Arizona Wildcats Swap Spots in Recent AP Top 25 Poll With Blue Blood Program
The first week of the 2024-25 college basketball season for the Arizona Wildcats men’s team went well.
They have tune-up games against the Canisius Golden Griffins and Old Dominion Monarchs and dominated in the fashion you want to see from a title-contending team against overmatched programs.
After entering the season as the No. 10 team in the nation, the Wildcats jumped up one spot in the new AP Top 25 poll. They moved up to No. 9 and swapped spots with the North Carolina Tar Heels, who lost to the Kansas Jayhawks 92-89 in the first week of the season.
In the season opener, it was Arizona’s guard trio, Caleb Love, Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis who carried the load. They were the only players to score in double-figures with 17, 15 and 14 points respectively in a 93-64 win.
In the second game of the season, they destroyed the Monarchs 102-44. Five different players scored in double-figures, led by Tennessee Volunteers transfer Tobe Awaka, who poured in 18.
His performance is one statistic that the ESPN staff pointed out in their reaction to the updated polls.
“Tennessee transfer Tobe Awaka had 18 points and 15 rebounds against Old Dominion on Saturday for his third career double-double. He had eight of Arizona's 24 offensive rebounds, the program's most in a game since 2005.”
Joining the energetic big man in double-figures in the starting lineup was Love, who scored 10.
Off the bench, highly-touted freshman Carter Bryant had 12 points and Henri Veesaar scored 10. Campbell Fighting Camels transfer Anthony Dell’Orso had 11 points with four rebounds and three assists in only 17 minutes.
Given how lopsided of an affair the second game of the season was, head coach Tommy Lloyd played 10 players double digit minutes. Every player on the roster got into the game and into the scorebook with at least one minute played.
Getting off to a 2-0 start was expected, but things are going to get much tougher for the Wildcats this week. They are heading on the road to face the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center and have one of the biggest non-conference games of the season looming next week.
They will welcome Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils to Tuscon to finish up a home-and-home series. Last season, Arizona went into Cameron Indoor and defeated Duke, who will be looking to exact some revenge and return the favor this time around.
