Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats will host a second California school for an exhibition game this week, bringing the Aztecs of San Diego State to Tucson for a Friday evening showdown at the McKale Center.
It is the second of three home exhibition games for Arizona, after the team beat San Francisco, 93-69, on Tuesday night. The Wildcats will close out the exhibition slate by hosting Eastern Washington next Friday, Oct. 23.
But first is a battle with San Diego State, a program Brian Dutcher took all the way to the national championship back in 2023, and who is set to compete in the first year of the new look Pac-12 alongside Gonzaga and former Arizona conference-mates Washington State and Oregon State.
Meet the Aztecs
San Diego State has been a west coast power for over a decade now under coach Dutcher, routinely making the NCAA Tournament even before breaking through with the national championship run in 2023.
Lloyd discussed having "a lot of respect" for the SDSU program, part of why this particular matchup came to be.
"Obviously, we wanted to play what we felt was going to be like a really challenging game," Lloyd said on Tuesday. "Every team is so new right now, but I’m assuming they got great DNA and they got winning DNA because that’s what that program’s been about.”
San Diego State was decimated by the transfer portal this offseason, losing key contributors like Miles Byrd (Providence), Magoon Gwath (DePaul), BJ Davis (Creighton), and Taj DeGourville (Oregon) while only returning two rotation players from last season in Tae Simmons and Elzie Harrington.
Injury Report
SDSU made a couple big portal splashes but unfortunately the biggest name, Rice guard Nick Anderson, suffered a knee injury this offseason and will miss the entire 2026-27 season. Two other players - redshirt guard Latrell Davis and Croatian forward Luka Skoric - will sit out on Friday for the Aztecs as well.
For Arizona, big man Endurance Aiyamenkhue remains out, although coach Lloyd said it won't be much longer for the German center. Evan Otten, who played briefly against San Francisco, is feeling better and Lloyd indicated he could get more run on Friday against the Aztecs.
Below is a look at how to watch, stream, and listen to Arizona host San Diego State on Friday in McKale:
Arizona vs. San Diego State: TV channel, tipoff time, live stream
Date: Friday, Oct. 16
Game time: 7:00 PM MST
Where: McKale Center (Tucson, AZ)
How to listen: Wildcats Radio 1290 AM
How to stream: Hulu+Live TV
How to watch: ESPN+
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