1987–88 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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The 1987–88 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Lute Olson. The team played its home games in the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona, and was a member of the Pacific-10 Conference. In the Pacific-10 Basketball tournament, Arizona beat Oregon State by a score of 93–67 to claim its first Pac-10 title. The Wildcats built on that momentum by reaching the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.
| 1987–88 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball | |
|---|---|
NCAA tournament, Final Four | |
| Conference | Pacific-10 |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 2 |
| AP | No. 2 |
| Record | 35–3 (17–1 Pac-10) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | McKale Center (Capacity: 14,545) |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Arizona † | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | 35 | – | 3 | .921 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 20 | – | 11 | .645 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 16 | – | 14 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 16 | – | 14 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 13 | – | 16 | .448 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona State | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 13 | – | 16 | .448 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 7 | – | 21 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 9 | – | 20 | .310 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 10 | – | 19 | .345 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † Conference tournament winner As of April 15, 1988[1] Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roster
| 1987–88 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule and results
The victory over Long Beach State in the home opener at McKale Center began a 71-game home court winning streak.[2]
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 11/27/1987* |
No. 17 | vs. Duquesne Great Alaska Shootout |
W 133–78 | 1–0 |
– | – | – | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK | |||
| 11/28/1987* |
No. 17 | vs. No. 9 Michigan Great Alaska Shootout |
W 79–64[3] | 2–0 |
18 – Tolbert | 11 – Tolbert | – | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK | |||
| 11/30/1987* ESPN |
No. 17 | vs. No. 1 Syracuse Great Alaska Shootout |
W 80–69[4] | 3–0 |
16 – Elliott | – | – | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK | |||
| 12/4/1987* |
No. 9 | Long Beach State | W 94–62 | 4–0 |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 12/5/1987* |
No. 9 | Pepperdine | W 73–68 | 5–0 |
17 – Tolbert | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 12/8/1987* |
No. 4 | Northern Arizona | W 77–59 | 6–0 |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 12/12/1987* 6:05 pm |
No. 4 | at No. 3 Iowa | W 66–59[5] | 7–0 |
18 – Tolbert | – | – | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA | |||
| 12/16/1987* |
No. 2 | Arkansas-Little Rock | W 77–59 | 8–0 |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 12/20/1987 |
No. 2 | at Washington | W 110–71 | 9–0 (1–0) |
– | – | – | Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA | |||
| 12/22/1987 |
No. 2 | at Washington State | W 89–55 | 10–0 (2–0) |
– | – | – | Friel Court Pullman, WA | |||
| 12/29/1987* |
No. 1 | Michigan State Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic |
W 78–58 | 11–0 |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 12/30/1987* 8:00 p.m. |
No. 1 | No. 9 Duke Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic |
W 91–85[6] | 12–0 |
31 – Elliott | – | – | McKale Center (13,270) Tucson, AZ | |||
| 1/2/1988* |
No. 1 | at New Mexico | L 59–61[7] | 12–1 |
27 – Elliott | – | – | The Pit (18,100) Albuquerque, NM | |||
| Pac-10 regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/7/1988 |
No. 3 | California | W 80–51 | 13–1 (3–0) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 1/9/1988 |
No. 3 | Stanford | W 90–65 | 14–1 (4–0) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 1/14/1988 |
No. 1 | Oregon State | W 70–48 | 15–1 (5–0) |
– | – | – | Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR | |||
| 1/16/1988 |
No. 1 | Oregon | W 70–54 | 16–1 (6–0) |
– | – | – | McArthur Court Eugene, OR | |||
| 1/21/1988 |
No. 1 | USC | W 92–48 | 17–1 (7–0) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 1/24/1988 |
No. 1 | UCLA Rivalry |
W 86–74 | 18–1 (8–0) |
– | – | – | McKale Center (13,258) Tucson, AZ | |||
| 1/28/1988 |
No. 1 | Arizona State Rivalry |
W 99–59 | 19–1 (9–0) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 1/30/1988* |
No. 1 | No. 13 Illinois | W 78–70 | 20–1 |
– | – | – | McKale Center (13,227) Tucson, AZ | |||
| 2/4/1988 |
No. 1 | at Stanford | L 74–82[8] | 20–2 (9–1) |
22 – Elliott | – | – | Maples Pavilion (7,500) Stanford, CA | |||
| 2/6/1988 |
No. 1 | at California | W 74–62 | 21–2 (10–1) |
– | – | – | Harmon Gym Berkeley, CA | |||
| 2/11/1988 |
No. 3 | Oregon | W 89–57 | 22–2 (11–1) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 2/14/1988 |
No. 3 | Oregon State | W 77–62 | 23–2 (12–1) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 2/18/1988 |
No. 3 | at USC | W 103–68 | 24–2 (13–1) |
– | – | – | Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA | |||
| 2/20/1988 |
No. 3 | at UCLA Rivalry |
W 78–76 OT | 25–2 (14–1) |
– | – | – | Pauley Pavilion (12,037) Los Angeles, CA | |||
| 2/24/1988 |
No. 3 | at Arizona State Rivalry |
W 101–73 | 26–2 (15–1) |
– | – | – | ASU Activity Center Tempe, AZ | |||
| 3/3/1988 |
No. 3 | Washington State | W 79–41 | 27–2 (16–1) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 3/5/1988 |
No. 3 | Washington | W 89–71 | 28–2 (17–1) |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| Pac-10 Tournament | |||||||||||
| 3/11/1988* |
(1) No. 3 | (9) California Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinal |
W 88–64 | 29–2 |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 3/12/1988* |
(1) No. 3 | (4) Stanford Pac-10 Tournament Semifinal |
W 97–83 | 30–2 |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| 3/13/1988* |
(1) No. 3 | (2) Oregon State Pac-10 Tournament Championship |
W 83–67 | 31–2 |
– | – | – | McKale Center Tucson, AZ | |||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| 3/18/1988* CBS |
(W 1) No. 2 | vs. (W 16) Cornell First Round |
W 90–50 | 32–2 |
24 – Cook | 5 – Tied | 5 – McMillan | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA | |||
| 3/20/1988* CBS |
(W 1) No. 2 | vs. (W 8) Seton Hall Second Round |
W 84–55 | 33–2 |
20 – Cook | 6 – Cook | 3 – Tied | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA | |||
| 3/25/1988* CBS |
(W 1) No. 2 | vs. (W 5) No. 17 Iowa Sweet Sixteen |
W 99–79[9] | 34–2 |
25 – Elliott | 9 – Tolbert | 8 – Tied | Kingdome Seattle, WA | |||
| 3/27/1988* CBS |
(W 1) No. 2 | vs. (W 2) No. 7 North Carolina Elite Eight |
W 70–52 | 35–2 |
24 – Elliott | 6 – Tolbert | 3 – Tied | Kingdome Seattle, WA | |||
| 4/2/1988 6:12 pm, CBS |
(W 1) No. 2 | vs. (SE 1) No. 4 Oklahoma Final Four |
L 78–86[10] | 35–3 |
31 – Elliott | 13 – Tolbert | 5 – Kerr | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO | |||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. | |||||||||||
Sources[11]
NCAA basketball tournament
Seeding in brackets
- West
- Arizona (1) 90, Cornell (16) 50
- Arizona 84, Seton Hall (8) 55
- Arizona 99, Iowa (5) 79
- Arizona 70, North Carolina (2) 52
- Final Four
- Oklahoma 86, Arizona 78
Rankings
Awards and honors
- Sean Elliott, Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament Most Valuable Player
- Sean Elliott, Pacific-10 Player of the Year
Team players in the 1988 NBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | NBA club |
| 2 | 34 | Tom Tolbert | Charlotte Hornets |
| 2 | 50 | Steve Kerr | Phoenix Suns |