Arizona Makes Title Look Like Foregone Conclusion

The University of Arizona’s dyed-in-the-red-wool fans donned their sweaters and flocked to McKale Center Sunday afternoon, 13,796 strong, to celebrate a basketball team.

Not to celebrate a victory. That was a foregone conclusion. Arizona, the Pacific 10 season champion, was destined to beat Oregon State for the Pac-10 tournament title. The Wildcats had already beaten the Beavers twice. The only unknown was the final score, which turned out to be 93-67.

No, it was their beloved team they came to celebrate. A team that has given them a 31-2 season. A team that has given them a victory in every appearance at McKale Center this season--18 straight--and that is moving on to Pauley Pavilion next weekend to begin the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. playoffs that these fans have so eagerly awaited.

They came to shout their approval when it was announced that Arizona would be the No. 1-seeded team in the West Regional for the NCAA tournament. They even whooped for the matchup against Ivy League champion Cornell.

They came to cheer and chant and give standing ovations. There were standing ovations for dunks, for three-point shots, for big runs, for blocks--and for each starter as he left the game.

Center Tom Tolbert sat down with 10:14 remaining. (Oregon State’s center and leading scorer, Bill Sherwood, had been sitting from the start. He was on the bench in street clothes, resting the severely sprained ankle he had played on for 48 minutes the day before.)

Forward Sean Elliott and guards Craig McMillan and Steve Kerr sat down with 8:17 to play. And the last starter, forward Anthony Cook, sat down with 6:55 to play.

And still the fans cheered as the reserves took the 28-point margin and ran it to 31 points before the Beavers made a couple of last-ditch, quick shots.

Even the reserves got standing ovations from fans who were not a bit disappointed in the lack of suspense.

Arizona Coach Lute Olson kindly stated the obvious: “It was a difficult assignment for Ralph (Miller) and his group without their leading scorer. It’s tough to compete against us here even when you’re at full strength. . . . I thought they did everything they could to compete.

“There’s no question that we had them badly outmanned in the front line.”

Once again, Arizona’s quick-strike offense and quick-handed defense, made quick work of its guest.

To wit: Tolbert dunked a pass from Elliott and made the free throw that came with it; Tolbert pulled down a defensive rebound and sent the pass to Kerr, who hit a three-point shot from the top of the key; Tolbert grabbed another defensive rebound and sent that out to Kerr, who passed it on to Elliott for the slam dunk; then Kerr stole the ball and made the layup off the glass on a fast break to give the Wildcats a 10-point run in less than a minute and a half.

With 16:33 left in the first half, Oregon State was within one point. With 15:04 left, Oregon State was down by 11.

Miller, Oregon State’s coach, said: “We know why we got beat today. We didn’t play well enough in the first five minutes. When you get down by 15-16 points to Arizona. . . . Wait a minute! I’d like to see somebody catch Arizona after that.

“We dug our own grave.”

Olson--in the midst of commenting on tournament brackets and agreeing that his team is peaking and praising the development of his center and marveling at the skills of his star forward and exchanging playful barbs with his point guard--paused to say: “The fan support here has been great. I’d like to see another tournament where the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th teams are playing, and none of them are the home team, and they draw 12,000 or more like we did here Thursday night.

“The fans have been great all season, and for this tournament, it was a great show.”

Kerr expects a lot of those fans to show up at Pauley Pavilion next weekend, too.

“We like to play at Pauley Pavilion,” Kerr said. “I’ve never thought of it as having any mystique. We’ve played there a lot. Most of us have family and friends in the area. It’s as good a spot as any for us to play.

“Earlier in the year when we played at Pauley Pavilion, our fans were louder than their fans. Of course, they had more to be loud about.”

Oregon State (20-10) is going to the Southeast Regional in Atlanta as the No. 12-seeded team and will play No. 5 Louisville.

Pac-10 Notes

Sean Elliott of Arizona was named most outstanding player of the tournament. Also on the all-tournament team were Tom Tolbert and Steve Kerr of Arizona, Todd Lichti of Stanford and Gary Payton of Oregon State. . . . Asked about being a finalist for the Wooden award, Elliott said, “I know I’m not going to win it. That kind of thing is for seniors.” . . . With 31 victories, Arizona broke the Pac-10 record of 30 set in 1972-73 by UCLA. Arizona’s previous best was a 24-5 record in 1950 and 24-9 in 1976. . . . In each of the two years the Pac-10 tournament has been held, the host team has won. Last year, UCLA won at Pauley Pavilion. Next season the tournament will be held at the Forum. . . . Oregon State Coach Ralph Miller, who is 69, was asked if he had any plans for next year. He said, “I hope I’m alive to make some plans. . . . I’ll tell you what I’m going to do (about retiring) when I get dang good and ready.” . . . Kerr’s three three-point shots Sunday increased his Pac-10 record to 102 three-pointers. Last season, Reggie Miller, who played only season with three-point line in effect, set the record at 69.