TUCSON, Ariz. – As we continue our weekly #ThrowbackThursday series that takes a look at various decades of the Arizona men's basketball program, this week we turn our attention to the first 10 years of the 2000s.
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Below are some facts and figures from the decade along with some names of just a few of the players that helped the Wildcats carry on their winning ways.
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42 – the number of wins over ranked opponents during the decade
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17 – the number of times an Arizona player was named All-American in the decade
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12.3 – average number of on-court wins the Wildcats averaged in the McKale Center during the decade
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12 – the number of players from Arizona that were selected in the NBA Draft between 2000-09
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9 – the number of players who completed their playing careers at Arizona between 2000-09 that have their name in the Ring of Honor
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2 – the number of players named to the NCAA All-Final Four team (Richard Jefferson, Loren Woods) in 2001. It's also the number of players that earned Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors (Salim Stoudamire, Chase Budinger).
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1 – Jason Gardner was the lone Wildcat to be named National Player of the Year during the decade, collecting the honor following the 2002-03 season
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Other notables from the decade include:
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- Winning the 2000-01 Maui Invitational with wins over Chaminade, Dayton and Illinois before finishing as national runner-up to Duke in the NCAA Tournament that same year.
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-Won the Pac-10 Conference Tournament championship in 2001-02
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-Won the Pac-10 Conference regular season title in 2003-04 and 2004-05
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-Won the Fiesta Bowl Classic eight times in 10 year span
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-Posted a 15-7 record against Arizona State over the 10 years
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