Nov 14, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Anthony Dell'Orso (3) celebrates with guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the second half of the Hall of Fame Series game against the UCLA Bruins at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Top-Five Showdown: Arizona vs. UConn Preview

Originally posted on Arizona Wildcats on SI
By Ari Koslow | Last updated Nov 18, 2025 12:00 PM ET

No. 4 Arizona is set to continue its gauntlet of a non-conference schedule on Wednesday in a true road game against No. 3 UConn at Gampel Pavilion.

The Wildcats moved to 4-0 on the season with a gutsy 69-65 win over UCLA. Arizona was led by Anthony Dell'Orso, who dropped a game-high 20 points, and Jaden Bradley, who closed out the win for the team.

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Arizona had trailed 57-49 with 7:18 left before outscoring the Bruins 20-8 in the final seven minutes to remain undefeated.

UConn is also 4-0 to start the season. The Huskies opened the season with wins over New Haven, UMass Lowell and Columbia before most recently defeating a top-10 team in BYU.

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The Huskies had led the Cougars by as much as 20 points before overcoming a late comeback made by BYU to prevail with an 86-84 win.

UConn has been led by center Tarris Reed Jr., who has taken on a bigger role this year as a senior, starting all three games he has appeared in after making just one start across 35 appearances last season. Through three games, he is averaging a team-high 20 points per game with just under 10 rebounds.

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The Huskies also have three other players averaging at least 13 points early in the season in senior forward Alex Karaban (18.3 PPG) and junior guards Solo Ball (15.8 PPG) and Silas Demary Jr. (13.0 PPG).

In the recent win over BYU, Karaban, Reed, and Demary all chipped in 21 points each. It was Ball who iced the win for UConn, hitting 1-of-2 free throws to make it a four-point game with 10 seconds left following a BYU turnover.

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This will be the first true road test for this Arizona team on the road on UConn's campus. The Wildcats went through some adversity in the win over UCLA, falling behind 15-5 seven minutes into the game as well as falling behind by eight points with seven minutes to go in the game.

This will be the toughest test of the season for the Wildcats in terms of the atmosphere. It's these types of games that will only make the team stronger heading into what will be a lot of tough atmospheres on the road when Big 12 conference play begins.

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This is the beginning of a home-and-home series between the two programs. UConn will be coming to Tucson during the 2026-27 season. The Huskies lead the all-time series against Arizona, 5-2, but the Wildcats won the two most recent meetings in 2017 and 2018.

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This article first appeared on Arizona Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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