Arizona Wildcats athletics had a very average week this past week that saw the football team close out their season and the basketball teams open up their conference schedules. Let’s take a look at this past weeks athletic action from the Wildcats.
Betsided
Swimming and Diving
The #11 men’s and #14 women’s swimming and diving teams were back at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center this past Friday for a dual meet in what was chilly conditions. The men faced the #8 Missouri Tigers and pulled the upset, 160.50-101.50. The women faced #16 Missouri, Oregon State, Northern Arizona, and New Mexico State. The women defeated all four teams pretty handily in what was a good meet all around for both teams. Overall, the Wildcats won 20 of the 30 races in this one. The next meet for these two teams will be on January 23 and 24. The #7 Stanford Cardinal and #2 Cal Bears will be the men’s opponents and the #3 Cardinal and #1 Bears will be in Tucson to face the women’s team.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team finished off the new year with their final non-conference game of the season and then opened 2015 with their first Pac-12 game of the season. These two games were the first of a season long four game home stand. First up was the UT-Martin Skyhawks. The Wildcats were able to hold off the feisty Skyhawks 61-56 to improve to 7-4 in the out of conference portion of their schedule. Next up, Arizona welcomed the 9-2 Washington State Cougars to McKale center on Saturday. This was a game full of crazy second half runs, but in the end the Wildcats could not overcome the very good Cougar team, falling 81-70. Up next for Arizona is the final two games of their four game home stand as they welcome they #23 Washington Huskies and #22 Arizona State Sun Devils to McKale.
Record this week: 1-1
Record this season: 7-5
Men’s Basketball
After an 11-day hiatus, the men’s basketball team returned to the court for their Pac-12 opener against rival Arizona State Sun Devils, at McKale. This one wasn’t close from the beginning as the Wildcats jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first eight minutes of the game and never looked back. The lead was 20 at the half, 45-25, and never got lower than 16 points in the second half, as the Wildcats cruised to the 73-49 win to open conference play. The Wildcats will be back on the court Thursday for a game, in Eugene, with the Oregon Ducks and then a Sunday night match up, in Corvallis, with the Oregon State Beavers.
Record this week: 1-0
Record this season: 13-1
Football
The Wildcats football team returned to the field for the final time this season for the Vizio Fiesta Bowl, against #20 Boise State, on New Years Eve. The Wildcats fell behind 21-0 within the first 10 minutes of the game, but battled back to make it a one-possession game with less than three minutes to go and the ball. However, that final drive did not go as planned and the come back was over, as the Wildcats ended their great season losing 38-30 to the Broncos.
Record this season: 10-4
It was a pretty slow week for Arizona athletics, but the action will start picking up again soon. The men and women’s basketball teams are starting their conference play and multiple other teams will begin competing again soon. This upcoming week the #21 Arizona gymnastics team gets their season started by traveling to Tuscaloosa to face the #4 Alabama Crimson Tide. We will be back next week to catch you up with the Arizona athletics action!