ASU finalizes two-year series with Kentucky

Arizona State has finalized a two-year series with Kentucky that will begin next season. The Sun Devils will visit Rupp Arena on Dec. 12 and then will meet the Wildcats in 2016 at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

Kentucky lost seven players from last season’s team that reached the Final Four without a loss, but the Wildcats are expected to start next season as a national-title contender. ASU hasn’t played a non-conference game against a Top-10 team since 2009.

— Doug Haller » Arizona’s Lute Olson-initiated scheduling boycott of New Mexico is over. The Wildcats will play New Mexico in 2016-17 for the first time in 17 years, hosting the Lobos on Dec. 17, 2016 while playing at the Pit in Albuquerque on Dec. 16, 2017.

That snaps a long streak after Olson vowed “unequivocally” never to schedule the Lobos again following a controversial finish during the 1998-99 season.

In New Mexico’s 79-78 win on Jan. 16, 1999, the Lobos trailed by a point when they inbounded the ball with 4.6 seconds left. But replays showed the clock did not start immediately when they inbounded, and they managed to dribble downcourt, juke through the UA defense, and hit a gamewinner.

The New Mexico series will effectively replace the two-year Gonzaga series that ends in Spokane next season. The Lobos will be UA’s third major non-conference opponent of the 2016-17 season, with the Wildcats also scheduled to play at Missouri and against Michigan State at Pearl Harbor.

—Arizona Daily Star