PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – With nearly a week passed since their last game, the Arizona Wildcats will begin their Thanksgiving plans by opening up the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis with the NC State Wolfpack at 5 p.m. (MST) on Wednesday, Nov. 22 from the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

No. 2/4 Arizona vs. NC State
Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 5:00 p.m. (MST)
TV: ESPN3/Watch ESPN App (Kevin Fitzgerald & Robbie Hummel)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown
 
Arizona plays its first game in six days when it takes on NC State. Arizona posted a 91-59 win over CSU Bakersfield in its last game on Thursday, Nov. 16 in McKale Center. Allonzo Trier scored a game-high 28 points on a ridiculous eight-of-nine shooting night from the field. Trier was two points shy of becoming just the second Wildcat in program history to score 30 or more points in three consecutive games. Freshman Deandre Ayton finished the night with 18 points and 10 rebounds, good for a third straight double-double to start his college career. Ayton became just the fourth Wildcat freshman to tally three consecutive double-doubles.

Arizona boasts an all-time record of 25-12 (.676) in games played outside the continental United States, going back to the 1968-69 Rainbow Classic in Hawai'i. The Battle 4 Atlantis will be the first additions to those 37 games not played in Hawai'i or Alaska.

Going back to the 1949-50 Sun Bowl Tournament, UA has played in over 150 games in multi-day events in non-conference play. The Wildcats are an impressive 124-42 (.747) in those games, including 24-6 (.800) under head coach Sean Miller. Miller-coached Arizona teams have won the 2012 Diamond Head Classic, 2013 NIT Season Tip-Off and the 2014 Maui Invitational.

The Arizona coaching staff feature a pair of former Wolfpack coaches. Head coach Sean Miller served as an assistant to Herb Sendek in Raleigh from 1996 to 2001 while assistant coach Mark Phelps also on Sendek's staff at NC State from 1996 to 2006.
 
UA's participation in this year's Battle 4 Atlantis will feature a homecoming for forward Deandre Ayton. The freshman is a native of Nassau where he played soccer and participated in band as a child in the Bahamas before moving to the United States and discovering basketball in high school. Ayton's homecoming with the Wildcats in the Battle 4 Atlantis comes as a twist of fate as the program signed to play in the event years before Ayton even committed to play for the University of Arizona.
 
UA head coach Sean Miller has always looked forward to non-conference tournaments, with back-to-back game days, as preparation for the postseason. His team's record when playing a second or third game in as many days is 9-4 (.692) since the start of the 2013-14 season.