Colgate (4-3) at No. 2 Arizona (6-0)

McKale Center 鈥� 1 p.m. 鈥� Pac-12 Networks 鈥� 1290-AM, Varsity Network

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Kylan Boswell (6-2 sophomore)

G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)

F Pelle Larsson (6-6 senior)

F Keshad Johnson (6-7 senior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 senior)

COLGATE

G Braedon Smith (6-0 sophomore)

G Ryan Moffatt (6-7 senior)

F Nicolas Louis-Jacques (6-4 junior)

F Keegan Records (6-10 senior)

C Jeff Woodward (6-11 senior)

How they match up

The series: Arizona has never played Colgate.

Game agreement: Colgate is making a one-time appearance in exchange for a payment expected to be in the $90,000-$100,000 range (a public records request to UA made in September for the game contract remains unfulfilled).

Colgate overview: Colgate has become a top mid-major program in recent seasons under 13th-year coach Matt Langel, reaching four of the five past NCAA Tournaments and winning a school-record 26 games last season. The Raiders do it with a patient, high-efficiency offense that led the nation in 3-point percentage last season (40.1).

While Colgate lost last season鈥檚 Patriot League Player of the Year in small forward Tucker Richardson, center Keegan Records was named the conference鈥檚 preseason Player of the Year this season, having lifted his career field goal percentage to 64.8% after shooting a Patriot League record 67.5% last season.

At point guard, Braeden Smith has a nose for scoring at multiple levels while also drawing 4.8 fouls per 40 minutes 鈥� and hitting free throws at an 84.4% rate.

Small forward Ryan Moffat is comfortable scoring inside or out but most effective from 3-point range, where he holds the third-highest career percentage in Patriot League history (43.3). Nicolas Louis-Jacques is the reigning Patriot League player of the week after scoring 22 points on Harvard, while he and Moffat are tied as the Raiders鈥� second-leading scorers with an average of 10.0 points a game.

The Raiders have run the 41st-slowest adjusted tempo in Division I but scored 75 points in a four-point loss at Syracuse on Nov. 14 and 84 at Binghamton on Wednesday.

He said it: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e certainly capable of knocking down shots from 3, and they鈥檙e not bashful about taking those shots, too. So I think it鈥檚 this part of their DNA in the way that they play.

鈥淭hey cut back door, they find the open man, they鈥檒l post up and score, so they come at you in a variety of ways, and they stick to what they do.

鈥�(Smith) knows how to play. He鈥檚 a confident scorer and he can definitely find guys. He presents problems. (Records) is a load inside. He knows how to score, he鈥檚 crafty in there and he can muscle his way up to baskets. He鈥檚 a good rebounding big, he can run the floor.

鈥淢offat is probably the most versatile guy on their team because he plays inside and he can play outside. He鈥檚 a glue guy for them in terms of so many things that he does.鈥�

鈥�(Defensively) they鈥檙e a team that likes to get into gaps, and they try to cover the paint and they do a good job of contesting shots from outside. 鈥� UA assistant coach Steve Robinson, who scouted the Raiders.

Key players

Colgate 鈥� Braedon Smith

A well-regarded quarterback at Seattle Prep two years ago, Smith has translated his ability to read action onto the basketball court. A Patriot League all-Rookie team pick last season, Smith leads the Raiders in assists (5.9) and steals (2.3) as well as scoring (15.7). And, at just six feet tall, he鈥檚 also second in rebounding at 6.1 per game.

Arizona 鈥� Oumar Ballo

The Wildcats鈥� returning all-conference center didn鈥檛 have nearly the November this season that he had in 2022, notably dropping off in rebounding (5.2) and shooting free throws (42.1) last month. With a difficult late December schedule coming up, the Wildcats will need more.

Sidelines

NIL-proof

With four NCAA Tournament appearances over the past five times it was played, Colgate might appear the kind of place a lightly recruited high school player can go, gain some playing time and recognition for a few years, then hop in the portal and seek NIL bucks at some other place.

But after all-league center Keegan Records spent two weeks in the transfer portal last spring, hearing from 50 schools, including some in the ACC and Big East, he opted to stay. Just like Colgate standouts Tucker Richardson and Oliver Lynch-Daniels did a year earlier.

Records 鈥渃ould have graduated last year from Colgate, got the degree and said, `Hey guys, thanks. We鈥檝e had a great run, but I鈥檓 gonna go pursue whatever else is out there,鈥� 鈥� Colgate coach Matt Langel said. 鈥淛ust using him as an example, the things that were important to him weren鈥檛 `how much money can I get?鈥�

鈥淓very guy鈥檚 in a different situation but 鈥� we鈥檙e able to coach guys who come from families that have worked hard to be in position to get an education at a place like Colgate. That鈥檚 of the extreme value, not just in the short term, but the long term for them as well.鈥�

Colgate, a liberal arts school in upstate New York, reported accepting just 12% of 21,130 applicants for its 2027 class, with admitted students averaging a 3.97 GPA in high school.

Atlantic slammed

While the Raiders are able to play Patriot League games throughout New York state and around the Northeast, their nonconference travel has already spanned four time zones so far this season.

In order to reach Tucson about 24 hours before Saturday鈥檚 game, Colgate players loaded on a bus at 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday and rode one hour to the Syracuse airport. There, they boarded a flight to Denver and another from Denver to Tucson.

Two weeks earlier, the Raiders went in the other direction, taking a five-hour, cross-border bus ride to Toronto, where they flew to Moncton, New Brunswick for the Atlantic Slam, an MTE that brought college basketball to Atlantic Canada for the first time.

There, Colgate lost to Yale but beat Gardner-Webb and Weber State, two teams that are in the same 100-175 Kenpom range that Colgate is in.

鈥淲ith these multi-team exempt events, you鈥檙e always looking to find something that鈥檚 going to make sense with where our program is positioned,鈥� Langel said. 鈥淲e played three teams that are going to compete in their own conferences for championships, so we felt that might make sense, even though it鈥檚 not easy to get there.鈥�

Heads up

After working with Langel during USA Basketball鈥檚 U18 training camp in 2022, UA coach Tommy Lloyd knew what sort of coach he might be facing off against Saturday.

Then he watched some game video.

鈥淚 know he鈥檚 a good coach, and it鈥檚 fun to watch them play because they do some really unique things,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 not afraid to think outside the box. He鈥檚 got smart players. They鈥檝e been to the last three NCAA Tournaments in a row. They were a unanimous pick to win their league this year.

鈥淪o I looked at TJ (Benson, UA special assistant) like `what the heck are you doing? These guys are really really good.鈥� He just laughed at me. But these are the type of games we want to play. I鈥檝e got a lot of respect for Matt and a lot of respect for what his program has done.鈥�

Numbers game

8 鈥� Colgate鈥檚 national rank in defensive rebounding percentage (78.3)

27 鈥� Colgate鈥檚 Kenpom rank in minutes continuity (65.4), the percentage of a team鈥檚 minutes that are played by the same player from last season to this season.

252 鈥� Arizona鈥檚 Kenpom rank in minutes continuity (29.5).

鈥� Bruce Pascoe