Wildcats picked behind Bruins in Pac-12 men’s hoops preseason poll

The Arizona Wildcats were picked to finish behind the UCLA Bruins in the 2022-23 Pac-12 preseason men’s basketball media poll, the conference revealed Wednesday.

Arizona’s rivals, the Arizona State Sun Devils, were picked seventh with 193 points.

ASU will be led by junior D.J. Horne, last year’s returning scoring leader, as well as forward Marcus Bagley, who has played in just 15 games over the past two seasons due to injuries.

Head coach Bobby Hurley’s team added Nevada transfer Warren Washington to a frontcourt that returns Alonzo Gaffney and Enoch Boakye.

On the perimeter, brothers Desmond Cambridge (Nevada) and Devan Cambridge (Auburn), plus Frankie Collins (Michigan), add to a backcourt led by Horne and sophomore Jamiya Neal.

Heading into head coach Tommy Lloyd’s second season, Arizona earned 352 points to UCLA’s 386. The Wildcats return starters Kerr Kriisa and Azuolas Tubelis, the latter of whom made the All-Pac-12 First Team heading into the year.

Arizona has roles to fill after losing Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko and Dalen Terry to the NBA Draft this past offseason. Center Oumar Ballo and guards Pelle Larsson and Adama Bal will take on larger roles.

Transfers Courtney Ramey (Texas) and Cedric Henderson (Campbell) on the wings should help return some experience to the roster, while freshmen Dylan Anderson, Henri Veesaar and Kylan Boswell could contribute.

The Bruins landed 26 of 33 first-place votes. The Wildcats and Oregon Ducks earned three first-place votes, while the No. 5 Stanford Cardinal had a lone supporter.

2022-23 Pac-12 men’s basketball preseason poll

	Team (First Place Votes)	Points
	1. UCLA (26)	386
	2. ARIZONA (3)	352
	3. OREGON (3)	336
	4. USC	300
	5. STANFORD (1)	239
	6. COLORADO	207
	7. ARIZONA STATE	193
	8. WASHINGTON STATE	185
	9. WASHINGTON	158
	10. UTAH	102
	11. CALIFORNIA	69
	12. OREGON STATE	47

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