Rather than starting his final semester of high school, Kylan Boswell was on the court at McKale Thursday night helping Arizona to a 70-67 win over Washington. In the victory, Boswell had one of the best performances of his young career, scoring nine points — including a dagger corner 3 with 52 seconds left in what was a four-point game — while dishing six assists and grabbing six boards.

Boswell was a 2023 commit for head coach Tommy Lloyd, but reclassified to the 2022 class and joined the Wildcat program this past summer to take advantage of the UA’s medical staff. He needed to rehab a broken foot.

“I told him all along, I’m not evaluating you as a player until January 1,” Lloyd said after the win over UW. “You have to January 1 to be ready. And I wanted to give him a long porch, so to speak, so he can kinda see where he was at and feel some success, feel some struggles.”

And four days into the new year, Boswell was ready to roll.

Right on schedule.

“Nostrathomas,” Lloyd joked with reporters after the game.

Boswell played 20 minutes on Thursday for the fourth time this season. There has certainly been an adjustment period, but the freshman guard seems to be finding his way. During his time on the floor, Arizona outscored UW by 16 points.

“That kid gets all the credit. He’s tough as nails,” Lloyd said. “He’s hung in there. He’s got swag. You know how hard it is to be 17 years old. Should be playing in high school but he’s here with us. To come out and not have it go your way, sit out for four months, get your pocket picked in front of the country on national TV against San Diego State, and to hang in there and then come out and do this? Dude is special. I think you guys are gonna see that more from him.”