Wild About '88: Chapter 15: Lute vs Coach K and No. 9 Duke.
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 30, 1987, vs. No. 9 Duke
Duke vs Arizona.
This title card gets Arizona fans’ juices going more than almost anything.
When Mike Krzyzewski brought his No. 9 team to Tucson for the Fiesta Bowl Classic, they were not yet the Blue Devils that college basketball fans have grown to hate. It would be another three seasons before Duke won their first title for Coach K, but they did make the Final Four in 1986, losing to Louisville in the championship game.
That Duke team was the cornerstone of what Duke Basketball became under the legendary Coach K, mirroring what the ’88 Cats represented for the Arizona program in the coming decades.
The 1987-88 Blue Devils were led by Danny Ferry, one of the most decorated players in program history.
In 1989 his selection of Naismith College Player of the Year was not accepted well by the masses in Tucson. The Wooden Award selection panel knew better and gave its award to Sean Elliott.
But back in 1988, Arizona was playing its fourth Top-10 team of the young season.
With the game being played in Tucson, Pac-10 officials were in charge.
“We were winning pretty big early and Ferry who was a little bit of a talker came over, was going to inbound the ball in front of our bench and he looks at Lute and he says 'Coach, this is a home job', meaning the refs are giving us all the calls,” Steve Kerr said in 2013.
Lute didn’t take Ferry’s salutations very well.
"‘What are you doing talking to me? I'm not your coach,’” Olson explained in 2014.
Olson’s words to Ferry instigated a volcanic verbal exchange between two future HOF coaches.
“Mike has a singular purpose in his life just like I do I guess and he said, ‘What are you talking to my player about?’ and I said, ‘Hey, why don't you ask him what he said to me before I responded,’” Olson said in 2014.
Things got patched up at half when Ferry apologized to Lute.
“A class act from a class kid,” Olson told Sports Illustrated.
At halftime, Arizona had a comfortable nine-point lead, but with 16:23 left in the game Ferry buried a three-pointer, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to 51-49.
After Duke failed to tie the game two possessions in a row, Arizona answered with transition three-pointers from Craig McMillan and Kenny Lofton.
Arizona pushed its lead to 69-54 with 7:25 left but the Blue Devils were not finished.
Coach K’s crew scored on 13 of their last 16 possessions and cut Arizona’s lead to four with 11 seconds left. That’s as close as the Blue Devils would get.
"They showed what kind of a team they are. They never quit," Kerr said. "Without a doubt they're the best team we've played all year."1
The game ended with a thunderous dunk by Sean Elliott giving the Wildcats a satisfying 91-85 win.
For much of the game, Elliott was matched up against NABC Defensive Player of the Year Billy King.
“Sean Elliott put Billy King in a popcorn machine that game, and he scored 31 points. Not all of them against Billy King, but Sean Elliott put his foot down. And that was one of the things about Sean. The bigger the game, the bigger he’d turn up,” Dana Cooper said in 2015.
After the game, King also sang the praises of Elliott.
“The best I’ve ever guarded. Like Len Bias. Not as great a leaper, but the same versatility and skills. And Sean’s arms are so long you can never get a piece of his shot,” King said. 2
The west coast's reputation for being soft did not seem to influence Arizona’s domination in rebounding. They finished with a 36-27 advantage on the glass, led by Anthony Cook’s 10 rebounds.
“For a bunch of weaklings, we did alright,” Olson said. “Sooner or later people are going to realize we’re a pretty good rebounding team.”3
Sean Elliott would be voted the Fiesta Bowl Classic Tournament MVP. Cook and Kerr joined him on the all-tournament team.
In year five in Tucson, Olson saw something in Durham worth emulating.
"They're(Duke) winners and they're used to winning,” Olson said. "That's the tradition of a program we are trying to build here.”4
Next Up: January 2 at New Mexico.
Blog content and original interview quotations © Waterfoot Films 2022.
Kip Coons, “Blue Devils get good look at Skills of Elliott, Wildcats,” Durham Morning Herald, January 1 1988, Page One and Five—Section C; Curry Kirkpatrick, “Top Cats Who Are Tough Cats,” Sports Illustrated, January 11 1988, Pages 24-27.; Jack Rickard, “Fiesta final a classic UA win: Cats remain perfect with 6-point victory,” The Tucson Citizen, December 31 1987, Page One and Two—Section E.; Jay Gonzales, “Elliott MVP as Arizona beats Duke: Junior forward’s 31 pointsset Fiesta scoring record,” The Arizona Daily Star, Decmeber 31 1987, Page One and Two—Section C.; Dana Cooper, Memories ‘88.
Jack Rickard, “Fiesta final a classic UA win: Cats remain perfect with 6-point victory,” The Tucson Citizen, December 31 1987, Page Two—Section E.
Curry Kirkpatrick, “Top Cats Who Are Tough Cats,” Sports Illustrated, January 11 1988, Page 27.
Jack Rickard, “Fiesta final a classic UA win: Cats remain perfect with 6-point victory,” The Tucson Citizen, December 31 1987, Page Two—Section E.
Kip Coons, “Blue Devils get good look at Skills of Elliott, Wildcats,” Durham Morning Herald, January 1 1988, Page Five—Section C