All you need to know about No. 4 Arizona Basketball vs. No. 5 UCLA GameDay

It’s a RED OUT on Saturday night as No. 4 Arizona Basketball takes on No. 5 UCLA for ESPN’s national GameDay. 

They’re back! ESPN College GameDay is coming back to Tucson. After Arizona Basketball hopefully beats the USC Trojans on Thursday  (8 p.m. MST) at home, they will host UCLA for a RED OUT on GameDay, Saturday  (6:15 p.m MST) in what ESPN is calling a pivotal game.

The Wildcats are now 25-3 overall and 14-1 in the Pac-12 sweeping all four California schools and the Washington Schools on the road. The Cats have won their last 20 at games home, which ranks them No. 5 in the Nation. Now for the grand finale, the last three games of the season. The Goal? Hopefully beat USC, UCLA on GameDay, then after celebrating Arizona’s only graduating senior Kadeem Allen, beat the Cats rival ASU Sun Devils one more time this season.

As it stands, Arizona is in a great position to win the regular season Pac-12 title, with Oregon hot on their heels. The Wildcats might have to win every game from here on out if they hope to do so, as the Ducks have the tie breaker and are playing great basketball.

But alas, we get ahead of ourselves, this week is exciting enough. ESPN GameDay is coming to Tucson!

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• Arizona Basketball to play in ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ in 2024
• Reflections on the Pac-12, the Arizona Wildcats, and other memories

ESPN via ArizonaWildcats.com offered these fun facts about Arizona and GameDay:

"– First GameDay appearance for each school since Feb. 21, 2015 (Arizona def. UCLA in Tucson)– Sixth GameDay appearance for each school and four have come head-to-head– Arizona hosts for the third time (split previous 2, both vs. UCLA)– UCLA appears for the fourth time as GameDay visitor– Arizona is the first opponent the Bruins have visited multiple times for GameDay"

GameDay festivities and activities leading up to the actual game are as follows according to ArizonaWildcats.com:

"* ESPN College GameDay will be in McKale on Saturday morning.* Free admission for all and fans may start lining up at 5:00 a.m.* Doors open at 7:00 a.m.* All students will be able to enter through the ZonaZoo entrance* Gate A next to the McKale Ticket Office will be open for general fans.* Arizona Athletics will have a poster making station inside of McKale.* Fans are encouraged to wear your best Arizona gear and bring posters for the show.* There will not be any concessions open inside of McKale, but the Roadrunner food truck will be open at 5:00 a.m. near the               ZonaZoo entrance.* Fans will be able to enter McKale and find a seat at 7:00 a.m. The show will air from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.* All fans will need to clear McKale afterward.* ZonaZoo will be able to begin lining up for the UCLA game at 2:00 p.m.for the 6:15 p.m. tip-off.* Doors to McKale will reopen for ZonaZoo at 4:00 p.m. and general admission gates will open at 4:30 p.m* Don’t forget to wear red to RED OUT McKale."

Javier Morales, All Sports Tucson Expert, broke down the last five Arizona Basketball GameDay’s. Here are his results (more information from Javier can be found here):

"– Feb. 2, 2008    — Arizona 60 at No. 5 UCLA 82– Jan. 28, 2012   — Washington 69 at Arizona 67– March 2, 2013 — Arizona 69 at UCLA 74– Feb. 22, 2014   — Arizona 88 at Colorado 61– Feb. 21, 2015   — UCLA 47 at Arizona 57"

The good news is that Arizona has won the last two of five GameDay competitions, one away and one at home.

More information:

Series UCLA vs. Arizona: UCLA, 55-41

Standings: Arizona 25-3 overall, 14-1 Pac-12     UCLA  24-3 overall, 14-3 Pac-12

Last Meeting: Arizona, 96–85 on January 26, 2017

Point Spread: TBD

Records according to the Pac-12’s Jesse Hooker:  Sean Miller is the 21st coach in league history to reach 100 career Conference victories. His .741 winning percentage in league games (103-36, 129 total) is fourth to only John Wooden (.810), Lute Olson (.764) and Jim Harrick (.743) among those to reach the 100-win plateau.

So, Sean Miller wins one more game, and he ties Jim Harrick for all-time winning percentage, just two more wins and he lands in third place behind Hall of Fame Coach Lute Olson.

Miller spoke to media on Monday about this coming weekend, “There’s really no preparation — If you talk about it, it’s a negative,” said Miller, “There’s enough at stake when you play the game then when you start to play the game within your own mind, and you add things of an anxious nature. It doesn’t help performance if you are an athlete and part of a team, it’s about THE game — We are honored that College GameDay is here, I think it’s great for our program. It’s great for our conference, the Pac-12, they should be here.”

Alfred knows what he is coming into when his team comes to McKale:

Must Read: Arizona Wildcats Basketball: Best Dunks of the 2016-2017 Season, so far

Those of you able to go to GameDay, go, it doesn’t come around that often, and we hear it is really fun! Let’s get these two wins and sweep the LA schools at home and on the road. Bear Down!