Arizona toyed with the possibility Saturday afternoon of suffering its first losing season since Lute Olson’s first team that went 11-17 in 1983-84, but once again the Wildcats showed their resiliency.

The Cats entered the game with USC at 15-14 overall. A loss would have knocked them down to a .500 team into the Pac-10 tournament next week. The UA would have needed to win the first game in the tournament in Los Angeles to avoid the losing mark. The UA has suffered through trying times this season, but it will not be labeled as a loser now.

A Nic Wise game-winning play on his Senior Day not only avoided a losing season for the Wildcats, but it also qualified the Cats for a potential NIT bid if they fail to win the Pac-10 tournament or their first game there. Arizona’s 86-84 double-overtime win over the Trojans was meaningful in that Wise gets to leave McKale Center a winner — for now unless Arizona is scheduled in an NIT game there.

Other meaningful aspects:

• The Cats are assured of at least a No. 4 standing in the Pac-10, depending on the outcome later today between Washington and Oregon State in Corvallis. The UA was picked to finish fourth in the conference in a preseason media poll. The Cats can tie for third in the standings if the Huskies lose.
• The UA will play Oregon State, UCLA or Stanford in Thursday’s 1 p.m. game (Tucson time) in the Pac-10 tournament. The Cats play Oregon State if the Beavers beat Washington. If Oregon State loses and Stanford loses to Cal, UCLA will play Arizona in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game. If Stanford wins and Oregon State loses, a four-way tie for fifth exists at 8-10 between Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA and USC. Stanford wins the tie-breaker with a 4-2 record against those teams. UCLA was 3-3 and Oregon State 2-4.
• Arizona enters the Pac-10 tournament with a three-game winning streak, which is to coach Sean Miller’s liking in terms of his team’s confidence. “One of the experiences I had at Xavier is that two different times we won four games in four days (in the Atlantic 10 tournament),” Miller told Brian Jeffries in the IMG College/Wildcat Radio Network postgame show. “That’s not done with a magical potion. We have to continue to do the things that make us a good team. Effort trumps everything else. The team playing harder has the best chance at advancing.”
• The three-game winning streak does not mean a good showing in the Pac-10 tournament is a given. Only three years ago, in Olson’s last season, the UA ended the regular season by winning on the road against ASU, Cal and Stanford. The Wildcats then played listless in a 69-50 loss to Oregon in the Pac-10 tournament.
• Wise wins three games in the last seconds this season — the first two coming against Lipscomb and North Carolina State — matching the exploits of Salim Stoudamire who in 2005 beat UCLA, ASU and Oklahoma State with buzzer beaters.
• This is the second time an Arizona player went to the free throw line against USC with less than a second remaining with the game on the line. Joe Turner — usually known as “Smilin’ Joe” Turner because of his disposition — was not smiling after he had a chance to tie the game at the end of regulation in a 1986 game at the L.A. Sports Arena. Turner made one of the two free throws and USC won the game 64-63. Kyle Fogg hit all three of his free throws with .2 seconds remaining to send the game into its first overtime.
• The referees became too much of a factor in this game. Fogg’s basket after the shot clock expired in the second half is a prime example. Additionally, if I am USC coach Kevin O’Neill, I am steamed that the refs called a foul on Fogg’s three-point attempt at the end of regulation. It appeared to be incidental contact and Fogg did a good job accentuating his fall to the ground. The Wildcats will take it. Horne was called for traveling on a rebound late in the second overtime in which he lost his balance. But a look at the replay reveals that Horne kept one foot solid on the ground on the fall. That foot did not slide at all. USC’s Mike Gerritty made two free throws on the ensuing possession to tie the game before Wise’s game-winning drive.
• Arizona won in a lively McKale Center atmosphere in front of Class of 2011 commit Sidiki Johnson, a 6-8 forward from Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep by way of the Bronx. Potential Class of 2013 recruit Eric Cooper Jr. of LaVerne (Calif.) Lutheran was also at McKale Center. Cooper, a 6-2 shooting guard, is the son of former UA guard Eric Cooper Sr., one of Olson’s first recruits who later transferred to Texas-San Antonio. The elder Cooper coaches his son at Lutheran and is also involved in personal training and AAU coaching.
• The victory means Arizona improved from its 9-9 Pac-10 record last year, which was an improvement from the 8-10 mark under O’Neill in 2007-08 season. The last time the Wildcats have improved their Pac-10 record in at least two consecutive seasons? You have to go back to Olson’s formative years with the program. His first team in 1983-84 was 8-10 in the league after Ben Lindsey’s team was 1-17. Olson’s second team was 12-6 and his third team in 1985-86 won the Pac-10 with a 14-4 record. With all but Wise returning next season it’s arguable that Miller will match Olson’s three-year improvement and have a better than 10-8 record in the conference.
• Does the play of Alex Jacobson solidify his spot on the UA’s roster next season? Jacobson played under control, which is all the UA coaches can ask from the little-used sophomore center. “Alex Jacobson changed the momentum of the game by playing hard,” Miller told Jeffries. “He kept a couple of baskets alive for us at times when we were not doing that. He had a couple of key defensive rebounds. His contribution was very meaningful.” On the flipside, Kyryl Natyazhko played only five minutes and picked up a foul in the first half away from the ball to disrupt the flow. Natyazhko shows his frustration and puts too much pressure on himself whereas Jacobson is finally letting the game come to him. One of Miller’s offseason concerns might be Natyazhko feeling comfortable in Arizona’s system. Natyazhko has promise. He simply needs maturity. Will that maturity happen in Tucson?
• For the third consecutive season, a senior from Houston was honored on Senior Day, a remnant of Josh Pastner’s recruiting mark on Arizona. Jawann McClellan departed in 2008 and Fendi Onobun exhausted his eligibility last season. Wise is the last player from Houston on the UA’s roster other than his brother Dondre Wise who is a walk-on occupying a scholarship this season.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Alex Jacobson, Kyle Fogg, Kyryl Natyazhko, Lute Olson, Nic Wise, Sean Miller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.