Arizona Basketball: 36 years ago, the game that fueled the in-state rivalry

Arizona Basketball faces ASU this Saturday in Tempe and 36 years ago to this day is when the rivalry between these two schools really began.

Over the course of 145 games played between these two programs, Arizona Basketball and ASU have had some memorable moments. Some good and some not so good. One of those being a game that took place in Tempe 36 years to this day on January 20th, 1984...a game Wildcat fans will never forget.

Heading into that game, the Wildcats had only won two games all season. They had lost all four games to start the Pac-12 season and were looking for their first conference victory. For the Sun Devils, they were 2-2 in conference play. They did have several great scorers on that team, including Pete Williams and Steve Kerr.

What will be remembered that day is the senseless act by a group of Sun Devils students prior to the start of the game. They started chants towards Kerr of “P.L.O” along with “Your father’s history” and “Why don’t you join the Marines and go back to Beirut?”

More from Wildcats Basketball

• Arizona Basketball likely to schedule Florida Atlantic for 2023
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s FIBA World Cup performance is reminiscent of Kobe Bryant’s
• Rawle Alkins a star in the Drew League this summer
• Arizona Basketball to play in ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ in 2024
• Reflections on the Pac-12, the Arizona Wildcats, and other memories

Two days prior to that game, his father, who was the president of the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, was killed by a member of the Islamic Holy War.

Couldn’t even imagine what it was like for Kerr to decided to play two days later, especially against the Sun Devils. But somehow he did and had an incredible game. The first half alone he had 20 points, which included going perfect from beyond the arc…six times! Wildcats would go on to win 71-49.

What those students did prior to the game will never be forgotten. It’s one thing to chant certain things like “overrated” or “airball”, but what they decided to go the other route….classless. Since then, they haven’t done anything similar but they do have other acts by the students that make no sense like the curtain of distraction.

With the visitors’ bench right by the Sun Devil student section, it makes for an interesting aspect to the game especially when the Wildcats come to down. One of those moments being when Lute Olson pointing towards the scoreboard in response to the students.

Fast forward to the present, the rivalry between these schools still does get very heated, whether its in Tucson or Tempe. It will be the freshman trio of Nico Mannion, Josh Green, and Zeke Nnaji’s first time experiencing it in Tempe. It will be interesting to see how they handle the atmosphere. On paper, the Wildcats are more talented and deeper than the Sun Devils. It will be a matter of execution for them to be successful and come away with the win.

At Zona Zealots, let us never forget what happened 36 years ago. It was the day Sun Devils students decided to take this rivalry to a whole new level. The disrespect they showed Steve Kerr and his family, that is something that has no place in college basketball or outside the game.