6. 2009-10 (16-15, No Postseason)
Sean Miller’s first year in Tucson was a tough one to swallow for Arizona fans. The streak of 25 straight NCAA appearances for the Wildcats ended while Miller tried to get the program back on track after the sudden retirement of Lute Olson.
Coach Miller had to start almost from scratch after Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill declared for the NBA Draft. If it weren’t for Nic Wise coming back for his senior year, the Wildcats could have been on the brink of a historically bad season.
Instead, the gritty young Wildcats finished over .500 during a season that was full of memorable moments.
Nic Wise’s late game heroics gave the Cats crunch time wins over Lipscomb, North Carolina State and USC.
The Cats had another last-second win on the road against Stanford thanks to a MoMo Jones banker at the buzzer.
The lasting impression of Sean Miller’s first season was when the Cats won on the road at Tempe and Kevin Parrom’s catchphrase ‘No Easy Buckets’ was born. ASU’s Ty Abbott got a little upset when Parrom fouled him hard on a breakaway dunk. When Abbott aggressively approached Parrom after the foul, the East Coast kid got up in Abbott’s face and laughed like he had just seen Groundhog Day for the first time.
Next: No. 5 : The NIT Comes To Tucson