Wild About '88: Chapter 10: Lute Goes Home to No. 3 Iowa.
This season marks the 35th anniversary of one of Tucson’s most beloved teams of all time, the 1987-88 Arizona Wildcats that finished 35-3 and went to the program’s first Final Four. We will celebrate that team by recapping each game during that unforgettable season by referencing newspaper archives and interviews conducted during the making of the upcoming documentary film ‘Wild About ‘88: The Rise of Arizona Basketball.’
December 12, 1987, vs. No. 3 Iowa
The year before Lute Olson arrived at Iowa in the 1970s, the Hawkeyes finished in last place and only won 8 games.
This story sounds somewhat familiar.
Before he left the fishbowl of Iowa City to go to Arizona, the Hawkeyes had reached a Final Four, made five straight NCAA Tournaments, and won a Big-10 Title. All this in a conference that was brutal to compete in, with the cantankerous Bobby Knight at Indiana leading the way.
Iowa’s success led to Olson becoming a larger-than-life figure in the state.
Five years after he left Iowa City for Tucson he brought his No. 4 Wildcats to town.
How would he be received when he took the floor against the No. 3 Hawkeyes?
The day before the game, Arizona was preparing for Iowa during a team scrimmage with the starters taking on the Gumbies. The Gumbies were the lovable bench players on the 1987-88 squad.
The original Arizona Gumby was a graduate assistant and former player, Bruce “Q” Fraser. He borrowed the name from a bendy green clay animated character from the pop culture of yesteryear.
During his career in Tucson, Fraser did not see much playing time.
When Q originally started calling himself a Gumby, it puzzled the team. They wondered why does he call himself a Gumby?
“‘I’m just like this stick figure. Kinda stiff and rubbery. That’s all I am,’” Steve Kerr recalled Fraser saying.
“I felt like a Gumby because I’d come off the bench towards the end of the game or the middle of the game and nothing’s warm. And you’re playing against guys that are much better and bigger than you,” Fraser said in 2013.
The day before the game, the Gumbies were instructed to simulate Iowa’s patented full-court press defense to prepare the starters for what they were to face the next evening.
The Gumbies mimicked Iowa’s defense better than perfection.
“We were kicking the starters’ butts with our press,” Fraser said. “When we'd score we were going nuts and Lute was furious. He was not only furious that we were celebrating our success, but he was furious that the starters couldn't figure it out.”
The Gumbies were also hitting nearly every three they launched at the rim.
“Matt Muehlebach looked like Steph Curry that day in the practice we got our butts kicked,” Craig McMillan said in 2016.
You couldn’t blame Lute for being upset. He wanted the Iowa game pretty badly.
“He was visibly emotional going into that game. I don't think he was himself in the preparation. We could tell he was nervous,” McMillan said.
The next night when Lute entered the court, Iowa Nation let the old ball coach know how they felt about him.
“It was just amazing. The appreciation he got and they were hollering ‘Lute, Lute, Lute’, and all kinds of stuff during that time. I got chill bumps,” Kenny Lofton said in 2016.
When the game finally started, it was a grind. It took Iowa nearly six minutes to get on the scoreboard. They turned the ball over on their first six possessions.
Arizona kept the Hawkeyes honest by switching defenses throughout the game by rotating the match-up zone, the 1-3-1 zone, and man-to-man.
Iowa led by two late in the half but Arizona had the last possession.
“They(Iowa) had a kid by the name of Jeff Moe, who was sort of a hot dog. And Jeff had been yapping at Steve all through the game,” Olson said in 2010.
Kerr was known to be a quiet player but if you started talking junk to him, he would give it right back.
With time winding down Kerr nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving Arizona a 26-25 halftime lead.
“Both teams were running off the court at the same time and I happened to be right next to Jeff and I let him know about the shot or something,” Kerr said in 2013.
The Iowa fans did not appreciate it and would passionately boo Kerr throughout the second half.
Heading into the locker room at the half, Muehlebach recalled the confidence Olson showed with just a one-point lead.
“I remember it was almost like a poker player that figures out that tell of the other player. He had figured out that we were going to beat them,” Muehlebach said in 2016.
In the second half, Tom Tolbert came up big, scoring eight straight points with under six minutes left.
With Arizona leading 54-49, trouble struck with 2:52 left.
Sean Elliott fouled out.
That gave an opportunity to one of the Gumbies who had done such a great job preparing the starters for Iowa’s full-court press.
With a late lead, Jud Buechler knew the Hawkeyes were going to continue to foul him.
Iowa had cut the deficit to three, but Buechler went to the foul line and calmly sank four straight free throws.
“I could tell he didn’t have apprehensions, so I didn’t have apprehensions. If a player goes up there swallowing hard, I swallow hard,” Olson said after the game.1
Buechler would end the game above the rim.
“Jud had a dunk, I think a dunk or two late in the game and I remember seeing Sean Elliott on the bench next to me cheering like crazy for Jud Buechler,” Muehlebach said. “I thought that was pretty cool. To see that kind of teamwork and that camaraderie.”
Arizona would go on to win 66-59.
This win was against the same Iowa team that dropped 100 points on eventual national champion Kansas, a few weeks earlier.
And how about that Gumby defense the day before?
After the scrimmage against the Gumbies, Kerr was not phased by the Iowa press. He played all 40 minutes and had 0 turnovers vs. the Hawkeyes.
Kerr also finished with 15 points while Moe was limited to 1 point.
After the game when Olson entered the locker room his players chanted “Lute, Lute, Lute,” in celebration.
“I just want to thank you for what you gave me. I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present,” Olson told his players.2
“The old coach wanted to win this game a little more than the others,” Olson said. “It didn’t take a whole lot for our guys to know that this game was a little bigger than playing Michigan.”3
Blog content and original interview quotations © Waterfoot Films 2022.
Jay Gonzales, “Arizona difference is a ‘year of experience’,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 13 1987, Page One—Section E.; Jay Gonzales, “Streaking Cats down Iowa, 66-59,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 13 1987, Page One and 16—Section E.; Greg Hansen, “At 7-0, It’s time for dreaming,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 13 1987, Page One and 16—Section E.; Jack Rickard, “Olson still glowing after celebrated victory,” The Tucson Citizen, December 14 1987, Page Seven—Section B.; Steve Carlson, “Lute’s ‘Cats do an inside job on Hawks: Arizona defense breaks third-ranked Iowa, 66-59,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 13 1987, Page One and Three—Section B.; Dana Cooper: Memories ‘88; Randy Brubaker, “Lute and ‘Luteball’ still the same,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 13 1987, Page One and Three—Section B.; Randy Brubaker, “Olson gets what he wanted: A win,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 13 1987, Page One—Section B.
Jay Gonzales, “Streaking Cats down Iowa, 66-59,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 13 1987, Page One—Section E.
Jack Rickard, “Olson still glowing after celebrated victory,” The Tucson Citizen, December 14 1987, Page Seven—Section B.
Greg Hansen, “At 7-0, It’s time for dreaming,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 13 1987, Page 16—Section E.