Still wearing the headband he sported at Arizona, Mustafa Shakur had a team-high five assists in 10 minutes vs. the Celtics. Photo by Rafael Suanes-US PRESSWIRE

Former Arizona point guard Mustafa Shakur made a successful debut with the Washington Wizards on Saturday.

Earlier in the day he was a member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League. By the end of the night, he had provided five points and five assists in 10 minutes as the Wizards upset the Boston Celtics 85-83.

Shakur filled the backup role to rookie John Wall because Kirk Hinrich was out with a sprained right elbow.

“Oh, man, it’s a great feeling and an unbelievable opportunity the organization has given me to come in here and just be a part of everything,” Shakur was quoted as saying in the Washington Post.

Shakur, 26, signed a 10-day contract with Washington.

This is his fourth NBA team. Shakur has played in a total of 10 NBA games since the 2007-08 season.

There is more information on Shakur’s Washington debut at the Washington Post link, including quotes from Wall and coach Flip Saunders.

Here is a pregame interview with Shakur:

Wildcats win 65-63 as the Cougars’ Klay Thompson, who struggled all night on offense, misses a turnaround jumper in the lane. The clock runs out as WSU corrals the rebound.

Arizona improves to 16-4 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-10, tied for second play with UCLA.

It wasn’t pretty for Arizona, but we know by now that this isn’t a pretty team. What matters for the Wildcats is that they have Derrick Williams be Derrick Williams … and everybody else has to keep grinding, especially on defense.

Williams was Williams — 17 points, 19 rebounds.

And Arizona’s work on the boards, plus some clutch late 3-point shooting from Jamelle Horne (who had been invisible for more than 70 minutes of game time on this road trip), helps UA get the all-important road split.

Sometimes, it also just helps when the other guys aren’t making shots. WSU missed 18 of its last 20 3-point shots. Cougs probably should have been more intent on getting the ball inside.

* * *

Kyle Fogg at the line with 15.8 seconds left. Remember, he hit three in a row vs. USC last season. Of course, he misses both …

* * *

WSU answers quickly on a basket by DeAngelo Casto with 22.5 seconds left.

* * *

MoMo Jones handles the pressure in the backcourt, eventually getting fouled with 29.0 seconds left. First one good; second one good. Two possession game: 65-61.

* * *

Klay Thompson grabs a rebound and scores on a putback to cut the Arizona lead to 63-61 with 36.5 seconds left.

* * *

With shot clock running down, Derrick Williams drives into the lane with his left hand and gets fouled. He heads to the free throw line with 48.4 seconds left. He makes one for a 63-59 lead.

* * *

Another 3-ball from Horne.

* * *

Jamelle Horne responds with a clutch 3-pointer. You never know what you’re going to get from Horne.

* * *

Faisal Aden drains a 3-pointer from the corner. Big shot. WSU gets within 56-55 at 2:34 to go.

* * *

Derrick Williams back at the line with 2:51 to go. He makes both for a 56-52 lead. That’s 16 points and 19 rebounds for D-Will.

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Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic has nicely compiled videos of what he considers the top 10 dunks of the season by a Pac-10 player.

It’s a fun list … even if it might be painful for Arizona fans to look at that monster follow jam by Oregon State’s Jared Cunningham.

Arizona has three entries to consider. We’ll put those YouTube videos here, and you can check out the top 10 dunks on Haller’s blog at azcentral.com.

Titans defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil won't be back next season after the unit struggled much of the season, especially on third downs.
Photo by George Walker IV, The Tennessean (file)

Arizona Wildcats legend Chuck Cecil is out after two seasons as the defensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, fired Thursday by coach Jeff Fisher.

“Do I feel like the defense was to blame?” Cecil told the Tennessean newspaper.

“I felt like the entire team was to blame. People are going to have different opinions about that, and everybody is entitled to their own opinion. But I have my own and I’ll take it with me.

“I have no regrets. I think my players on defense played hard, and we showed up pretty much week to week and executed. I think the guys bought in to what we were selling, and they bought in and played hard. We just needed to be better than we were.”

Cecil is one of (by my count) 11 former Arizona Wildcat players who are coaching in college or the professional ranks. (Thanks to ZonaDennis at UASports.net for contributing Adam Austin to the list.)

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Arizona senior forward Jamelle Horne failed to score in 15 minutes off the bench.
Photo by Mike Nelson-US PRESSWIRE

Washington wins 85-68. Huskies are 6-1 in the league, alone in first place. Arizona is 4-2.

Looks like Sean Miller — who certainly admires point guard play — had some nice words for Isaiah Thomas after the game in the handshake line. With less-than-adequate point guard play and no proven second scorer, Arizona can only go so far this season and will have trouble beating really good teams.

* * *

Must be nice to have a point guard like that: Isaiah Thomas finishes with 110 assists and 22 points. And, oh yeah, six rebounds.

* * *

A 3-pointer by Washington freshman Terrence Ross gives the Huskies a 78-65 lead with about three minutes left.

* * *

Too many easy baskets for Washington, which leads 75-63 with 3:52 to play.

* * *

One of those nights for Jamelle Horne. He’s scoreless, and that Arizona depth — supposed to be a strength of this team — did not come to play.

* * *

Arizona lost on offense with D-Will on the bench. Washington’s Venoy Overton gives the Huskies a 65-56 lead on a driving scoop shot through traffic. The crowd is fired up, and the Wildcats are getting closer to the cliff with 7:42 left.

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Steve Kerr will be doing a lot of talking in front of the camera in April.
2010 photo by Emmanuel Lozano, The Arizona Republic

Arizona basketball great Steve Kerr will be back in the Final Four this season, 23 years after helping lead the Wildcats there.

Kerr, an NBA analyst for TNT and an occasional college analyst for Fox Sports Net, will join CBS for the Final Four games on April 2 and the national championship game two nights later. He will join play-by-play man Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg on the telecast.

(Richard Deitsch of SI.com has many more details about the new broadcaster configurations for the NCAA Tournament.)

For Arizona fans, it will be nice to have Kerr in such a prominent college role, especially one in which he excels. Kerr is a natural storyteller and completely at ease on the air — lighthearted yet informative.

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Arizona coach Sean Miller and Washington coach Lorenzo Romar spent this week trading flattery about each other’s star player.

Derrick Williams is second in the Pac-10 in scoring. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

In one corner, you have the Wildcats’ Derrick Williams. A 6-8 soph-o-more (must be said in Keith Jackson’s announcing voice) from La Mirada, Calif. Too strong for smaller defenders. Too quick for bigger defenders. Inside. Outside. Left hand. Right hand. A professor at Dunk U.

In the other corner, you have the Huskies’ Isaiah Thomas. A 5-9 junior from Tacoma, Wash. A complete guard. Quick. Big-time scorer. Making drive-and-dish an art form. Had 27 points and 13 assists vs. Cal last week, a ridiculous combination of stats.

The stars will align in Hec Edmundson Pavilion tonight (8:30 p.m. Tucson time, Fox Sports Net).

Arizona-Washington. Williams-Thomas.

First place in the Pac-10 on the line.

So, it’s not as if Williams and Thomas will guard each other. Their different sizes and different roles makes a stat comparison less than completely instructive. But here it is anyway:

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Nic Grigsby runs against Toledo in the 2010 season opener.
Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Neither of running back Nic Grigsby‘s final two seasons at Arizona went as planned. A shoulder injury in 2009. Ankle problems in 2010.

Nothing he can do about that now.

For Grigsby, it is all about looking forward, trying to show the pro scouts the promise of his earlier years as an Arizona Wildcat, which included a 1,153-yard sophomore season.

He is training in Scottsdale at ZONE Athletic Performance and will play Sunday in the Eastham Energy College All-Star Game at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Fox Sports Arizona will carry the game starting at 5:30 p.m.

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Russ Pennell doesn't have to feel anxiety anymore when he returns to McKale Center.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE.

For the first time since taking the Arizona Wildcats to the 2009 Sweet 16, Russ Pennell was back at McKale Center for a game last weekend.

“It almost feels like I was here a couple of days ago,” he said after the Arizona-Arizona State game.

Pennell, Arizona’s interim head coach for the 2008-09 season, watched the game from the baseline seats in front of the Zona Zoo, sitting next to ex-Wildcat Matt Brase. Brase is a graduate assistant to Pennell at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

Arizona officials showed Pennell on the videoboard during the first half of the game, and the fans greeted him with a nice round of applause.

“That is very humbling, and it’s very typical of Arizona fans. They just remember,” Pennell said.

Two seasons ago, Pennell stood up to take the interim head coaching job when Lute Olson retired because of health reasons. He was the right guy at the right time. He didn’t have any other agenda other than to navigate the team through a tough season — doing so with an easy-going manner that made him easy to root for.

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Not everyone is sold on the idea of MoMo Jones leading Arizona into the NCAA Tournament.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona’s game at Washington on Thursday will be a battle for first place in the Pac-10, a meeting of two ranked teams.

Hey … kind of how things used to be around these parts.

Arizona coach Sean Miller was asked Tuesday if this game is the biggest since he arrived for last season and he gave a coach’ response — he hopes the games get even bigger in the next couple of weeks.

For sure, the Wildcats haven’t climbed back to the top of the mountain. They’re climbing. They’re 15-3 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-10. They’re No. 25 in this week’s coaches poll. Long way to go.

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