The University of Arizona (UA) was founded in 1885 in Tucson, the first university in Arizona Territory (AZ statehood 1892). Tucson hoped to receive the $100K appropriation for the territory’s mental hospital but was largely disappointed to instead receive the $25K appropriated for the university, viewed as the inferior prize. With no parties willing to provide land for the new institution, the citizens of Tucson prepared to return the money to the Territorial Legislature until two gamblers and a saloon keeper decided to donate 40 acres to the Board of Regents. Construction of Old Main, the campus’ first bldg (still used), began in 1887, classes met for first time in 1891 with 32 students. Because there were no high schools in Arizona Territory, the university maintained separate preparatory classes for the first 23 years of operation. In 1924 it was recognized by the Association of American Universities.
Today UA has 352 acres in Tucson and 8 other sites, has an enrollment of 49,471 (38,528 undergrad), a $1.2 B endowment, USN&WR No. 115 public school, WSJ No. 110
Famous alumni include Geraldo Rivera, John Hughes, Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Knotts, Kristen Wiig, Gary Shandling, Craig T. Nelson, Bob Baffert, Artie Moreno, Harvey Mason, Jr., NASCAR’s Kurt Busch, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Rob Gronkowski, Jennie Finch, Savanah Guthrie, Katie Pavlich, Nicole Richie, US Senators- Barry Goldwater, Bob Dole, Dennis DeConcini, Paul Fannin
UA Athletics: 22 NCAA championships: 8 Softball, 4 Baseball, 3 Women’s Golf, 3 Synchronized Swimming, Men’s Basketball, Men’s Golf, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Women’s Swimming & Diving, Olympics 36 Gold medals, 24 Silver, 14 Bronze
Colors – Cardinal & navy, Nickname – Wildcats (since 1914 football game with Occidental College, where LA Times asserted “the Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats”), fight songs Fight! Wildcats! Fight! & Bear Down, Mascots – Wilbur & Wilma Wildcat, original mascot was a desert bobcat named ‘Rufus Arizona’ after university president Rufus B. Von Kleinschmidt, later USC president from 1921-47. His name once graced the Center for International and Public Affairs on campus, until removed in 2020 due to his support of eugenics. It was renamed for Native American alumnus Joseph Medicine Crow, who was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2009 by Pres. Obama.
Basketball started 1904 (1924-980, .663), 1997 National Champions, 2001 runner-up, 4 Final Fours, 11 Elite Eights, 37 NCAA appearances, 28 Conf. championships (17 Pac -10/12), 9 conf. tournament championships. Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF – Lute Olson; 6 retired numbers: 10 – Mike Bibby, 22 – Jason Gardner, 25 – Steve Kerr, 31 – Jason Terry, 32 – Sean Elliott, 34 – Miles Simon; National COY – Lute Olson (2), Tommy Lloyd, Pac-12 COY Olson (7), Sean Miller (3), Lloyd; 8 1st Team AAs, 6 2nd Team; 77 NBA draft picks (27 1st rd, 27 2nd rd), 15 players have won 33 NBA Championships, 9 Current NBA players: Kadeem Allen, Deandre Ayton, Aaron Gordon, James Harden, Solomon Hill, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Andre Iguodala, Lauri Markkanen, TJ McConnell.
Winningest coaches: Lute Olson 589-188, .758, Fred Enke 509-324, .611, Sean Miller 302-109, .735
Current -Tommy Lloyd (3rd season) 81-16, .835, 2022 Sweet Sixteen, 2023 1st rd, 2022 Pac-12 COY and AP COY
Currently: 24-6 (15-4) W: Morgan St, #2 Duke, Southern U, Belmont, UT Arlington, Michigan St, Colgate, Wisconsin, Alabama, Cal 2, Colorado, Utah 2, USC, UCLA 2, Oregon 2, Stanford, ASU 2, UW; L: #3 Purdue, #14 Florida Atlantic, Stanford, WSU 2, OSU
All-time: UA leads 63-30, .677 (5-0 under Tommy Lloyd)
UA NET 4, KenPom 4, SC NET 99, KenPom 97
UA Scores: 90.3 ppg (No. 1) (+17.3) (No.1), 49.6% FG (No. 2), 37.7% 3FG, 8.0 3’s/g, 72.5% FT. Rebounds 43.1 pg (No. 1) (+11.1) (No. 1), Assists 19.1 pg (No.1), TOs 11.7 pg (+1.9) (No. 2), Steals 8.5 pg (No. 1), Blks 3.7 pg
UA Leaders:
Scoring: Caleb Love 19.3 ppg (Pac No. 4) (43.7% FG, 36.1% 3FG, 87.2% FT), Pelle Larsson 13.2 ppg (54.0% FG, 43.0% 3FG. 76.7% FT), Omar Ballo 13.0 ppg (63.6% FG, 0 3FG att, 50.6% FT), Keshad Johnson 11.7 ppg (52.9% FG, 36.0% 3FG, 73.0% FT), Kylan Boswell 10.4 ppg (42.3% FG, 40.5% 3FG, 77.1% FT)
Rebounding: Ballo 10.0 rpg (Pac No. 2), Johnson 5.9, Love 5.0, Assists - Boswell 3.7 apg, Larsson 3.7, Love 3.5; Steals – Boswell 1.3 stpg, Blks – Ballo 1.0
SC scores: 74.6 ppg (-0.2), 45.2% FG, 35.7% 3FG, 7.7 3’s/g, 68.9% FT, Rebs 34.3 rpg (-1.6), Assists 15.7 apg, TOs 12.6 pg (+0.4), 14.3 ppg/TO, Steals 7.2, Blks 5.2 (Pac No. 1)
SC Leaders
Scoring: Boogie 17.0 ppg (43.5% FG, 42.5% 3FG, 3.0 3’s/g (Pac No. 1), 72.4% FT), Collier 16.6 ppg (49.3% FG, 32.9% 3FG, 66.7% FT), Kobe 10.4 ppg (39.0% FG, 30.2% 3FG, 70.9% FT)
Rebounds: DJ 5.0 pg, Kobe 4.4, Josh 4.0, Assists – Collier 4.2 apg (Pac No. 6), Kobe 3.3, Boogie 3.0, Steals - Kobe 2.1 (Pac No. 2), Blks – Josh 2.5 (Pac No. 1)
Pregame
At Founder’s I spot ex-players Jacque Hill ’83 (PG, No. 5 in assists), walk-on G Chris Penrose ‘07 and for the first time this season, Clayton Olivier ’85 C of the team that beat UCLA in 4OT at the Sports Arena (Wayne Carlander starred with 38 pts). Olivier (then 6’10, 235 lbs, now 300+) was a Parade AA at Los Amigos HS in Fountain Valley (30.7 ppg), and a bitter rival of 6’8 Carlander from Ocean View HS. At SC Carlander was 2X All-Pac-10 and POY, Olivier was limited by foot injuries, but still had big moments. He was a target of opposing fans who yelled “Bozo” at the big redhead (for the younger crowd, Bozo was a famous clown created for children’s entertainment). Both went in the 1985 NBA draft 5th rd (Olivier - Spurs, Carlander - Clippers).
Capko is back as the Founder’s guest speaker for the 5th time this season. He compliments the large crowd and thanks us for coming to the last home game of the season and last Pac-12 game ever at Galen.
He says the team has been playing better and is still trying to build momentum for the conference tournament. It’s Senior night and Boogie, Josh, DJ and Zach Brooker will be honored pregame.
In Q&A, asked how we avoid another loss to UA (82-67 in Tucson) he said we played w/o Boogie & Isaiah, had 22 TOs, gave up 15 offensive rebs and 27 fastbreak pts –we are now full strength and will slow them down by rebounding better and taking care of the ball. In practice, they watched film of all the TOs and offensive rebs they gave up last game.
About recruiting, he said we signed a Top 15 HS class and after the season will hit the portal hard to fill needs and field a very competitive team next season. Talked about signees Trent Perry playing tonight for back 2 back state championships, Liam Campbell (Idaho) and Brody Kozlowski (Utah) also playing state championships. We are bringing in kids from winning programs that know what it takes to win.
With no more questions, he says “Thanks for sticking it out with us, you guys are the best! Fight On!”
The arena is filling fast to 8976 - impressive given students have started Spring break and many fans are in Vegas supporting our women’s bball team’s tournament run. Too many UA fans are here for my liking (guessing 35%, who will chant ‘U-of-A’ all game).
Courtside sit Lebron & Savanah James and daughter Zhuri. JMac (SC’s single season assists leader) and Tiffany Rodman are here.
The Game
SC brought energy and purpose from the start, playing efficiently on offense 46.4% FG, 3-9 3FG and tough on defense, holding AZ to 36.4% FG and 1-8 3FG for a 34-30 lead at half. Could they sustain the gain in the 2nd half? They could. They built their halftime lead from 4 pts to 16 with 1:56 left in the game and ended with a 78-65 victory.
UA was knocked out of rhythm by SC’s D which switched between man and zone and held them to a season low pt total. They made only 6 3’s and 11 FTs and were forced into 18 TOs. SC slowed them down and held their own on the glass – ONLY 4 fastbreak pts and 2 second chance pts!
UA’s largest lead was 5 and SC’s 16. SC led for 28:52, UA for 5:37 and it was tied for 5:31.
For the game:
UA shot 38.7% FG (24-62), 28.6% 3FG (6-21), 68.8% FT (11-16)
SC shot 49.1% FG (28-57), 33.3% 3FG (6-18), 88.9% FT (16-18)
UA was led by their xfer bigs Keshad Johnson and Omar Ballo with 17 pts each. Their guards were held below their averages. Johnson led with 5 asst and Ballo with a game-high 10 rebs.
SC was led by 19 each from Kobe (6-9 FGs, 1-3 3FG, 3 rebs, 4 asst, game high 6 steals - UA had only 3 stls!) and DJ (7-8 FG, 2-3 3FG, team high 7 rebs), and Collier with 16 pts, 5 asst, 4 rebs. Boogie didn’t shoot well 1-8 FGs, 5 pts but had 2 rebs, 3 asst, 2 stls. Bronny had 5 in a solid performance 2-3 FG, with a Lebron-esque steal and dunk and a long 3-ptr at the end of the half to put SC up 34-30. He finally performed well in front of his family.
Collier’s 105 assists put him 10th on the all-time freshman list, despite missing 6 games. Boogie’s 3 gave him 219, moving him to 5th behind Lodrick Stewart.
SC improved to 14-17 (8-12) and Arizona fell to 24-7 (15-5). USC is now 9-7 all-time vs Arizona at Galen, snapping a 6-loss streak and giving Enfield his first win over Tommy Lloyd. SC’s win over No. 5 Arizona was its first ever win over a top 5 team at Galen, and SC’s first over a top 5 team since defeating No. 4 UCLA in Westwood in 2008. Don’t look now, but the Trojans are on their first 3-game win streak of the season.
SC is the No. 9 seed in the Pac-12 tournament and faces No. 8 seed UW on Wednesday at 12 pm on Pac-12 Network.
Fight On! Beat the Huskies!
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