2017)
All-American teams
- Lauri Markkanen
- 2017 All-American third team (AP, USA Today, SN, NBC)
- District IX All-District team (2017)
- NABC All-District First Team (District 20, March 22, 2017)
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