"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Look Ahead and Back: Bruins vs. Wildcats

Compiled by Javier Morales

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

Jud Buechler was the difference for the Cats in their 94-78 victory in the 1990 Pac-10 tournament championship matchup with UCLA

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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Look Ahead and Back: Trojans vs. Wildcats

Compiled by Javier Morales

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

According to the L.A. media, Lute Olson was “expected” to become USC’s head coach in 1979 but decided to continue to build Iowa’s program instead. Four years later, he accepted Arizona’s offer. The rest is history.

Feb. 27, 1984: Arizona 55, USC 49 – The Wildcats held the Trojans scoreless for 7:40 late in the game, handing the Trojans their 13th defeat in 14 road games, and giving Lute Olson his 200th career coaching victory. Olson was offered the USC head coaching job in 1979 but decided to stay in Iowa. Can you imagine if Olson said yes to the Trojans? The whole landscape of the USC and Arizona programs, and the Pac-10, would be entirely different. The L.A. Times reported when Olson met with USC officials that Olson was “expected to replace Bob Boyd.”

Jan. 17, 1985: USC 64, Arizona 63 — The Wildcats managed to stay close despite having two starters out of the lineup: Brock Brunkhorst (knee) and Morgan Taylor (academics). The Trojans could have lost in the closing seconds when forward Wayne Carlander threw a full-court pass out of bounds with 2 seconds showing on the scoreboard. USC forward Derrick Dowell saved the Trojans, however, when he stole a pass intended for center Pete Williams as time ran out. It would be USC’s only win at McKale Center for 22 more years.

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How will he be received by the McKale Center crowd?

RELATED LINK AT TUCSONCITIZEN.COM: O’Neill does not deserve boos in his return to McKale

By Javier Morales

Kevin O’Neill, who served as the interim head coach at Arizona two seasons ago, returns to McKale Center on Saturday morning to coach against the Wildcats as the USC head coach.

If you are one of the more than 14,000 at McKale Center, how would you greet O’Neill? With a golf clap? Some boos? Hands on your hips? Or would you stand up and cheer for his time served at the university?

Before he became a head coach, O’Neill served as an assistant to Lute Olson on those glory teams in the 1980s that included Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr. He named his son after Elliott.

He is also the coach who reportedly upset Olson when the Hall of Fame coach took a leave of absence in 2007-08. O’Neill slowed the tempo, which was not to Olson’s liking. He did not play his bench players much. He sat Mohamed Tangara in his last game at McKale Center. Although Tangara was only a junior, he did not keep it a secret that the game would be the last one of his UA career.

And O’Neill reportedly distanced himself from his assistants — two UA fan favorites — Miles Simon and Josh Pastner.

O’Neill was promised by then athletic director Jim Livengood to be Olson’s permanent replacement. When Livengood went back on that promise, O’Neill did not raise a stink. That must count for something.

So if you attend the game what will you do? If you watch it at home, what would you do if you were in attendance?

The YouTube video posted is an ironic plea from then-UA coach O’Neill to get the ZonaZoo energized for the USC game at McKale Center in 2008.

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Look Ahead and Back: Bruins vs. Wildcats

FIRST, ANOTHER TASTE OF THE STANFORD WIN COURTESY OF GJ FIMBRES:

Compiled by Javier Morales

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

Larry Demic led the Cats with 20 points in Arizona’s first win over UCLA at McKale

Jan. 18, 1979: Arizona 70, UCLA 69 – Little-used forward John Smith scored only one point but it was the difference as Arizona upset No. 3 UCLA in Tucson in Arizona’s first season in the Pac-10. The Wildcats swept UCLA and USC at home that weekend, which at the time was the program’s most impressive achievement aside from its three NCAA tournament appearances. Smith missed his first free-throw attempt but made the second with six seconds left to give the UA the victory. He had been fouled by David Greenwood on a layup attempt. Larry Demic led the Cats with 20 points. Joe Nehls added 19 and Russell Brown 18. The sweep of the Bruins and Trojans improved the UA’s record at McKale Center to 83-7 since it opened in 1973.

Jan. 8, 1983: UCLA 92, Arizona 87 – In hindsight, this could have been the greatest upset victory in Wildcat history if Ben Lindsey’s team pulled off the win against the sixth-ranked Bruins. The UA won only four games that year, and this was easily its best performance. After the UA went ahead 61-59 with 9:58 remaining, the Bruins scored 18 unanswered points to take a 77-61 lead with 6:00 remaining. The Cats rallied to close the gap to 90-87 with 50 seconds left on Harvey Thompson’s three-point play. But a couple of Darren Daye free throws sealed the game for UCLA. Morgan Taylor scored 17 of his team-high 26 points in the second half for the Wildcats, who dropped to 3-9 overall. “It was one heck of game,” Lindsey, who had two technical fouls, told the media afterward. “If our guys give me that kind of effort all of the time, I don’t care if we win another game all year.” Well, actually, the UA won only one more game that year, and his guys did not show that kind of effort much at all.

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UCLA helps set NCAA tournament standard for Pac-10

By Javier Morales The numbers bear it out: Generally when UCLA goes, so goes the Pac-10. It’s a no-brainer to suggest the conference can survive when Oregon State is in a down year. However, when the Bruins are in ruins, the Pac-10 more often than not follows suit. UCLA coach Ben Howland could miss the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1984-85, the Bruins have failed to qualify five times. In those five years, the average number of Pac-10 teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament is 3.2, the lowest figure among conference teams. Stanford is the next barometer team. The Cardinal have missed out on March Madness 10 times in this span. When they are not around, an average of 3.5 Pac-10 teams make the field. The programs that do not matter as much in the grand scheme: Oregon State, and believe it or not, Washington. When those teams did not make the field, an average of 4.3 Pac-10 teams have qualified since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. Read the rest of this blog at TucsonCitizen.com and continue reading here for the rest of our Pac-10 Primer. Steel City Rematch. Tomorrow’s game matches again a former Pitt coach (Ben Howland of UCLA) against an ex-Panther (Sean Miller of Arizona). Pitt continues to have Howland protege Jamie Dixon as its head coach. Howland and Miller coached against each other in January with Arizona winning 77-63 at Pauley Pavilion. This is the second time they will face each other in the state of Arizona. Their previous meeting was in Phoenix in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament in 2008, when UCLA defeated Xavier 76-57 to advance to its third consecutive Final Four.

STANDARD BEARERS A look at how many Pac-10 teams make the NCAA tournament when one fails to be in the field since the tourney expanded to 64 teams in 1984-85: TEAM YRS OUT AVG TEAMS IN Arizona 0 N/A UCLA 5 3.2 Stanford 10 3.5 Southern Cal 16 3.6 Oregon 19 3.8 California 15 3.9 Arizona St. 21 4.0 Washington St. 21 4.0 Washington 17 4.3 Oregon St. 21 4.3 ALL-PAC-10 IF THE SEASON ENDED NOW PLAYER TEAM POS YR PPG Patrick Christopher Cal G Sr. 15.7 Landry Fields Stan F Sr. 22.1 Reggie Moore WSU G Fr. 13.2 Quincy Pondexter Wash F Sr. 19.8 Jerome Randle Cal G Sr. 18.9 Theo Robertson Cal G Sr. 14.0 Isaiah Thomas Wash G Soph. 17.2 Klay Thompson WSU F Soph. 19.6 Nikola Vucevic USC F Soph. 9.8* Derrick Williams UA F Fr. 15.8 * – Rebounds per game PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Landry Fields, Stanford COACH OF THE YEAR: Herb Sendek, ASU FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Derrick Williams, Arizona

Before the Elite Eight encounter, Miller was asked during a press conference about what he thought when it was announced his alma mater hired Howland from little-known Big Sky school Northern Arizona.

“I thought the people at Pitt were confused,” Miller recalled. “I wondered what they were thinking and how in the world that choice could be made.”

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Look Ahead and Back: Cats vs. Cardinal

Compiled by Javier Morales

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

Sean Elliott led the top-ranked Cats with 22 points in their upset loss at Stanford in 1988, the UA’s lone defeat in the Pac-10 that season

Feb. 3, 1979: Arizona 63, Stanford 62 – Arizona guard Russell Brown hit a 10-foot jumper as time expired to give the Cats the win in the first Pac-10 meeting of the teams at Palo Alto. The Wildcats also won for the first time in Maples Pavilion after four losses dating back to 1954. Brown scored Arizona’s last five points in the last 59 seconds and sparked the Wildcats’ comeback from an 11-point deficit earlier in the second half. Brown and Joe Nehls led Arizona with 15 points. Kimberly Belton led the Cardinal with 25.

Feb. 4, 1988: Stanford 82, Arizona 74 – Todd Lichti scored 23 points and Howard Wright 22 as Stanford scored the final 10 points of the game to upset No. 1-ranked Arizona, ending the Wildcats’ eight-game winning streak. Stanford, which trailed by 9 points in the first half, took control of the backboards in the final five minutes to shut out Arizona. Sean Elliott led the Wildcats with 22 points, but could not score after making a short jumper that put Arizona ahead for the last time at 74-72. Lichti then hit a 15-foot bank shot to start Stanford’s 10-0 streak, and ended it with two free throws. Arizona lost at Stanford five consecutive times including this game: 58-55 in 1985, 62-56 in 1986 and 75-73 in 1987 and 83-78 in 1989. It was Arizona’s only defeat in the Pac-10. The next time the Wildcats lost was two months later in their first Final Four appearance against Oklahoma.

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Look Ahead and Back: Cats vs. Golden Bears

Compiled by Javier Morales

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

UA CRAZY VIDEO:

Brock Brunkhorst almost single-handedly gave UA its lone Pac-10 road win under Ben Lindsey with a late run against Cal that fell short in 1983

Feb. 5, 1983: California 59, Arizona 57 – Almost a month before he was fired after one miserable season, Ben Lindsey got as close as he could to his only Pac-10 road win in 1982-83. Arizona guard Brock Brunkhorst hit two jumpers in the final 40 seconds to trim Cal’s lead to two points. He missed a 15-foot shot with four seconds left but grabbed the rebound. His attempted putback was blocked by Cal forward David Butler as the buzzer sounded. Frank Smith led the Cats with 17 points. The loss dropped Arizona to 0-8 in the Pac-10 and 3-15 overall.

Jan. 10, 1985: Arizona 69, California 67 – The three top players on Lute Olson’s first NCAA tournament team at Arizona — Pete Williams, Eddie Smith and Steve Kerr — each played a significant part in this win at Berkeley against Cal and star guard Kevin Johnson. Smith had 20 points, Williams 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kerr made game-clinching free throws in the waning seconds. Cal trailed by only a point with 23 seconds left when Johnson converted on two free throws. Kerr sealed the win with two free throws afterward.

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