By narrowly avoiding a monumental collapse at BYU on Monday night, Arizona matched the best start to a season in school history. The Wildcats’ 21-0 record is the same it had to start the 2013-14 campaign.
We unfortunately know what happened next the last time the UA began this good, and how that season ended. No need to pick at those still-healing scabs (until later in this article).
But how does this start, orchestrated by Tommy Lloyd in his fifth season in charge, compare to the previous one that happened during Sean Miller’s fifth year with the program? On paper, what Arizona has done this season has been far more impressive.
Here’s a breakdown of how these two 21-0 teams stack up:
In 2013-14 the Wildcats’ nonconference slate consisted of one ranked opponent, Duke, which ended up getting upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Mercer, along with wins over NCAA tourney teams Cal Poly, Michigan, New Mexico State and San Diego State. Arizona ended up beating SDSU again in the Sweet 16, while Michigan reached the Elite Eight.
This season the UA became the first school in AP poll history to beat five ranked teams in its first nine games, starting with a win over defending national champion Florida in Las Vegas while also winning at UConn, which hasn’t lost to anyone else to this point.
The Pac-12 was ranked by KenPom.com as the 4th-best conference in 2013-14, with the UA one of six teams to make the NCAA tourney. Arizona had gone 4-0 against those teams during its 21-0 start.
The latest projection from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Big 12 getting seven schools in, with the Wildcats owning wins over BYU and UCF as well as bubble team TCU. There are still six games remaining on the conference slate against projected NCAA tourney teams.
From a statistical standpoint, Arizona is a far more better offensive team now than it was 12 years ago, and also plays much faster. Miller was known for a slower tempo, the adjusted pace in 2013-14 (62.8) more than eight possessions fewer than what Lloyd’s group gets per 40 minutes, and that produced 74.3 points per game during the 21-0 start.
The UA is averaging 89.6 points per game this season, which would be second only to the 1997-98 team (90.3). Arizona is shooting 51.6 percent in 2025-26, on pace for a Top 5 finish in school history, while in 2013-14 the Wildcats were shooting 48.1 during the perfect start.
Defensively, both teams have been stellar during their perfect runs. Miller’s squad was allowing 56.7 points on 37.2 percent shooting over the first 21 games and finished the season No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. Lloyd’s group is third in adjusted defensive, allowing 68.3 points per game on 39.3 percent shooting.
Ironically, neither UA team relied heavily on 3-pointers to start 21-0. The 2013-14 team made 5.3 per game and for the season only took 26.4 percent of their shots from outside, while this season it’s 6.1 3s per game and 27.4 percent of the shots.
Arizona’s 2013-14 roster featured five players who would end up making the NBA, most notably 2014 lottery pick Aaron Gordon and super sub TJ McConnell. Guard Nick Johnson was the leading scorer and would play 28 games for the Houston Rockets after getting drafted in the second round, while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Gabe York were the main contributors off the bench.
Yet it was forward Brandon Ashley who ended up being that team’s most important player. His foot injury suffered early in the 22nd game knocked him out for the season, and Arizona ended up losing five of its final 17 games including to Cal on Feb. 1, 2014.
When Ashley went down the UA went from a 7-man rotation to only six regulars, though freshman guard Elliott Pitts ended up averaging 10 minutes over the final 16 games after logging just 41 minutes in the first 22 contests.
This season, Arizona’s 8-man rotation has proven to be incredibly effective. Lloyd’s decision to move 2024-25 starters Tobe Awaka and Anthony Dell’Orso to the bench has enabled him to always be able to mix experience with youth, as this team includes four freshmen among the top eight.
All eight are averaging at least 15.8 minutes per game, 13.8 in Big 12 play, and only Brayden Burries (31.1) and Jayden Bradley (30.4) are logging more than 75 percent of court time in conference action. Bradley and Caleb Love each averaged more than 34 minutes per game last season.
