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.
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Below is a look at the roster, season results and more from that team.
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| 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 |
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| 1987-88 Schedule and Results |
|
|
| Won 35, Lost 3 |
|
|
| Coach:Â 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 |
| *Â Pacific-10 Conference game (17-1, 1st) |
|
| (1)Â at Great Alaska Shootout, Anchorage, Alaska |
| (2)Â at Valley Bank Fiesta Bowl Classic, Tucson, Ariz. |
| (3)Â at Pac-10 Conference Tourn., Tucson, Ariz. |
| (4)Â at NCAA Tournament, Los Angeles, Calif. |
| (5)Â at NCAA West Regional, Seattle, Wash. |
|
| (6)Â 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.
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? 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.
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? 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.
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? The 35 wins are still a single-season UA record and it was the first time UA won 30 games in a season.
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? The 17-1 mark in conference play marked the first time UA won 17 conference games in a season.
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? 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).
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? 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.
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? 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
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? 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.
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? 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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