2016–17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

2016–17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 16
2016–17 record	6–2 (0–0 Pac-12)
Head coach	Sean Miller (8th year)
Associate head coach	Joe Pasternack
Assistant coach	Emanuel Richardson
Assistant coach	Mark Phelps
Home arena	McKale Center

2016–17 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
#11 UCLA	0	–	0		–			9	–	0		1.000
USC	0	–	0		–			7	–	0		1.000
California	0	–	0		–			6	–	1		.857
Utah	0	–	0		–			5	–	1		.833
#23 Oregon	0	–	0		–			7	–	2		.778
#16 Arizona	0	–	0		–			6	–	2		.750
Colorado	0	–	0		–			5	–	2		.714
Stanford	0	–	0		–			6	–	3		.667
Arizona State	0	–	0		–			4	–	3		.571
Washington	0	–	0		–			4	–	3		.571
Washington State	0	–	0		–			4	–	4		.500
Oregon State	0	–	0		–			3	–	6		.333
† 2017 Pac-12 Tournament winner As of Dec. 3, 2016; Rankings from AP Poll

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.

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.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Ryan Anderson	PF	6’9”	235	RS Senior	Lakewood, CA	Graduated.
Mark Tollefsen	SF	6’9”	205	RS Senior	Danville, CA	Graduated.
Kaleb Tarczewski	C	7'0"	250	Senior	Claremont, NH	Graduated.
Gabe York	SG	6'3"	190	Senior	West Covina, CA	Graduated.
Jacob Hazzard	PG	6'0"	170	Senior	Los Angeles, CA	Walk-on; Graduated.
Elliott Pitts	G	6'5"	190	Junior	Dublin, CA	Dismissed from the team due to undisclosed reasons.[1] Transferred to Diablo Valley College.[2]
Trey Mason	G	6'2"	195	Junior	Los Angeles, CA	Walk-on; Left team but will continue as a student.[3]
Justin Simon	G	6'5"	200	Freshman	Temecula, CA	Transferred to St. John's.[4]

Incoming transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Talbott Denny	G	6'6"	210	RS Senior	Tucson, AZ	Graduate transfer from Lipscomb.[5]
Keanu Pinder	F	6'8"	220	Junior	Perth, AU	Junior college transfer from Hutchinson Community College.[6]
Dylan Smith	G	6'5"	170	Sophomore	Mobile, AL	Transferred after freshman year from UNC Asheville. Will sit out for 2016–17 season due to NCAA transfer rules and have three years of eligibility starting in 2017–18.[7]

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.^[8]

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Lauri Markkanen F/C	Helsinki, FI	Helsinki Basketball Academy	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Oct 17, 2015
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 96
Kobi Simmons PG	Alpharetta, GA	St. Francis HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jan 16, 2016
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 92
Rawle Alkins SG	Middle Village, NY	Word of God Christian Academy	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Mar 7, 2016
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 92
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: #7   Rivals: #3  247Sports: #5  ESPN: #7
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Arizona 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 14, 2016. "2016 Arizona Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved May 14, 2016. "2016 Arizona Wildcats Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 14, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved May 14, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 14, 2016. "2016 Arizona 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved May 14, 2016.

2017 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Alex Barcello PG	Tempe, AZ	Corona del Sol HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Aug 26, 2016
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 82
DeAndre Ayton C	Phoenix, AZ	Hillcrest Academy (AZ)	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Sep 6, 2016
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 97
Brandon Randolph SG	Yonkers, NY	Westtown School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 12, 2016
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 88
Ira Lee PF	Los Angeles, CA	Crossroads School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	217 lb (98 kg)	Oct 20, 2016
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 84
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: #1   Rivals: #1  247Sports: #1  ESPN: #1
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Arizona 2017 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016. "2017 Arizona Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016. "2017 Arizona Wildcats Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016. "2017 Arizona 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016.

Personnel

Roster

2016–17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Home town G 0 Jackson-Cartwright, ParkerParker Jackson-Cartwright  5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Sierra Canyon School Los Angeles, CA G 1 Alkins, RawleRawle Alkins 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Word of God Christian Brooklyn, NY G 2 Simmons, KobiKobi Simmons 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr St. Francis HS Atlanta, GA G 3 Smith, DylanDylan Smith  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So UNC Asheville Mobile, AL G 5 Allen, KadeemKadeem Allen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Hutchinson C.C. Wilmington, NC F 10 Markkanen, LauriLauri Markkanen 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Helsinki Basketball Academy Jyväskylä, FI C 14 Ristić, DušanDušan Ristić 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Sunrise Christian Academy Novi Sad, RS G 20 Denny, TalbottTalbott Denny  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Lipscomb Tucson, AZ C 21 Comanche, ChanceChance Comanche 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Beverly Hills HS Beverly Hills, CA F 24 Smith, RayRay Smith  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Las Vegas HS Las Vegas, NV F 25 Pinder, KeanuKeanu Pinder 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Hutchinson C.C. Perth, AU G 35 Trier, AllonzoAllonzo Trier 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Findlay Prep Seattle, WA G 50 Trillo, TylerTyler Trillo (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS So Roger Williams Southbury, CT G 51 Cruz, PauloPaulo Cruz (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Francis Parker School San Diego, CA G 52 Jones, KoryKory Jones (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Westfield HS Herndon, VA F 55 Desjardins, JakeJake Desjardins (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Coronado HS Henderson, NV	Head coach Sean Miller (Pittsburgh) Assistant coach(es) Joe Pasternack (Indiana) Emanuel Richardson (UPJ) Mark Phelps (Old Dominion) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

• Aug 24, 2016 - Talbott Denny will miss the 2016–17 season after tearing his left ACL.^[9]
• Nov 1, 2016 - Allonzo Trier out since first exhibition game for an undisclosed reason(s).^[10]
• Nov 1, 2016 - Sean Miller announced in a statement that Chance Comanche suspended indefinitely due to academic reasons.^[11] Suspension was lifted by season opener.^[12]
• 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.^[13]
• Nov 30, 2016 - Parker Jackson-Cartwright suffered a high ankle sprain during game against Texas Southern.^[14]

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year at Arizona	Alma Mater (year)
Sean Miller	Head Coach	8th	Pittsburgh (1992)
Joe Pasternack	Associate Head Coach	6th	Indiana (1999)
Emanuel Richardson	Assistant Coach	8th	Pittsburgh-Johnstown (1998)
Mark Phelps	Assistant Coach	2nd	Old Dominion (1996)
Ryan Reynolds	Director of Basketball Operations	8th	Xavier (2007)
Ben Tucker	Assistant Director of Basketball Operations	3rd	Arizona (2010)

Schedule

In Arizona's non-conference schedule the team will host Cal State Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, Texas Southern, UC Irvine, Northern Colorado and Sacred Heart. Arizona has one true road game against Missouri. The Wildcats will also play five games in four neutral sites. They will play Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam in Honolulu (later announced that game was moved to Stan Sheriff Center to accommodate more fans^[15]), Gonzaga in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Game at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Texas A&M at the Toyota Center in Houston, and were also invited to play 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.^[16] 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 Red-Blue game will take place on October 14, 2016 at McKale Center. The event debuts the team for the 2016–17 season. It includes player introductions, a speech by Miller, dunk contest, and a scrimmage. Red team beat the Blue team, 53–49.

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
Nov. 1, 2016* 7:30 pm, P12N	No. 10	College of Idaho	W 86–35	–	17 – Simmons	11 – Pinder	8 – Allen	McKale Center (13,844) Tucson, AZ
Nov. 6, 2016* 4:00 pm, P12N	No. 10	Chico State	W 78–70	–	21 – Markkanen	7 – Markkanen	6 – Jackson-Cartwright	McKale Center (14,323) Tucson, AZ
Non-conference regular season
Nov. 11, 2016* 5:00 pm, ESPN	No. 10	vs. No. 12 Michigan State Armed Forces Classic	W 65–63	1–0	18 – Simmons	6 – Tied	3 – Jackson-Cartwright	Stan Sheriff Center (9,475) Honolulu, HI
Nov. 15, 2016* 8:00 pm, P12N	No. 10	Cal State Bakersfield	W 78–66	2–0	26 – Markkanen	8 – Markkanen	5 – Jackson-Cartwright	McKale Center (14,214) Tucson, AZ
Nov. 18, 2016* 8:00 pm, P12N	No. 10	Sacred Heart Las Vegas Invitational campus-site game	W 95–65	3–0	22 – Markkanen	15 – Ristić	4 – Jackson-Cartwright	McKale Center (14,392) Tucson, AZ
Nov. 21, 2016* 7:00 pm, P12N	No. 8	Northern Colorado Las Vegas Invitational campus-site game	W 71–55	4–0	17 – Markkanen	13 – Markkanen	11 – Jackson-Cartwright	McKale Center (14,397) Tucson, AZ
Nov. 24, 2016* 8:30 pm, FS1	No. 8	vs. Santa Clara Las Vegas Invitational semifinal	W 69–61	5–0	16 – Markkanen	9 – Markkanen	6 – Jackson-Cartwright	Orleans Arena (2,537) Paradise, NV
Nov. 25, 2016* 8:30 pm, FS1	No. 8	vs. Butler Las Vegas Invitational championship	L 65–69	5–1	15 – Markkanen	6 – Tied	8 – Jackson-Cartwright	Orleans Arena (3,000) Paradise, NV
Nov. 30, 2016* 7:00 pm, P12N	No. 16	Texas Southern	W 85–63	6–1	19 – Markkanen	6 – Tied	7 – Allen	McKale Center (14,410) Tucson, AZ
Dec. 3, 2016* 3:30 pm, ESPN	No. 16	vs. No. 8 Gonzaga HoopHall LA	L 62–69	6–2	16 – Alkins	8 – Markkanen	3 – Allen	Staples Center  Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 6, 2016* 8:00 pm, P12N		UC Irvine			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Dec. 10, 2016* 10:00 am, ESPN2		at Missouri			–	–	–	Mizzou Arena  Columbia, MO
Dec. 14, 2016* 9:00 pm, ESPNU		Grand Canyon			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Dec. 17, 2016* 10:00 AM, ESPN2		vs. Texas A&M Lone Star Shootout			–	–	–	Toyota Center  Houston, TX
Dec. 20, 2016* 7:00 pm, P12N		New Mexico			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Pac-12 regular season
Dec. 30, 2016 9:00 pm, ESPN2		at California			–	–	–	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, CA
Jan. 1, 2017 6:00 pm, P12N		at Stanford			–	–	–	Maples Pavilion  Stanford, CA
Jan. 5, 2017 8:00 pm, FS1		Utah			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Jan. 7, 2017 7:30 pm, P12N		Colorado			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Jan. 12, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2		Arizona State Rivalry			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Jan. 19, 2017 7:00 pm, P12N		at USC			–	–	–	Galen Center  Los Angeles, CA
Jan. 21, 2017 2:00 pm, CBS		at UCLA Rivalry			–	–	–	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
Jan. 26, 2017 7:30 pm, P12N		Washington State			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Jan. 29, 2017 1:30 pm, FOX		Washington			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Feb. 2, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN2		at Oregon State			–	–	–	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, OR
Feb. 4, 2017 TBA, ESPN		at Oregon			–	–	–	Matthew Knight Arena  Eugene, OR
Feb. 8, 2017 9:00 pm, FS1		Stanford			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Feb. 11, 2017 TBA, ESPN/ESPN2		California			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Feb. 16, 2017 7:00 pm, FS1		at Washington State			–	–	–	Beasley Coliseum  Pullman, WA
Feb. 18, 2017 6:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2		at Washington			–	–	–	Alaska Airlines Arena  Seattle, WA
Feb. 23, 2017 8:00 pm, P12N		USC			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
Feb. 25, 2017 TBA, ESPN/ESPN2		UCLA Rivalry			–	–	–	McKale Center  Tucson, AZ
March 4, 2017 2:00 pm, CBS		at Arizona State Rivalry			–	–	–	Wells Fargo Arena  Tempe, AZ
Pac-12 Tournament
Mar. 8–11, 2017  P12N/ESPN		vs.			–	–	–	T-Mobile Arena  Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time.

Ranking movement

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Post	Final
AP	10	10	8	16																N/A*
Coaches	11	9	9	15

Player statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FGM-FGA	3PM-3PA	FTM-FTA	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Rawle Alkins	7	7	28.4	27-52	8-22	14-19	3.3	1.4	0.9	0.7	10.9
Kadeem Allen	6	5	27.3	18-43	2-8	11-175	3.3	1.7	1.2	0.5	8.2
Chance Comanche	7	0	17.9	16-30	0-0	13-19	4.4	0.3	0.1	0.4	6.4
Paulo Cruz	3	0	3.7	0–2	0–0	0–0	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Jake Desjardins	2	0	2.0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Parker Jackson-Cartwright	7	7	29.1	18-47	5-19	15-19	2.9	5.3	1.3	0.1	8.0
Lauri Markkanen	7	7	31.9	40-74	15-32	33-37	7.6	1.6	0.4	0.7	18.3
Keanu Pinder	7	0	15.7	9-15	1-2	7-12	4.0	0.6	0.9	1.3	3.7
Dušan Ristić	7	7	21.3	25-54	0–0	7-11	5.7	0.6	0.7	0.7	8.1
Kobi Simmons	7	2	28.9	32-65	8-21	19-26	1.7	1.6	1.1	0.0	13.0
Allonzo Trier	0	0	0.0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Tyler Trillo	2	0	4.5	0-2	0-2	0–0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Honors

Preseason Award Watchlists

• Allonzo Trier - Jerry West Award Watchlist^[17]
• Lauri Markkanen - Karl Malone Award Watchlist^[18]
• Lauri Markkanen- Naismith Award Watchlist ^[19]
• Lauri Markkanen - Wooden Award Watchlist ^[20]

References

1. Pascoe, Bruce. "Arizona basketball: Simple math says Pitts is gone". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
2. Encinas, Gabe. "Arizona basketball: Elliott Pitts transferring to Diablo Valley College". azdesertswarm.com. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
3. Pascoe, Bruce. "UA basketball: New policy cleared way for Miles Simon to be honored". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
4. Pascoe, Bruce. "Arizona basketball: Guard Justin Simon to transfer". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
5. Pascoe, Bruce. "Former Salpointe standout Denny commits to Arizona Wildcats". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
6. Pascoe, Bruce. "Wildcats land Australian post Keanu Pinder". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
7. Pascoe, Bruce. "Arizona basketball: UNC Asheville transfer commits to Wildcats". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Statr. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
8. Rosenblatt, Zack. "Arizona basketball: Recruit Terrance Ferguson turns pro". Tucson.com. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
9. Pascoe, Bruce. "Arizona Wildcats forward Talbott Denny to miss season with knee injury". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Statr. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
10. Pascoe, Bruce. "Arizona Wildcats basketball: Allonzo Trier, Chance Comanche out for tonight's exhibition game". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
11. Pines, Seth. "Arizona hoops: Comanche suspended indefinitely". KGUN9.com. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
12. Kelapire, Ryan. "Arizona basketball: Chance Comanche will play against Michigan State". AZDesertSwarm.com. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
13. Pascoe, Bruce. "Ray Smith's career over after Arizona Wildcats confirm he tore ACL". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
14. Presnell, Kelly. "Arizona Wildcats win, but lose Parker Jackson-Cartwright for 'considerable amount of time'". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
15. "2016 State Farm Armed Forces Classic To Be Played At Stan Sheriff Center". ESPNEvents.com.
16. Pascoe, Bruce. "Cats will have more aggressive schedule next season, Miller says". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
17. Sills-Trausch, Alec. "Arizona basketball: Allonzo Trier named to the Jerry West Award watch list". AZDesertSwarm.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
18. Kelapire, Ryan. "Arizona basketball: Lauri Markkanen named to the Karl Malone Award watch list". AZDesertSwarm.com. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
19. Bartel, Jason. "Arizona basketball: Arizona Wildcats Basketball Lauri Markkanen on preseason Naismith Award watch list". AZDesertSwarm.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
20. Pascoe, Bruce. "UA-Cal State Bakersfield pregame: Markkanen named to Wooden Award Watchlist". Tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 15 November 2016.