Arizona loses 71-60. A slow start meant the Wildcats had to play catch-up all game, and while they did an admirable job of rallying, Gonzaga just had too many easy points in the paint and follow-up baskets over the course of the game.

Arizona drops to 7-4 and loses to Gonzaga for the first time in four games.

Kyle Fogg led Arizona with 14 points, 12 in the second half.

Power forward Elias Harris was a force for Gonzaga with 27 points.

* * *

That was a critical exchange, as Gonzaga broke the UA press and got a layup from Elias Harris to push the lead to 66-58. Arizona then commits a turnover.

* * *

The Wildcats are still fighting to rally after being down 20 points in the second half. Arizona got the deficit to six points, including a jumper from Nick Johnson with 2 minutes to go.

Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos made two free throws with 1:40 left to make it an eight-point lead, although his two misses with 1:20 left kept the door open for Arizona. Nick Johnson’s two free throws for Arizona cut it back to six points.

* * *

Arizona keeps clawing back, trailing by six with less than two minutes to play.

* * *

The Wildcats have cut the lead to 10 points three times in the second half, the latest coming when Jordin Mayes hits a 3-pointer with 3:44 left. Does Arizona have one more run left?

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Todd Graham went 6-6 in his one season at Pitt. Photo by Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE

When new Arizona State coach Todd Graham was the head coach at Allen (Texas) High School in the late 1990s, he ran a no-huddle, shotgun offense that emphasized the option attack.

Who was his inspiration, at least in part, for that brand of offensive attack?

His friend, Rich Rodriguez.

That’s what Graham told the Dallas Morning News in a 2000 story, and there was enough friendship/mutual respect between the two that Rodriguez hired Graham when he put together his first coaching staff at West Virginia in 2001.

A 2001 Dallas Morning News referred to Rodriguez and Graham as “close friends.”

Now, they’re rivals.

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Chaparral's Davonte' Neal celebrates his team's Division II football championship game victory over Cienega at Sun Devil Stadium in November. Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

One of the state of Arizona’s top football prospects won’t be considering either of the state’s two major football schools.

New Arizona Wildcats assistant coaches tried to make an in-person pitch to Scottsdale Chaparral receiver/cornerback Devonte’ Neal on Tuesday, but no luck.

Neal wouldn’t even meet with them, telling our Gannett partner, the Arizona Republic, “I’m going out of state.”

New Arizona wide receivers coach Tony Dews has had success recruiting Chaparral before, signing four-star recruits Craig Roh and Taylor Lewan to play at Michigan after the 2008 season.

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Ka'Deem Carey cuts through the UCLA defense on an 18-yard touchdown run. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The new Arizona Wildcats football coaches are in the getting-to-know-you stage with their players — learning about their backgrounds and personalities.

It won’t take the coaches long to learn about some players on the field.

Calvin Magee, the co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach chuckled when asked what he already knew about freshman running back Ka’Deem Carey.

“I know he can play,” Magee said.

“I know the kid is a really good kid, after meeting him. His talent speaks for itself. I’m really, really looking forward to working with him and helping him improve.”

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Fabbians Ebbele is 6-8 and 305 pounds, with long arms that are effective in pass protection. Photo by Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats right tackle Fabbians Ebbele is a Freshman All-American, as selected by the Sporting News.

Ebbele was part of the young Arizona offensive line that featured a pair of redshirt freshman tackles, the other being left tackle Mickey Baucus. The entire starting offensive line, plus all the backups, are expected to return intact for the 2012 season — and freshman Lene Maiava earned raves for his time on the scout team this season.

Ebbele and the rest of the offensive line, led by senior-to-be center Kyle Quinn, will have to adjust next season to new head coach Rich Rodriguez’s zone-read offense, but at least they will have the same position coach — Robert Anae.

Anae was rehired by Rodriguez — “I think he did a really nice job with the offensive line this year,” Rodriguez said — preventing a case where these young linemen would have their third position coach in three seasons.

Ebbele, from Chicago, started every game this season, as did Baucus.

Ebbele is one of eight Pac-12 players, including three offensive linemen, who were chose to the Sporting News’ Freshman All-America team. The other linemen are Oregon’s Hroniss Grasu and USC’s Marcus Martin.

Courtesy of ArizonaAthletics.com, here is the second half of Rich Rodriguez’s talk to fans, as he answers questions and tells a very funny (if hard to believe) story at the end, starting at about the 11:45 mark.

Rich Rodriguez didn’t get far inside the banquet hall at the Westin La Paloma resort. He shook hands, signed autographs, posed for pictures.

About 600 fans turned out Monday night to meet and greet the Arizona Wildcats’ new football coach, and many of those fans kept Rodriguez busy right at the door before it was time for him to get up on stage to address the crowd.

Rodriguez then knocked it out of the park for about the next half hour.

He’s really good at this kind of event. Funny. Down-to-earth. He has well-honed stories and an eager, new audience that hasn’t heard them. A perfect match.

More than anything, athletic director Greg Byrne wanted a football coach who could win games (of course), but he really wanted a football coach who could win games and communicate with the masses.

“He’s a natural at all this,” Byrne said.

“I have been really impressed with how he has embraced the community and the university since he has been here. That goes a long way into buying into what is going on.”

In three weeks on the job, Rodriguez already has one well-worn phrase — “It’s great to be undefeated,” he said to laughter after being greeted with a standing ovation on the stage — but he did carve out some new ground over the next 27 minutes.

Some highlights of Monday night’s reception:

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Robert Anae

Arizona Wildcats offensive line coach Robert Anae is the answer to “Which of these things is not like the other?” as he is the only assistant so far that doesn’t have previous ties to new head coach Rich Rodriguez.

And that, Rodriguez said, is a good thing.

“From talking to the offensive linemen and from talking to him, I’m really excited about what he brings to the table,” Rodriguez said before a reception in his honor at the Westin La Paloma resort Monday night.

“I think he will be able to give us some new ideas to bring to our offense. We could add some of his ideas and perspective to some of the things we’re doing, and if it fits into the limited playbook we want to use in the spring, we’re using it. …

“Some of our run game will be different for him, but he’s been around a little bit; he knows football.”

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Hawaii assistant Dick Tomey (left) talks with San Jose State head coach Mike MacIntyre before a game this season. Photo by Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Dick Tomey, at age 73, returned to coaching this season as the special teams coordinator at Hawaii.

He had his health, the energy, the passion, and he was living in Honolulu anyway in “retirement” … so why not?

But head coach Greg McMackin stepped down last week after posting a 29-25 record in four seasons at Hawaii, so Tomey’s coaching future is cloudy as the Warriors go through a transition.

“I don’t know,” Tomey said late last week in a phone interview.

“If I have a chance to coach again, that would be great. I had as good a time as you can have this year. But if that’s all there is, that’s fine.”

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With this catch in the end zone, Rob Gronkowski sets the NFL record for TD receptions in a season by a tight end. Photo by Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

Former Arizona Wildcats tight end Rob Gronkowski spiked the ball and instantly realized his mistake. That was one football he wanted to keep.

He searched the sky for the bouncing football and then located it in the back of the end zone, marking the 14th time he scored on a reception this season, an NFL record for a tight end. Gronkowski, a second-year player for the New England Patriots, went on to catch another touchdown pass Sunday, part of an afternoon in which he had a career-high 160 yards on six receptions.

“It’s cool to get a record and everything, but it really (doesn’t) matter. We got the team victory,” he told reporters after a 34-27 victory at Washington.

He joked he would use the keepsake football in order to practice his spikes in the offseason.

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Josiah Turner goes up for a basket against Clemson. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

A third of the way through the regular season, Arizona Wildcats freshman point guard Josiah Turner hasn’t always made a positive first impression.

He lost his starting job after the first game, was benched for the third game, suspended for the ninth. He’s not, as some in the NBA Draft projection business extolled in the summer, headed to the NBA after one season.

Amid the rocky start, Turner was back on the court Saturday as the Wildcats defeated Clemson 63-47, the latest step in his adjustment to college basketball, to college life.

This does not appear headed to the same kind of case where freshman big man Sidiki Johnson was suspended indefinitely before deciding to transfer at the semester break.

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