Approaching mid-December, the Arizona Wildcats are 8-2, with a quality win to start the season over then-No. 12 Michigan State. After losses to Butler and Gonzaga, Arizona itself sits ranked as the 20th team in the country.
Entering the season, this Arizona squad was supposed to be one of the better teams in the country thanks to a versatile returning crew, buoyed by a talented freshmen class. Upperclassmen like Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Kadeem Allen, and Dusan Ristic were the blocks, held together by young glue.
Instead, through ten games of the 2016-17 season, the veterans have been sidekicks.