Javier Morales took first place in the 2010 Arizona Press Club’s Metro Sports Reporting category

In case you missed it: The Top 10 Badass Defensive Players and the Top 10 Badass Offensive Players in Arizona football history

1993-94 Arizona Wildcats (29-6)
–Beat Missouri 92-72 in the West Regional Final; lost to Arkansas 91-82 in the Final Four. To note: The Wildcats made a school-record 279 three-pointers, which was broken last season by the 2010-11 club, which made 296.

2004-05 Arizona Wildcats (30-7)
–Lost to Illinois 90-89 in the Chicago Regional Final. To note: Arizona guard Salim Stoudamire set school records for three-pointers made (120) and free-throw percentage (91 percent, 122 of 134) that season.

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Previous Arizona Elite Eight Event Matchups (Polls still open at WILDABOUTAZCATS.net):
>> 1996-1997 versus 2002-2003
>> 1975-1976 versus 2000-2001

MATCHUPS

Point Guard

Damon Stoudamire (1992-1995) vs. Mustafa Shakur (2003-2007)

Damon Stoudamire

Mustafa Shakur

The Stoudamire cousins match up in this one — Damon and Salim — but at different positions. The point guard battle here includes one of the program’s elite in Damon Stoudamire against another in Mustafa Shakur who struggled to reach his potential but was a four-year starter nonetheless.

Among all the feats Damon Stoudamire achieved at Arizona — leading a team to the Final Four, only Wildcat with two 40-point games in his career, etc. — none were arguably more impressive than what he did against Oregon at McKale Center on Feb. 25, 1995.

Stoudamire, a native of Portland, burned his home-state Ducks with a triple-double in a 97-76 victory. What’s so impressive about that? He tallied 32 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists in only 26 minutes. Moreover, the win over the Ducks capped a 16-0 record in his career against Oregon and Oregon State.

Stoudamire, who later was chosen NBA Rookie of the Year and enjoyed a 12-year pro career, received just praise from Arizona coach Lute Olson after the triple-double performance. “Damon’s got spirit; he’s a fighter,” Olson said.

The knock on Shakur by some UA followers was that he did not embody the same win-at-all-costs, steady-as-he-goes characteristics as Stoudamire. Shakur, one of Olson’s more highly touted recruits from Philadelphia, is remembered as the point guard of the UA team that blew a 15-point lead against Illinois with four minutes remaining in the 2005 Chicago Regional Final. The Wildcats led by eight points with 1:15 remaining in regulation. But the top-seeded Illini rallied to force overtime and pulled out a 90-89 victory.

Shakur should be remembered for much more than that. Foremost, among Olson’s array of talented point guards — Damon Stoudamire, Steve Kerr, Mike Bibby, Jason Terry and Jason Gardner among them — Shakur holds the most career assists with 670. Damon Stoudamire finished with 663. Moreover, much like Stoudamire, Shakur proved to be a standup guy who always answered questions by the media, win or lose.

The year after Arizona collapsed against Illinois, the Wildcats traveled to Shakur’s hometown of Philadelphia to play in the NCAA tournament. They routed Wisconsin 94-75 behind Shakur’s 17 points and nine assists. The Wildcats then battled Villanova, which essentially playing a home game in Philly, before losing 82-78 despite 21 points and five assists from Shakur.

“Mustafa has played the way great point guards play,” Olson said after the Wisconsin game. “He ran his team; he backed it out when the advantage wasn’t there; he attacked the rim when he saw the opportunity to attack. And defensively, he’s made unbelievable progress just from last year. And he’s accdepted the role now of being the distributor. This was probaby as well as he’s played.”

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Javier Morales took first place in the 2010 Arizona Press Club’s Metro Sports Reporting category

Don’t forget: For all the links, Twitter feeds and news feeds related to Arizona and its opponents, go to Morales’ site WILDABOUTAZCATS.NET. No other Arizona sports Web site is like it!

In case you missed it: The Top 10 Badass Defensive Players and the Top 10 Badass Offensive Players in Arizona football history

1996-97 Arizona Wildcats (25-9)
–Beat Providence 96-92 in overtime in the Southeast Regional Final; beat North Carolina 66-58 in the Final Four; and defeated Kentucky 84-79 in overtime to win its first NCAA championship. To note: The Wildcats became the first team to beat three No. 1 seeds (Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky) en route to the title.

2002-03 Arizona Wildcats (28-4)
–Lost to Kansas 78-75 in the West Regional Final. To note: The Wildcats beat Gonzaga 96-95 in double-overtime in a West second-round matchup that is one of the classic games in NCAA tournament history.

Note: Please vote on which team you believe should advance in the bracket at WILDABOUTAZCATS.net. Thank you
Also: The poll is still open for the 1975-76 vs. 2000-01 matchup

MATCHUPS

Point Guard

Mike Bibby (1996-1998) vs. Jason Gardner (1999-2003)

Mike Bibby

Jason Gardner

Mike Bibby goes against another storied Arizona point guard, Jason Gardner, in this one. Both have their numbers retired and hanging from the rafters at McKale Center. They are the only point guards to lead the Wildcats to a national title game.

Bibby is arguably the best point guard in the esteemed history of Point Guard U. He was the total package — student of the game (his father, Henry, experienced success at UCLA and the NBA), capable leader, solid playmaker, accurate perimeter shooter, clutch performer … and decent rebounder?

One of the most forgotten stats of Arizona’s magical national championship run was Bibby’s nine rebounds against Kentucky in the title game. This occurred a game after he yanked seven against North Carolina in the Final Four game. That showed more than anything Bibby’s nose for the ball and ability to always make something happen.

His second half against the Tar Heels has to rate among the best halves for a UA player in the program’s history. He drilled five 3-point shots, committed no turnovers, and scored 17 points to finish with 20 in the UA’s 66-58 victory. No Wildcat played more minutes than Bibby’s 38.

“I believe in fate and that there is little you can do about it,” Bibby said after the game. “So, I go out and just play basketball, doing everything I can to help fate turn my way. I play the games over in my mind at night. I dream about the game. I try to envision how the game will go, how it should go, and what I should do. And then I just try to go out and have fun and make it happen.”

Gardner, the Iron Man of the Arizona program, finished his accomplished UA career in 2003. The school’s career record-holder for average minutes played — 35.5 — Gardner also was versatile at point guard. He is third on the UA’s all-time scoring list with 1,984 points, and he also ranks among the top 10 in 13 statistical categories.

One of Gardner’s most impressive feats: He had 10 games in his career in which he played 30 minutes or more and did not commit a turnover. He and backcourt mate Gilbert Arenas established one of the best UA backcourts in history starting in their first game together against Kansas State in the 1999-2000 season-opener. They combined for 28 points, 15 assists and eight steals in the 88-69 win at McKale Center.

Gardner, selected Mr. Indiana after his senior season in high school in Indianapolis, nearly had a double-double in his first collegiate game, recording 14 points and nine assists.

“He is a freshman and he isn’t,” Olson told reporters after the game. “I’m not sure if we have ever had a freshman point guard come in and play like he did tonight.”

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Javier Morales took first place in the 2010 Arizona Press Club’s Metro Sports Reporting category

Don’t forget: For all the links, Twitter feeds and news feeds related to Arizona and its opponents, go to Morales’ site WILDABOUTAZCATS.NET. No other Arizona sports Web site is like it!

In case you missed it: The Top 10 Badass Defensive Players and the Top 10 Badass Offensive Players in Arizona football history

1975-76 Arizona Wildcats (24-9)
–Lost to UCLA 82-66 in the West Regional Final. To note: The NCAA tournament only had 32 teams in 1976 and the regional final was played on UCLA’s campus at Pauley Pavilion.

2000-01 Arizona Wildcats (28-8)
–Beat Illinois 87-81 in the Midwest Regional Final; beat Michigan State 80-61 in the Final Four; and lost to Duke 82-72 in the national title game. To note: The Wildcats advanced through the tournament playing in honor of Lute Olson’s wife Bobbi, who died of ovarian cancer on Jan. 1, 2001.

Note: Please vote on which team you believe should advance in the bracket at WILDABOUTAZCATS.net. Thank you!

The cover of the Arizona basketball 1976-77 media guide, a year after the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight. Pictured (left to right): Bob Elliott, coach Fred Snowden and Herman Harris

The 2000-01 team currently pitted against the 1975-76 edition in the TucsonCitizen.com Arizona Elite Eight Event features squads coached by Lute Olson and the late Fred Snowden, respectively.

Few Arizona fans remember that Snowden actually coached Arizona against Olson and Iowa during that successful 1975-76 season.

The Hawkeyes defeated Arizona 82-80 in a controversial second-round game of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu on Dec. 29, 1975, five years before many of the 2000-01 Wildcats, including standout point guard Jason Gardner, were even born.

“I probably played something like 114 games in my career at Arizona , and a lot of wins did not stick out like that loss,” former center Bob Elliott, laughing, told me in 1996 when I first wrote about the encounter for The Arizona Daily Star. “We fought hard to get back into the game, and for it to be decided on a (referee) call like that . . .”

Iowa took a 35-7 lead 12 minutes into the game, and the Wildcats trailed 51-33 at halftime. It appeared that the UA would rather be on the beach, while the Hawkeyes took the game seriously.

“ Arizona was frankly a better basketball team than we were,” Olson told me in the Arizona Daily Star interview. “With a program like ours at Iowa, at the time, we didn’t have a lot of room for error, so we got over there and everything was focused on playing.

“We didn’t allow them on the beach. We didn’t allow them out. We had curfews, that kind of thing.”

Arizona slowly chipped away at the deficit in the second half, and with 14 seconds remaining, the Wildcats tied the game at 80 on a basket by Elliott. No records have been kept, but that is arguably the greatest comeback (trailing by 28 points at one point) in Wildcat history.

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