# 2015–16 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by seventh-year head coach Sean Miller, and played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 12–6 in Pac-12 play to tie with California for third place. They defeated Colorado in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Oregon. Arizona received an at-large bid to the fourth-straight NCAA tournament, the program's 31st appearance, as a 6-seed in the South Region. They lost in the first round to Wichita State.

## Previous season

The 2014–15 Arizona Wildcats finished the season with an overall record of 34–4 and a 16–2 conference record to win their second straight Pac-12 regular season championship (14th overall). Arizona claimed the longest active home winning streak in D-I men's college basketball (38th home win at 2nd all-time, 82nd home win at 5th all-time) after BYU defeated Gonzaga in the regular season finale, snapping the nation's longest active home winning streak of 41 games, as well as Gonzaga's school record 22-game winning streak. In the Pac-12 Tournament as a #1 seed, Arizona defeated #8 seed California Golden Bears; 73–51, and #4 seed UCLA Bruins; 70–64. The Wildcats then went on to beat Oregon Ducks; 80–52 in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game, and claimed their 5th Pac-12 tournament title for the first time since 2002, along with punching their 32nd ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Arizona entered the NCAA tournament as a #2 seed in the West region, and defeated #15 seed Texas Southern Tigers 93–72, then #10 seed Ohio State Buckeyes; 73–58, and #6 seed Xavier Musketeers, to gain its third trip (2nd straight) to the Elite Eight, as well as Sean Miller's first as head coach. The Wildcats then fell to #1 seed Wisconsin Badgers; 85–78 for the second time (from the Elite Eight's by 1 point overtime loss in last year).

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Matt Korcheck | PF | 6'10" | 235 | RS Senior | Tucson, Arizona | Graduated |
| T. J. McConnell | PG | 6'1" | 195 | RS Senior | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Graduated |
| Drew Mellon | SF | 6’6" | 205 | Senior | Santa Ana, California | Graduated |
| Brandon Ashley | PF | 6'9" | 230 | Junior | San Francisco, California | Declared for 2015 NBA draft |
| Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | SF | 6'7" | 220 | Sophomore | Chester, Pennsylvania | Declared for 2015 NBA draft. Selected 23rd overall by the Portland Trail Blazers; later traded to the Brooklyn Nets. |
| Stanley Johnson | SF | 6'7" | 245 | Freshman | Fullerton, California | Declared for 2015 NBA draft. Selected 8th overall by the Detroit Pistons. |
| Craig Victor II | PF | 6'9" | 230 | Freshman | New Orleans, Louisiana | Left team in January. Elected to transfer to LSU |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Mark Tollefsen | F | 6'9" | 200 | RS Senior | Danville, California | Graduate transfer from San Francisco. Is eligible to play immediately for the 2015–16 season per NCAA graduate transfer rules. |

### 2015 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Justin Simon CG | Temecula, California | Temecula Valley HS/Brewster Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 6, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Ray Smith SF | Las Vegas, Nevada | Las Vegas HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jul 13, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Allonzo Trier SG | Seattle, Washington | Findlay Prep | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 3, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Chance Comanche C | Beverly Hills, California | Beverly Hills HS | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 14, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: #4 Rivals: #3 247Sports: #4 ESPN: #4 ||||||
| 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 2015 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015. "2015 Arizona Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015. "2015 Arizona Wildcats Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015. "2015 Arizona 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015. ||||||
US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Lauri Markkanen PF | Helsinki, Finland | Helsinki Basketball Academy | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Oct 17, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Kobi Simmons CG | Alpharetta, Georgia | St. Francis HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jan 16, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Rawle Alkins SG | Middle Village, New York | Word of God Christian Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Mar 7, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| 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. "2016 Arizona Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "2016 Arizona Wildcats Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. "2016 Arizona 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com. |||||||

## Personnel

On April 13, assistant coach Damon Stoudamire left the team to rejoin the Memphis staff under head coach and former UA player Josh Pastner. On May 22 Mark Phelps, joined the Arizona staff.

### Roster

* Oct 24, 2015 – Freshman Ray Smith to miss entire 2015–16 season due to a torn ACL in his right knee.
* Dec 1, 2015 – Senior Kaleb Tarczewski missed 8 games due to left foot injury. Returned for Pac-12 season play against Arizona State.
* Jan 10, 2015 – Freshman Allonzo Trier missed 7 games due to a right hand injury. Returned Feb. 6 game at Washington.
* Junior Elliott Pitts out since Dec. 9 game against Fresno State, due to an undisclosed personal issue. After the Feb. 17 game against Arizona State, Sean Miller announced Pitts would not return for the remainder of the season.

#### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 | Bench 3 |
| C | Kaleb Tarczewski | Dušan Ristić | | |
| PF | Ryan Anderson | Chance Comanche | | |
| SF | Allonzo Trier | Mark Tollefsen | Elliott Pitts | Ray Smith |
| SG | Gabe York | Justin Simon | Trey Mason | Paulo Cruz |
| PG | Kadeem Allen | Parker Jackson-Cartwright | Jacob Hazzard | |

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Year at Arizona | Alma Mater (year) |
| Sean Miller | Head coach | 7th | Pittsburgh (1992) |
| Joe Pasternack | Associate head coach | 5th | Indiana (1999) |
| Emanuel Richardson | Assistant coach | 7th | Pittsburgh-Johnstown (1998) |
| Mark Phelps | Assistant coach | 1st | Old Dominion (1996) |
| Ryan Reynolds | Director of Basketball Operations | 7th | Xavier (2007) |
| Ben Tucker | Assistant director of Basketball Operations | 2nd | Arizona (2010) |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 8, 2015* 6:00 pm, P12N | No. 12 | Chico State | W 90–54 | – | 19 – Anderson | 10 – Anderson | 4 – Allen | McKale Center (14,268) Tucson, Arizona |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 13, 2015* 7:30 pm, P12N | No. 12 | Pacific | W 79–61 | 1–0 | 19 – Anderson | 12 – Anderson | 5 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Nov 16, 2015* 6:00 pm, P12N | No. 12 | Bradley | W 90–60 | 2–0 | 22 – Trier | 7 – Tarczewski | 7 – Pitts | McKale Center (14,238) Tucson, Arizona |
| Nov 19, 2015* 6:30 pm, P12N | No. 12 | Boise State Wooden Legacy campus-site game | W 88–76 | 3–0 | 23 – York | 15 – Anderson | 6 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Nov 22, 2015* 6:00 pm, P12N | No. 12 | Northwestern State | W 61–42 | 4–0 | 18 – York | 10 – Ristić | 6 – Jackson-Cartwright | McKale Center (14,396) Tucson, Arizona |
| Nov 26, 2015* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 11 | vs. Santa Clara Wooden Legacy Quarterfinals | W 75–73 $^{OT}$ | 5–0 | 17 – Anderson | 11 – Anderson | 7 – Jackson-Cartwright | Titan Gym (2,460) Fullerton, California |
| Nov 27, 2015* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 11 | vs. Providence Wooden Legacy Semifinals | L 65–69 | 5–1 | 27 – Anderson | 12 – Anderson | 4 – Allen | Titan Gym (2,873) Fullerton, California |
| Nov 29, 2015* 2:30 pm, ESPNU | No. 11 | vs. Boise State Wooden Legacy 3rd Place Game | W 68–59 | 6–1 | 13 – Tied | 7 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Honda Center (4,393) Anaheim, California |
| Dec 5, 2015* 1:15 pm, ESPN | No. 19 | at No. 13 Gonzaga | W 68–63 | 7–1 | 18 – York | 6 – 3 Tied | 2 – 3 Tied | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, Washington |
| Dec 9, 2015* 7:00 pm, P12N | No. 13 | Fresno State | W 85–72 | 8–1 | 27 – Trier | 8 – Anderson | 5 – Allen | McKale Center (14,262) Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec 13, 2015* 6:00 pm, P12N | No. 13 | Missouri | W 88–52 | 9–1 | 17 – Tollefsen | 10 – Comanche | 5 – Jackson-Cartwright | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec 16, 2015* 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 13 | Northern Arizona | W 92–37 | 10–1 | 19 – Tollefsen | 12 – Anderson | 7 – Allen | McKale Center (13,566) Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec 19, 2015* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | UNLV | W 82–70 | 11–1 | 20 – Ristić | 13 – Anderson | 5 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec 22, 2015* 7:00 pm, P12N | No. 8 | Long Beach State | W 85–70 | 12–1 | 20 – Trier | 14 – Anderson | 4 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Pac-12 regular season |||||||||
| Jan 3, 2016 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 8 | at Arizona State Rivalry | W 94–82 | 13–1 (1–0) | 22 – York | 10 – Anderson | 6 – York | Wells Fargo Arena (8,044) Tempe, Arizona |
| Jan 7, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at UCLA Rivalry | L 84–87 | 13–2 (1–1) | 15 – Anderson | 15 – Anderson | 4 – Allen | Pauley Pavilion (12,026) Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 9, 2016 5:00 pm, P12N | No. 7 | at USC | L 101–103 $^{4OT}$ | 13–3 (1–2) | 25 – Trier | 12 – Tarczewski | 5 – York | Galen Center (6,854) Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 14, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 18 | Washington | W 99–67 | 14–3 (2–2) | 21 – Anderson | 13 – Tarczewski | 11 – Jackson-Cartwright | McKale Center (14,479) Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan 16, 2016 7:30 pm, P12N | No. 18 | Washington State | W 90–66 | 15–3 (3–2) | 15 – Anderson | 8 – Tied | 7 – Jackson-Cartwright | McKale Center (14,502) Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan 21, 2016 9:00 pm, P12N | No. 12 | at Stanford | W 71–57 | 16–3 (4–2) | 19 – York | 9 – Ristić | 4 – Tied | Maples Pavilion (5,275) Stanford, California |
| Jan 23, 2016 6:30 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | at California | L 73–74 | 16–4 (4–3) | 15 – York | 9 – Anderson | 6 – Jackson-Cartwright | Haas Pavilion (11,858) Berkeley, California |
| Jan 28, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | No. 23 Oregon | L 75–83 | 16–5 (4–4) | 22 – Anderson | 10 – Anderson | 10 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan 30, 2016 7:30 pm, P12N | No. 18 | Oregon State | W 80–63 | 17–5 (5–4) | 24 – York | 12 – Anderson | 6 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb 3, 2016 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 23 | at Washington State | W 79–64 | 18–5 (6–4) | 31 – Anderson | 12 – Anderson | 4 – Jackson-Cartwright | Beasley Coliseum (3,189) Pullman, Washington |
| Feb 6, 2016 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 23 | at Washington | W 77–72 | 19–5 (7–4) | 22 – Anderson | 15 – Anderson | 3 – Allen | Alaska Airlines Arena (9,266) Seattle, Washington |
| Feb 12, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 17 | UCLA Rivalry | W 81–75 | 20–5 (8–4) | 18 – Trier | 14 – Tarczewski | 4 – Jackson-Cartwright | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb 14, 2016 6:00 pm, FS1 | No. 17 | No. 23 USC | W 86–78 | 21–5 (9–4) | 17 – York | 9 – Tied | 5 – Jackson-Cartwright | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb 17, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | Arizona State Rivalry | W 99–61 | 22–5 (10–4) | 20 – Trier | 15 – Tarczewski | 7 – Jackson-Cartwright | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb 24, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | at Colorado | L 72–75 | 22–6 (10–5) | 19 – Anderson | 10 – Anderson | 3 – Tied | Coors Events Center (11,309) Boulder, Colorado |
| Feb 27, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | at No. 22 Utah | L 64–70 | 22–7 (10–6) | 23 – Trier | 10 – Tarczewski | 3 – York | Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,508) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mar 3, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | No. 25 California | W 64–61 | 23–7 (11–6) | 19 – York | 12 – Tarczewski | 6 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Mar 5, 2016 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 18 | Stanford | W 94–62 | 24–7 (12–6) | 32 – York | 12 – Anderson | 6 – Allen | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, Arizona |
| Pac-12 Tournament |||||||||
| Mar 10, 2016 3:30 pm, P12N | (4) No. 15 | vs. (5) Colorado Quarterfinals | W 82–78 | 25–7 | 23 – Trier | 11 – Tarczewski | 2 – 3 Tied | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, Nevada |
| Mar 11, 2016 7:00 pm, P12N | (4) No. 15 | vs. (1) No. 8 Oregon Semifinals | L 89–95 $^{OT}$ | 25–8 | 21 – York | 12 – Tarczewski | 5 – Jackson-Cartwright | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, Nevada |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 17, 2016* 6:20 pm, TNT | (6 S) No. 17 | vs. (11 S) Wichita State First Round | L 55–65 | 25–9 | 11 – Allen | 11 – Anderson | 2 – Tied | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,559) Providence, Rhode Island |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. 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 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 17 | N/A* |
| Coaches | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 22 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

## Player statistics

* As of Mar. 21, 2016
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FGM-FGA | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Kadeem Allen | 34 | 28 | 24.9 | 100–215 | 18–50 | 67–95 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 8.4 |
| Ryan Anderson | 33 | 33 | 29.2 | 174–319 | 2–7 | 155–208 | 10.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 15.3 |
| Chance Comanche | 23 | 0 | 6.0 | 16–33 | 0–0 | 11–16 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| Paulo Cruz | 6 | 0 | 2.7 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Hazzard | 7 | 0 | 3.7 | 6–10 | 4–6 | 2–2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 2.6 |
| Parker Jackson-Cartwright | 34 | 6 | 21.2 | 57–142 | 27–72 | 37–57 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 5.2 |
| Elliott Pitts | 7 | 2 | 21.3 | 7–26 | 2–16 | 0–2 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0 | 2.3 |
| Dušan Ristić | 34 | 9 | 16.5 | 94–171 | 3–8 | 52–82 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 7.1 |
| Justin Simon | 24 | 0 | 7.5 | 23–46 | 1–3 | 9–21 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| Kaleb Tarczewski | 26 | 24 | 27.4 | 80–150 | 0–0 | 84–118 | 9.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 9.4 |
| Mark Tollefsen | 34 | 13 | 21.9 | 90–175 | 26–73 | 31–39 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 7.0 |
| Allonzo Trier | 27 | 21 | 28.0 | 122–262 | 40–110 | 115–145 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 14.8 |
| Gabe York | 34 | 34 | 33.3 | 177–419 | 98–233 | 59–78 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 15.0 |

## Honors
### Award Watchlists

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award – Kaleb Tarczewski
* Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 – Kaleb Tarczewski
* Jerry West Award – Allonzo Trier
* Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 – Ryan Anderson
* Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - 2016 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Finalist – Ryan Anderson
* Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award Finalist – Ryan Anderson

### Weekly awards

| Name | awards |
| Allonzo Trier | Pac-12 Player of the Week – Dec.14 |
| Ryan Anderson | Pac-12 Player of the Week – Feb. 8 Naismith Trophy Player of the Week – Feb. 7 Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week – Feb. 7 |
| Gabe York | Pac-12 Player of the Week – Mar. 7 |

### Season awards

| Name | awards |
| Ryan Anderson | All-Pac-12 First Team |
| Kaleb Tarczewski | All-Pac-12 Second Team |
| Kaleb Tarczewski | All-Pac-12 Defensive Team |
| Gabe York | All-Pac-12 Second Team |
| Allonzo Trier | Pac-12 All Freshman Team |