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!

MATCHUPS

Point Guard

Jim Rappis (1972-76) vs. Jason Gardner (1999-2003)

Both of these leaders exemplified fortitude.

The media coined Rappis, a senior, as Arizona’s “Six Million Dollar Man” before the Cats lost to UCLA in the West Regional Final at Pauley Pavilion.

He fractured an ankle as a freshman and still managed to play nine games. He suffered a ruptured appendix at the beginning of his sophomore year and had a series of ankle injuries but still played in 24 of 26 games. Another ankle injury when he was a junior forced him to use a cane off the court throughout the season. He underwent surgery to correct a spinal disc before the 1975-76 season and was in grave danger of losing his life when he contracted peritonitis.

In the 1976 West Regional Semifinal — one of the most thrilling games in UA history when the Wildcats beat coach Jerry Tarkanian and UNLV 114-109 in overtime — Rappis injured his left heel with 5:57 left in the first half but continued to play despite being hobbled throughout. He finished with 24 points and 12 assists against the Running Rebels.

“Jimmy is the epitome of courage,” Snowden said after the game. “He was in great pain but he went out there anyway.”

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Front page of the Tucson Citizen the day after Arizona outlasted UNLV 114-109 in overtime on March 18, 1976

The day Arizona starts its Sean Miller NCAA tournament chapter is a day that produced one of the Wildcats’ greatest victories and most forgettable defeats in March Madness history.

Former UNLV legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian led his team to a 29-1 record before Arizona's upset victory over the Running Rebels in the 1976 NCAA West Regional semifinals

The Wildcats defeated UNLV 114-109 in overtime in the NCAA West Regional semifinal on March 18, 1976. The No. 2-seeded Wildcats were upset 64-61 by Santa Clara and Steve Nash on March 18, 1993.

Obscure fact: When the Wildcats face Memphis and former player and assistant coach Josh Pastner on Friday morning, it will mark the program’s 10th NCAA tournament game played on March 18. That’s the most games in a day in Arizona’s NCAA tournament history, two more than March 16.

The Wildcats’ record on March 18 is 5-4. Too bad for those superstitious Arizona fans that the Cats’ first-round game was not on Thurs., March 17. The Wildcats are 3-0 in the NCAA tournament on March 17.

Performances in Arizona’s monumental 1976 win over the Running Rebels, coached by Jerry Tarkanian, still litter the UA postseason record book. Fred Snowden‘s Wildcats advanced the farthest in school history at the time — only a game away from the Final Four — behind Herman Harris‘ 31 points.

Harris’ scoring output ranks second in NCAA tournament scoring, behind Khalid Reeves‘ 32 against Loyola (Md.) in an 81-55 win on — yes, March 18, 1994.

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