TUCSON, Ariz. – The third week of our #ThrowbackThursday look into the Arizona record book at conference champions, we turn our focus to the 1988-89 team that won the Pac-10 regular season and conference tournament titles for the second straight season and also advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Below is a look at the roster, season results and more from that team.
| 1988-89 Arizona Men's Basketball Roster |
| # |
Name |
Year |
Pos. |
Ht. |
PPG |
| 32 |
Sean Elliott |
Sr. |
F |
6-8 |
22.3 |
| 0 |
Anthony Cook |
Sr. |
C |
6-9 |
17.5 |
| 35 |
Jud Buechler |
Jr. |
F |
6-6 |
11.0 |
| 24 |
Matt Muehlebach |
So. |
G |
6-2 |
7.6 |
| 12 |
Matt Othick |
Fr. |
G |
6-2 |
5.8 |
| 42 |
Sean Rooks |
Fr. |
C |
6-11 |
5.6 |
| 11 |
Ken Lofton |
Sr. |
G |
5-11 |
5.5 |
| 44 |
Harvey Mason |
Jr. |
G |
6-3 |
4.5 |
| 30 |
Wayne Womack |
Fr. |
F |
6-8 |
2.7 |
| 34 |
Brian David |
Jr. |
C |
6-9 |
1.9 |
| 33 |
Ron Curry |
Fr. |
F |
6-8 |
1.7 |
| 45 |
Mark Georgeson |
Fr. |
C |
6-11 |
0.7 |
| 1988-89 Season Results |
| Won 29, Lost 4 |
|
|
| Coach: Lute Olson |
|
|
| Valley Bank Fiesta Bowl Classic Champions |
| Pacific-10 Conference Champions |
|
| Pac-10 Conference Tournament Champions |
| NCAA Tournament Participants |
|
|
| N30 |
New Mexico |
W |
80-67 |
| D2 |
North Carolina (1) |
L |
72-79 |
| D3 |
Temple (1) |
W |
68-50 |
| D10 |
UNLV |
W |
86-75 |
| D18 |
*Washington State |
W |
76-59 |
| D20 |
*Washington |
W |
116-61 |
| D23 |
*at Oregon State |
W |
73-69 |
| D28 |
Loyola-Chicago (2) |
W |
106-82 |
| D30 |
Pittsburgh (2) |
W |
88-62 |
| J5 |
*at Stanford |
L |
78-83 |
| J7 |
*at California |
W |
64-55 |
| J12 |
*Oregon State |
W |
85-64 |
| J14 |
*Oregon |
W |
95-71 |
| J19 |
*at USC |
W |
97-69 |
| J21 |
Villanova |
W |
75-67 |
| J26 |
*at Arizona State |
W |
96-71 |
| J29 |
*Stanford |
W |
72-52 |
| F2 |
*California |
W |
86-59 |
| F5 |
*at Washington |
W |
85-68 |
| F9 |
*at Oregon |
W |
78-57 |
| F12 |
at Oklahoma |
L |
80-82 |
| F16 |
*USC |
W |
93-70 |
| F18 |
*UCLA |
W |
102-64 |
| F23 |
*Arizona State |
W |
109-74 |
| F26 |
Duke (3) |
W |
77-75 |
| M2 |
*at Washington State |
W |
74-48 |
| M4 |
*at UCLA |
W |
89-86 |
| M10 |
Washington State (4) |
W |
62-54 |
| M11 |
Oregon State (4) |
W |
98-87 |
| M12 |
Stanford (4) |
W |
73-51 |
| M16 |
Robert Morris (5) |
W |
94-60 |
| M18 |
Clemson (5) |
W |
94-68 |
| M23 |
UNLV (6) |
L |
67-68 |
| * Pacific-10 Conference game (17-1, 1st) |
|
| (1) at Tournament of Champions, Charlotte, N.C. |
| (2) at Valley Bank Fiesta Bowl Classic, Tucson, Ariz. |
| (3) at Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, N.J. |
| (4) at Pac-10 Conference Tourn., Inglewood, Calif. |
| (5) at NCAA Tournament, Boise, Idaho |
|
| (6) at NCAA West Regional, Denver, Colo. |
|
Notes
? The Wildcats outscored opponents by an average of 17.6 points per game on the season.
? Finishing with just four losses, it was – and still is – the second-fewest losses in a season by an Arizona Team since 1945.
? After a loss to Stanford to begin Pac-10 play, Arizona went on to win 21 of it's next 22 games through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to UNLV, 68-67, in the Sweet 16 in Denver.
? The 17-1 mark in conference play made it two seasons in a row with just regular season conference loss.
? Head coach
Lute Olson was named Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in four years.
? Three players handed out over 100 assists in the season, including leading scorer Sean Elliott (134), Kenny Lofton (135) and Matt Muehlebach (101).
? Senior forward Sean Elliott capped his outstanding career at Arizona by scoring 735 points in his final season, giving 2,555 for his career to pass UCLA's Lew Alcindor for the top spot on the Pac-10 career scoring list. He currently sits in second place all-time on the scoring list behind UCLA's Don MacLean (2,608). The Tucson native also shot 43.7 percent from the 3-point line and 84.1 percent at the free throw line to lead the team in both of those categories as well.
? The 735 points as a senior were the most in Arizona history at the time, but has since been surpassed by Khalid Reeves, who scored 848 points in the 1993-94 season.
? Elliott was named National Player of the Year by nearly ever media outlet in the country and was a consensus All-American for the second time in as many seasons. He also claimed his second Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year honor and was named MVP of the Pac-10 Conference Tournament.
? Another senior, Anthony Cook, had dazzling senior year, averaging 17.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and blocking 2.5 shots per game while shooting 62.9 percent from the floor. He joined Elliott on the All-Pac-10 Team and made the all-tournament team at the Pac-10 Conference tournament.
? Junior forward Jud Buechler was the third Wildcat to average double figures in scoring (11.0) while also grabbing 6.6 rebounds and shooting 60.7 percent from the floor. His play at the Pac-10 Conference Tournament also earned him a spot on that all-tournament team.
? Senior guard Kenny Lofton finished his career with 200 steals to set a new Arizona record at the time. That total currently ranks fifth in school history. Lofton would go on to play professional baseball for 17 season and was a 6-time all-star.
