Wild About '88: Chapter 12: Arizona is No. 1 after Pac-10 Opener in Seattle.
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 20, 1988, at the Washington Huskies.
After No. 2 Arizona bulldozed the Washington Huskies in Seattle 110-71, Lute Olson gave his team some sly good news in the locker room.
“Tomorrow we’ll leave the hotel at 8:15 a.m., fly to Spokane at 9:45 and get to Pullman around noon. And you’ll also be going as the No. 1 team in the USA TODAY poll.”1
In less than five years Olson had taken a 4-win team to No. 1 in the country.
“It was an amazing feeling. None of us really thought that we would make that climb and as amazing as it was for us, the city of Tucson just went crazy,” Jud Buechler said in 2016. “Here's this little town in Arizona, and we've got the number one basketball team in the country. And it was amazing to not only see our name at the top in bold letters, but then see Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse below us.”
The Wildcats would also be voted No. 1 in the AP poll.
Arizona’s performance in Seattle that afternoon showed why the nation believed they were the real deal.
Their 110 points were the most points a Washington team had ever given up. The previous record against the Huskies was 109. That was way back in 1972 by John Wooden’s 30-0 National Championship team, considered by many to be the best college team ever.
Arizona forced 17 turnovers in the first half.
The Wildcats starting lineup of Sean Elliott, Tom Tolbert, Craig McMillan, Anthony Cook, and Steve Kerr combined to go 24-30(80%) from the field.
Eight Arizona players would score in double figures.
Arizona would shoot 70% from the field and 79% from behind the arc.
“I’ve never been beaten that bad at any level,” Washington head coach Andy Russo said.2
Lute Olson’s team was now 9-0 and the toast of college basketball. The blowouts in the Pac-10 were just starting.
Next Up: December 22 at Washington State.
Blog content and original interview quotations © Waterfoot Films 2022.
Jack Rickard, “It’s official; Cats are No. 1: UA rides to top with 39-point blowout,” The Tucson Citizen, December 21 1987, Pages One and Six—Section B.; Jay Gonzales, “UA defeats Washington by 39: Huskies lose by biggest margin since league became Pac-10,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 21 1987, Page One—Section F.; Dana Cooper, Memories ‘88;
Jack Rickard, “It’s official; Cats are No. 1: UA rides to top with 39-point blowout,” The Tucson Citizen, December 21 1987, Pages One and Six—Section B.
Jay Gonzales, “UA defeats Washington by 39: Huskies lose by biggest margin since league became Pac-10,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 21 1987, Page One—Section F.