Arizona Basketball: March Impressions Last Forever
By Brad Malone
Arizona Basketball can right the ship with a tourney run.
When the Cats ended their Las Vegas trip last Friday night in an overtime loss to Oregon, the negative Nancies in the Old Pueblo couldn’t wait to pile on senior Mark Tollefsen, for missing a free throw.
The fact the Cats extended a game to overtime they had absolutely no business winning was forgotten more quickly than who won best picture at the Oscars last month.
Also erased from fans brains was Tollefsen’s late three-pointer and game-tying free throw to help push the game into the extra session.
It’s a sad reality that exists when your favorite team has spoiled you with a winning tradition your entire existence on planet earth.
The funny thing is it didn’t really matter.
Another Pac-12 Championship Trophy would have been a nice addition to Arizona’s collection of championship hardware, but what matters most in the pantheon of college basketball is the NCAA Tournament.
A season full of sins can all be forgiven during the best three weeks of the sports year.
During the 1992-93 Arizona Basketball season, the Cats were a force to be reckoned with. Conference player of the year, Chris Mills helped the Cats dominate the Pac-10 with a 17-1 record. They also won 19 straight games.
But if you’re an Arizona fan that can remember that far back, none of those things are probably still in your memory banks. The thing the 92-93 season is remembered for is Arizona playing a tiny west coast school in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cats were a No. 2 seed and No. 15 seed; Santa Clara shocked the world when they defeated the Cats 64-61, after a desperation three-pointer by Damon Stoudamire missed the mark at the buzzer.
All the positives of that season were unfairly erased in an instant.
Four years later, Arizona entered the NCAA Tournament with nine losses and finished the Pac-10 season in fifth place. They even lost their last two games of the regular season.
Six games later, the Cats were hoisting their first National Championship trophy and no one could remember the last game they had stumbled in.
The 2015-16 Wildcats don’t have a Mike Bibby or a Jason Terry on their roster, but they do have a veteran squad full of potential. Will the Cats ever reach this potential?
Some fans have already turned the page on this year’s Gabe York and Kaleb Tarczewski led team. These fans look to next year and have dreams of five-star recruits dancing in their heads.
Next year’s squad is sure to be a preseason darling, but before you crown them National Champs, think about the 2014 Kansas Jayhawks.
With freshmen blue chippers Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, the Jayhawks lost ten games and failed to make it out of the first weekend of the Tournament.
Wiggins and Embiid never played another game for Kansas, after both were selected in the top three of the NBA Draft.
Arizona has historically made a good showing in the tournament, when nothing much is expected of them. That’s not a guarantee for success, but with a team full of seniors and with Sean Miller‘s impressive March record, Arizona fans may want to enjoy what they have before they hit the restart button for next year.
March is the month Tucson lives for. When it’s over it hits Arizona fans like a ton of bricks.
Will the bricks stay away for a couple of weeks?
If this squad can find a way into the Sweet Sixteen, it will be the first time an Arizona team has made the Sweet Sixteen in four straight seasons.
That should make Arizona fans forget the free throw they won’t stop talking about.
The real season starts Thursday.
Next: Zona Zealots NCAA Tournament Roundtable
Bear Down!