#ThrowbackThursday: 1987-88 Pac-10 Champions
05/14/2020 | Men's Basketball
TUCSON, Ariz. – In the second week of our look back at previous Pac-10 and Pac-12 conference champions, we look back at the 1987-88 team that won the Pac-10 regular season and conference tournament titles and advanced to the first Final Four in program history.
Below is a look at the roster, season results and more from that team.
Notes
? Arizona returned 94.5 percent of its minutes played and 95.9 percent of its scoring from the 1986-87 roster for the 1987-88 season.
? In addition to advancing to winning the Pac-10 regular season and tournament titles, the Wildcats also won the Great Alaska Shootout and the Valley Bank Fiesta Bowl Classic.
? At the Great Alaska Shootout, Arizona opened with a 133-78 whitewashing of Duquesne before topping a pair of Top 10 teams in Michigan and Syracuse to claim the crown.
? The 35 wins are still a single-season UA record and it was the first time UA won 30 games in a season.
? The 17-1 mark in conference play marked the first time UA won 17 conference games in a season.
? In a nod to the unselfishness of the team, Arizona had three players average over 3.5 assists per game – Kerr (3.9), Elliot (3.6), Craig McMillan (3.6).
? Junior forward Sean Elliott led Arizona in scoring (19.2) and tied for second in rebounds per game (5.8). He was named a consensus All-American and the Pac-10 Player of the Year. After the 'Cats rolled to the Pac-10 tournament title, he was named tournament MVP. And despite Arizona playing just one game in the Final Four, Elliott was named to the NCAA All-Final Four team that season after collecting MOP accolades at the West Regional.
? Senior guard Steve Kerr averaged 12.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and a team-high 3.9 assists per game. He was also 114-of-199 on 3-point field goals for the season (57.3 percent), still the UA and Pac-12 record for accuracy from long distance. Kerr earned all-American honors and was named the Most Courageous Athlete by the USBWA
? Senior center Tom Tolbert was named to the all-regional team in the NCAA Tournament and averaged 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 54.7 percent from the floor and 81.2 percent from the free throw line.
? Junior forward Anthony Cook posted averages of 13.9 points, and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds while also making 61.8 percent of his shots and blocking two shots per game. He collected All-Pacific-10 Conference honors along with Elliott and Kerr.
Below is a look at the roster, season results and more from that team.
| 1987-88 Arizona Roster | |||||
| # | Name | Class | Pos. | Ht. | Points/Gm |
| 32 | Sean Elliott | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 19.2 |
| 23 | Tom Tolbert | Sr. | C | 6-8 | 14.1 |
| 00 | Anthony Cook | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 13.9 |
| 25 | Steve Kerr | Sr. | G | 6-3 | 12.6 |
| 20 | Craig McMillan | Sr. | G | 6-6 | 6.5 |
| 35 | Jud Buechler | So. | F | 6-7 | 4.7 |
| 11 | Ken Lofton | Jr. | G | 5-11 | 4.7 |
| 44 | Harvey Mason | So. | G | 6-3 | 4.5 |
| 33 | Joe Turner | Sr. | F | 6-8 | 3.9 |
| 24 | Matt Muehlebach | Fr. | G | 6-2 | 1.5 |
| 31 | Craig Bergman | So. | F | 6-6 | 0.8 |
| 1987-88 Schedule and Results | |||
| Won 35, Lost 3 | |||
| Coach: Lute Olson | |||
| Great Alaska Shootout Champions | |||
| Valley Bank Fiesta Bowl Classic Champions | |||
| Pacific-10 Conference Champions | |||
| Pac-10 Conference Tournament Champions | |||
| NCAA Tournament Participants (Final Four) | |||
| N27 | Duquesne (1) | W | 133-78 |
| N28 | Michigan (1) | W | 79-64 |
| N30 | Syracuse (1) | W | 80-69 |
| D4 | Long Beach State | W | 94-62 |
| D6 | Pepperdine | W | 73-68 |
| D8 | Northern Arizona | W | 77-59 |
| D12 | at Iowa | W | 66-59 |
| D16 | Arkansas-Little Rock | W | 77-53 |
| D20 | *at Washington | W | 110-71 |
| D22 | *at Washington State | W | 89-55 |
| D29 | Michigan State (2) | W | 78-58 |
| D30 | Duke (2) | W | 91-85 |
| J2 | at New Mexico | L | 59-61 |
| J7 | *California | W | 80-51 |
| J9 | *Stanford | W | 90-65 |
| J14 | *at Oregon State | W | 70-48 |
| J16 | *at Oregon | W | 70-54 |
| J21 | *USC | W | 92-48 |
| J24 | *UCLA | W | 86-74 |
| J28 | *Arizona State | W | 99-59 |
| J30 | Illinois | W | 78-70 |
| F4 | *at Stanford | L | 74-82 |
| F7 | *at California | W | 74-62 |
| F11 | *Oregon | W | 89-57 |
| F14 | *Oregon State | W | 77-62 |
| F18 | *at USC | W | 103-68 |
| F20 | *at UCLA (ot) | W | 78-76 |
| F27 | *at Arizona State | W | 101-73 |
| M3 | *Washington State | W | 79-41 |
| M5 | *Washington | W | 89-71 |
| M11 | California (3) | W | 88-64 |
| M12 | Stanford (3) | W | 97-83 |
| M13 | Oregon State (3) | W | 93-67 |
| M18 | Cornell (4) | W | 90-50 |
| M20 | Seton Hall (4) | W | 84-55 |
| M25 | Iowa (5) | W | 99-79 |
| M27 | North Carolina (5) | W | 70-52 |
| A2 | Oklahoma (6) | L | 78-86 |
| * Pacific-10 Conference game (17-1, 1st) | |||
| (1) at Great Alaska Shootout, Anchorage, Alaska | |||
| (2) at Valley Bank Fiesta Bowl Classic, Tucson, Ariz. | |||
| (3) at Pac-10 Conference Tourn., Tucson, Ariz. | |||
| (4) at NCAA Tournament, Los Angeles, Calif. | |||
| (5) at NCAA West Regional, Seattle, Wash. | |||
| (6) at NCAA Final Four, Kansas City, Mo. | |||
Notes
? Arizona returned 94.5 percent of its minutes played and 95.9 percent of its scoring from the 1986-87 roster for the 1987-88 season.
? In addition to advancing to winning the Pac-10 regular season and tournament titles, the Wildcats also won the Great Alaska Shootout and the Valley Bank Fiesta Bowl Classic.
? At the Great Alaska Shootout, Arizona opened with a 133-78 whitewashing of Duquesne before topping a pair of Top 10 teams in Michigan and Syracuse to claim the crown.
? The 35 wins are still a single-season UA record and it was the first time UA won 30 games in a season.
? The 17-1 mark in conference play marked the first time UA won 17 conference games in a season.
? In a nod to the unselfishness of the team, Arizona had three players average over 3.5 assists per game – Kerr (3.9), Elliot (3.6), Craig McMillan (3.6).
? Junior forward Sean Elliott led Arizona in scoring (19.2) and tied for second in rebounds per game (5.8). He was named a consensus All-American and the Pac-10 Player of the Year. After the 'Cats rolled to the Pac-10 tournament title, he was named tournament MVP. And despite Arizona playing just one game in the Final Four, Elliott was named to the NCAA All-Final Four team that season after collecting MOP accolades at the West Regional.
? Senior guard Steve Kerr averaged 12.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and a team-high 3.9 assists per game. He was also 114-of-199 on 3-point field goals for the season (57.3 percent), still the UA and Pac-12 record for accuracy from long distance. Kerr earned all-American honors and was named the Most Courageous Athlete by the USBWA
? Senior center Tom Tolbert was named to the all-regional team in the NCAA Tournament and averaged 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 54.7 percent from the floor and 81.2 percent from the free throw line.
? Junior forward Anthony Cook posted averages of 13.9 points, and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds while also making 61.8 percent of his shots and blocking two shots per game. He collected All-Pacific-10 Conference honors along with Elliott and Kerr.
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