No. 1 Arizona (8-0) vs. No. 12 Alabama (7-2) | Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Ala. | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN | 1290-AM
Probable starters
0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)
5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)
18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)
0 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)
13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)
3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)
30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)
2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)
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0 G Labaron Philon (6-4 sophomore)
2 G Latrell Wrightsell (6-3 senior)
95 F Houston Mallette (6-5 senior)
5 F Amari Allen (6-8 freshman)
22 C Aiden Sherrell (6-11 sophomore)
1 F Jalil Bethea (6-5 sophomore)
7 F Taylor Bol Bowen (6-10 junior)
4 F Davion Hannah (6-6 freshman)
6 F London Jemison (6-8 freshman)
How they match up
The series: Arizona is 2-3 against the UA of the SEC. Each school defended its homecourt during a two-year series in 2017-18 and 2018-19, while the Wildcats beat Alabama 87-74 in Phoenix on Dec. 20, 2023, during the first game of the current two-game, semi-neutral series.
Game agreement: Arizona and Alabama are playing the final game of a two-game semi-home-and-home series that began in Phoenix during the 2023-24 season.
Alabama overview: The Crimson Tide lost four starters off a team that won 28 games against the toughest overall schedule and reached the Elite Eight last season, but have managed to pick up where they left off. A big reason is that point guard Labaron Philon returned from the NBA Draft at the last minute, and improved his 3-point shooting enough that he is supercharging coach Nate Oats’ offensive philosophy.
The Tide, as always under Oats, run a blisteringly fast tempo that emphasizes shooting 3s and very close-in two-point shots, and it works. Alabama ranks second in overall offensive efficiency, actually hitting 3s at only a 34.8% rate that ranks 128th nationally, but the Tide takes the seventh-highest number of 3s as a percentage of overall field goals (53.2%). Inside, they take advantage of the spacing their 3-point shooting creates and hit 62.9% of their two-pointers, the ninth best rate nationally.
Despite running the nation’s eighth-fastest adjusted tempo, Alabama also takes care of the ball: They turn it over on only 13.0% of their possessions, the ninth-best rate in Division I and rank sixth in turnovers that aren’t forced by an opponent’s steal.
Philon (40.4%) and shooting guard Aden Holloway (42.9%) are both hitting over 40% from 3 while literally everyone on the floor is an outside threat of some degree. Even 255-pound center Aiden Sherrell has hit 5 of 14 3s, while shooting 63.9% from two-point range.
On the wing, Alabama receives defensive production from former Pepperdine guard Houston Mallette, who received a fifth year of eligibility after opting out of a planned redshirt season and then struggling with an injury last season. Freshman Amari Allen gives the Tide inside-outside scoring threat, as does 6-10 Florida State transfer Taylor Bol Bowen, who has hit 19 of 21 two-point shots but has been limited with back spasms.
Defensively, the Tide won’t turn opponents over very often, and allows teams to shoot 48.5% against them from two, but blocks 14.1% of opponents’ shots. That’s in large part because Sherrell blocks 11.9% of opponents’ twos when he’s on the floor.
He said it: “Obviously they’re comfortable shooting a lot of 3s. Nate’s done a great job at Alabama. They have a real identity and a real conviction to how they play, and if you have an identity and a conviction and it’s well coached, you can almost win any way.
“We know it’s a great challenge for us, and we’ve got to do a good job defending the 3-point line. But usually (with a lot of 3s), you also get hurt by layups. The combination of those two things together are a backbreaker. So you’ve got to play good all around defense. You can’t just get fixated with one thing and feel you did a good job protecting the 3-point line, and then they make a bunch of layups and free throws. That’s also a recipe for a tough night.” — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Key players
Alabama guard Labaron Philon reacts to fans after the Tide won at Auburn last season.
Once briefly an Arizona recruiting target, Philon told ESPN he was “all-in” on the NBA draft after playing his freshman season with the Tide in 2024-25 — then pulled out at the 11th hour. The fact that Alabama’s NIL collective “Yea Alabama” announced his return, according to Blue Ribbon Yearbook, might tell you why.
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) earns two points for the Wildcats against Auburn at McKale Center, Dec. 6, 2025.
While it’s hardly unusual in today’s game to see players go against their old school, Bradley is now doing it for the second time. He was a reserve sophomore when he ran into foul trouble and was ineffective in Arizona’s 87-74 win two seasons ago in Phoenix. He’s a different, more assertive, player and leader now.
Sidelines
Having said he often hears about and absorbs UA basketball history from longtime followers, Lloyd may get to feel it this weekend.
What is now Birmingham’s Legacy Arena is the same place where the 1997 national champion Wildcats earned a spot in the Final Four by surviving a precarious weekend in the Southeast Regional.
First the Wildcats pulled off a shocking win over No. 1 overall favorite Kansas in the Sweet 16, and then they outlasted Providence and a star player named God (Shammgod) in overtime of the Elite Eight to make it to Indianapolis, where they won it all.
“Wow, that’s great stories,” Lloyd said when told about that weekend. “I need to look that up. I don’t know anything about it, but we’re excited to get back there.”
Still just 1½ years old, Luka Lloyd made it through his first Arizona basketball practice on Thursday, according to his grandfather.
“He was putting basketballs on the rack, watching cartoons and trying to stay out of the way,” Lloyd said on his radio show Thursday evening. “That was a ton of fun having him around.”
Before long, Lloyd might have another grandchild to help out: He said his son, Liam, a UA graduate assistant, and his wife are expecting a second child at the end of February.
While the Wildcats have often departed two days before games at more distant locations, this time they weren’t scheduled to leave until Friday.
That’s because flying by charter means they can make the 1,400-mile journey in less than three hours, not much longer than a Pac-12 trip to Washington used to take them.
Also, UA will be crossing only one time zone, and playing at a time familiar to their body clocks: Saturday’s game is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. local Central time and at a 7:30 p.m. Tucson time.
“All good stuff,” Lloyd said.
Numbers game
3: Alabama wins in seven previous games against AP No. 1 teams under Oats.
21: Points that Oats-coached Buffalo beat Arizona and Deandre Ayton by in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
7.5: Alabama’s average end-of-season ranking in adjusted tempo under Oats entering this season (14 so far this season)
21.8: Arizona’s average end-of-season ranking in adjusted tempo under Lloyd entering this season (38 so far this season).
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
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