"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Covering Arizona’s postseason possibility

Pairings: To be announced at 6 p.m. Tucson time Sunday on ESPNU. First-round games will be Tuesday or Wednesday.
Teams already in: Those that won their league’s regular-season championship are automatically in the NIT if they don’t win their conference tournament. They include Stony Brook (America East), Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Quinnipiac (Northeast), Troy (Sun Belt), Weber State (Big Sky) and Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic). They occupy seven of the 32 NIT bids by losing in their conference tourneys.

• NIT selection procedures offered at its official Web site
• Printable bracket for the 32-team field
• NIT chairman C.M. Newton discusses the makeup of the selection committee
• Arizona’s Sean Miller hopes for NIT bid (Arizona Republic)
• ASU’s postseason fate out of its hands (Arizona Republic)
• Stanford slowly but effectively choked Arizona State’s NCAA dreams into submission (San Francisco Chronicle)
• UConn, a No. 1 seed a year ago, awaits an NIT bid (New Britain Herald)
• UNC coach Roy Williams: We’ll play in the NIT if invited (Winston-Salem Journal)
• NIT chairman: Northwestern not a lock for his tournament (ChicagoBreakingSports.com)
• NIT could be good steppingstone for South Florida (TampaBay.com)
• UAB coach: Team doesn’t deserve to go to NCAAs or NIT

NIT LITANY O’ LINKS:

• Anthony Gimino of TucsonCitizen.com has a site for you to visit if you need an NCAA tournament fix
• Steve Rivera of TucsonCitizen.com questions: Is NIT next for the Cats?
• Texas Texas coach Pat Knight is actually looking ahead to the NIT
• South Florida anticipates an in-state opponent to start the NIT
• The Hartford Courant reports that the NIT could soothe UConn’s misery
• Former UA player and assistant coach Josh Pastner lost to Houston today as Memphis coach, which means he is likely headed to the NIT along with his alma mater

The last time Arizona played in a postseason tournament other than the NCAA tournament was in 1975, when the Cats played in something called the National Commissioner’s Invitational Tournament. Haven’t heard of it? That’s because it lasted only two years, ending with the Cats’ loss to Drake in the 1975 championship game at Louisville, Ky.

It was an eight-team postseason tournament run by the NCAA. The NCAA supposedly tried to get rid of the NIT by introducing the tournament. It was a collection of teams that came in second in their conferences. In 1974, the NCAA Tournament only invited conference champions. In 1975, when Arizona played in the NCIT, at-large teams were added to the NCAA tournament.

In terms of the NIT, Arizona has not played in that tournament since 1951, when the NIT rivaled the NCAA tournament as the premier postseason tournament in college basketball. So, really, the UA has never played in the current framework of the NIT, which is basically a consolation tournament.

By the way, to answer the headline’s question: It was Penn State over Baylor.

Please read more about Arizona’s NIT scenario at TucsonCitizen.com

Cats go for the trifecta against UCLA

RELATED LINKS:

• Anthony Gimino comments on the results of a Pac-10 writer’s survey
• Although UCLA lost three straight to end the year, the Bruins are very optimistic
• Pac-10 Tournament Central offered by the conference’s official site

Analysis by Javier Morales

Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles (19,282)

When: 1:10 p.m. (Tucson time)

Who’ll be there: Fox Sports Network will televise nationally with Barry Tompkins and former UCLA player Don MacLean calling the action. You can also listen to Brian Jeffries and Matt Muehlebach live on the radio on the IMG College/Wildcat Radio Network.

Pregame and Postgame Shows: John Schuster, Brad Allis and Rob Lantz break down the game and answer your calls at the KCUB 1290-AM feed.

Injuries/Personnel developments: UA freshman forward Kevin Parrom will play but in a limited role because of a stress fracture in his foot. UCLA freshman center Reeves Nelson is expected to play with goggles, protecting the detached retina he suffered last month.

Bet you didn’t know …: UCLA keeps tabs of slam dunks and Nelson leads the team with 23, followed by Tyler Honeycutt’s 15. The Bruins have 66 dunks compared to 54 by their opponents.

They said it: “We’re back to 0-0, like everyone else. It doesn’t matter what you’re preseason ranking was. It doesn’t matter if you were the conference champion. It’s a new season.” — UCLA guard Malcolm Lee

Matchups

BACKCOURT

If Kyle Fogg scores more than 20 points it means Arizona advances to the next round because the Bruins’ defense did not step up to the challenge. How many times do you think Fogg’s name was mentioned at UCLA’s practices this week? Fogg cracked the 50-point scoring mark in the two regular season games, the 10th time that has happened since Lute Olson started coaching the Cats in 1983-84. It will be interesting to note how Nic Wise performs on a bit of a national stage with more scouts than usual observing. Lee and All-Pac-10 selection Michael Roll form a credible backcourt. According to the UA’s game notes, Brendon Lavender will start in place of Jamelle Horne giving the UA more of a three-guard lineup, which is basically what UCLA has with Lee, Roll and Nikola Dragovic. Dragovic has the height of a forward (6-9) but he plays like a shooting guard. Advantage: Who wants it more as seniors: Roll or Wise? I’ll call this even, despite Fogg’s dominance of the Bruins this season. He can’t drop another 20-plus on the Bruins, can he?

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Look Ahead and Back: Bruins vs. Wildcats

Compiled by Javier Morales

Arizona 2009-10 schedule
(Full schedule and statistics available at ArizonaWildcats.com)

LAST TEN GAMES (5-5) Jan. 31: W, Arizona 76, California 72 Feb. 4: L, Washington 81, Arizona 75 Feb. 6: L, Washington State 78, Arizona 60 Feb. 11: W, Arizona 70, Oregon 57 Feb. 13: L, Oregon State 63, Arizona 55 Feb. 21: L, Arizona State 73, Arizona 69 Feb. 25: L, California 95, Arizona 71 Feb. 27: W, Arizona 71, Stanford 69 March 4: W, Arizona 78, UCLA 73 March 6: W, Arizona 86, USC 84 (20T) NEXT GAMES (Tucson times): PAC-10 TOURNAMENT March 11: No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 4 Arizona, 1 p.m., Staples Center, Los Angeles March 12: TBA (Potentially vs. No. 1 Cal or tonight’s winner between No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Washington State) RPI BRACKETOLOGY >>Joe Lunardi Bracket: Arizona — UNLISTED (as of March 9). Cal (No. 8 seed) and ASU (No. 12 seed) are the only Pac-10 teams listed. Washington is listed under the “First Four Out” class.

ARIZONA’S RPI AS OF MARCH 10: No. 87. SOS: 34. RECORD VS. RPI TOP 50: 2-7 — Beat No. 20 Cal (home) 76-72 and No. 49 Washington (home) 87-70. Lost to No. 17 Wisconsin (neutral) 65-61, No. 20 Cal (road) 95-71, No. 22 Vanderbilt (neutral) 84-72, No. 23 BYU (home) 99-69, No. 36 San Diego State (road) 63-46, No. 48 UNLV (home) 74-72 (2OT), and No. 49 Washington (road) 81-75. OPPONENTS ARIZONA BEAT (WITH CURRENT RPI): >>No. 20 Cal (21-9) >>No. 49 Washington (21-9) >>No. 54 Arizona State (22-9) >>No. 79 Louisiana Tech (22-9) >>No. 103 Colorado (15-15) >>No. 106 N.C. State (17-14) >>No. 112 Southern Cal (16-14) >>No. 147 Oregon (15-15) >>No. 148 UCLA (13-17) >>No. 178 Stanford (13-17) >>No. 200 NAU (14-14) >>No. 209 Lipscomb (17-13) >>No. 312 Rice (8-22) UCLA (13-17) RPI: 148. SOS: 44. Record vs. RPI Top 50: 2-4. Beat No. 20 Cal (road) 76-75 and No. 49 Washington (home) 62-61. Lost to No. 1 Kansas (home) 73-61, No. 14 Butler (neutral) 69-67, No. 20 Cal (home) 72-58, and Washington (road) 92-68.

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UCLA-ARIZONA MATCHUPS IN THE PAC-10 TOURNEY

March 11, 1990: Arizona 94, UCLA 78 – The Wildcats won their third consecutive Pac-10 tournament title behind Co-MVPs Jud Buechler (22 points and seven rebounds) and Matt Muehlebach (14 points and four steals). Buechler also helped the Wildcats in their box-and-one defensive scheme against prolific scorer Don MacLean in the game played at ASU’s Activity Center. Buechler limited MacLean to only four touches in the first half. The UCLA forward attempted only one shot before halftime as Arizona built an 18-point lead. “After we opened the game with five airballs, then they just beat us good in every phase of the game,” UCLA coach Jim Harrick was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times. MacLean scored 44 points and had 26 rebounds when the teams split during the regular season. He was held to only 12 points while being mostly defended by Buechler. “We had to find a replacement for Sean (Elliott),” UA coach Lute Olson said of his former national player of the year standout. “Jud’s the only guy that could do it.”

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UA sophomore has his place among UA elite

RELATED LINKS:

• Arizona freshman forward Kevin Parrom, who has missed the past four games because of a foot injury, likely will be in uniform when the Wildcats play UCLA on Thursday in the opening game of the Pac-10 tournament. Read more from Anthony Gimino at TucsonCitizen.com.
• UCLA center Reeves Nelson, out the last couple of weeks because of an eye injury, will return to the Bruins’ lineup against Arizona. That will test the UA frontline because Nelson is active around the glass and wing player Tyler Honeycutt loosens things up with his inside-outside capability.

By Javier Morales

The list reads like a Who’s Who of top Wildcat scorers in the Lute Olson years:

Salim Stoudamire

Gilbert Arenas

Michael Dickerson

Chris Mills

Brian Williams

Sean Elliott

They have all donned NBA uniforms. They were each selected All-Americans. They combine for 10 selections to the All-Pac-10 team, each making it at least once.

They comprise an elite club since Olson became Arizona’s coach in 1983-84.

How in the world is UA sophomore Kyle Fogg part of this elite club? Find out at TucsonCitizen.com.

Steve Rivera of TucsonCitizen.com reports that Fogg earned the Golden “A” Award for the best GPA on this year’s team, announced at the annual awards banquet at Westin La Paloma tonight.

Here is an offering of our Litany O’ Links:

Remember the debate last summer about whether Arizona would benefit from a one-and-done player like Lance Stephenson? Well, he announced he is returning for his sophomore year at Cincinnati.

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Interesting to note: Stephenson and South Florida’s Jarrid Famous are projected to join Arizona in the NIT, according to the Bracket Project. Stephenson was rumored to be recruited by Arizona last summer while Famous spurned the Cats for South Florida the same night he returned to his New York home from a recruiting trip to Tucson.

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Final add Stephenson: He’s expected to be named the Big East’s Rookie of the Year today

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It was peculiar that P.J. Carlesimo announced a Pac-10 game for Fox Sports last week when USC played at ASU. Perhaps he was scouting a couple of his opponents next year when he is the head coach at Oregon?

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Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic breaks down the Fab Four high school recruits in Arizona this year, including UA-bound Phoenix North shooting guard Daniel Bejarano, who has this characteristic according to Obert: “Tell him he’s not good enough, and he’ll figure ways to prove you wrong.”

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UA’s other Class of 2010 recruit, guard Jordin Mayes of Los Angeles Westchester helped his team to the City Section Division I boys’ basketball championship Saturday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles

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The end was inevitable for former UA assistant coach Phil Johnson as part of Kevin O’Neill’s staff at USC because O’Neill wants his own coaches on his staff. O’Neill has reportedly let go of Johnson and Gib Arnold. Johnson was the link to some of USC’s top talent from Louisiana, such as Dwight Lewis, Marcus Simmons and Leonard Washington.

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Williams Pac-10 Frosh of the Year; Wise selected All-Pac-10

By Anthony Gimino

The Sporting News has announced its five-player All-Freshman team, and four of the names make perfect sense.

There’s Kentucky guard John Wall, the No. 1 recruit in the nation last year, according to Rivals.com. There is Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins, the No. 2 recruit. No. 3 was forward Derrick Favors (Georgia Tech). No. 8 was guard Xavier Henry (Kansas).

Big-time, can’t-miss recruits.

2009-10 All-Pac-10 Selections

And the other very-deserving member of the Sporting News’ All-Freshman team is Arizona post player Derrick Williams, who wasn’t even on Rivals.com list of top 150 recruits. In fact, he wasn’t even on a five-player All-Williams team of prospects.

The Pac-10 released its all-conference teams Monday morning, with Williams earning Freshman of the Year honors, as well as one of 10 slots on the all-conference first team.

Arizona senior point guard Nic Wise was not on the original list released by the Pac-10, but he was indeed selected first-team all-league. (Insert personal gripe here: The league needs to agree to make some tough calls and have just a five-man first team, and then a second team and third team.)

Williams is the example of “you never know” in recruiting. He was the least heralded of Arizona’s five freshmen.

“I really didn’t know what to expect from Derrick,” UA coach Sean Miller said last week.

“It became apparent that he was very talented. He is a really soft-spoken kid. He’s a fantastic kid who wants to do well and do the things you ask him. His talent far exceeded our expectations.”

Williams averaged 15.7 points and 7.0 rebounds in the regular season, shooting 58.8 percent from the field. The honor from the Sporting News is just the beginning.

Facebook group calls for his jersey to be retired

By Javier Morales

It might be a pipe dream, but a Facebook group has started this page: 100,000 Wildcats for retiring Nic Wise’s jersey.

The UA only honors players this way if they are awarded national player of the year or consensus All-American status. Wise does not stand a chance in that regard. He might not even make the all-Pac-10 team. But for all that Wise has contributed to the UA program, through what he calls “a lot of turmoil,” he deserves to be thought of this way.

What a symbolic gesture that would be to honor Wise, who never quit on the program although he had every right to do so, playing for four coaching staffs in four years. He committed to Arizona before he could have a drivers license (at age 15). The coaches who recruited him — Lute Olson and Josh Pastner — have not been on the bench for a couple of years.

This Facebook group can dream, can’t it?

It’s a crime that Wise is not at least one of the finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award. According to the NCAA, to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition.

Wise is set to earn his bachelor’s degree in May, according to coach Sean Miller. Character? The guy never gave up. Community? He is approachable and receptive to Tucson residents. A Houston native, he calls Tucson his second home. Competition? Three game-winning baskets in one season?

By the way, these are the finalists: Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga; Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia; Marquis Hall, Lehigh; Luke Harangody, Notre Dame; Damion James, Texas; Adam Koch, Northern Iowa; Chris Kramer, Purdue; Raymar Morgan, Michigan State; Jon Scheyer, Duke; and Josh Young, Drake.

When Dick Enberg waxes poetic about one of these guys winning the award during the Final Four, turn your television set off. I will. These players are deserving, but Wise should at least be part of this list.