Since the Lute Olson era started in the 1983-84 season the Arizona Wildcats lost by 20 or more points only 12 times, including last Saturday’s 85-58 loss at Oregon.
The Wildcats have lost 282 games in that span. That includes the three games this season. That means a blowout loss has occurred in only about 14.6 percent of Arizona’s losses over the last 33 seasons. Breaking that down further, 12 such losses in this span equates to one roughly every three years.
In other words, it does not happen often.
The previous time it has occurred was almost six years ago when Arizona lost 71-49 at UCLA on Feb. 26, 2011. Lauri Markkanen was 13 years old.
ARIZONA’S LOSSES OF 20 OR MORE POINTS SINCE OLSON ERA
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So with the lack of such results it may be lost on some how Arizona fares after such outcomes.
Three of the losses happened in the last game of the season in the NCAA tournament, including that forgettable 76-51 loss against Utah in the 1998 Elite Eight when Arizona was the defending national champion.
Therefore, eight times have the Wildcats played a game after getting their tails kicked.
They are 6-2 in those games with the two losses occurring in two of Arizona’s down seasons — Olson’s last in 2006-07 and Miller’s first in 2009-10.
The 2006-07 team that finished 20-11 lost 92-64 against North Carolina in McKale Center and followed that with a 72-66 loss against Washington State at home. They then won six of eight before losing to Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament and Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The 2009-10 team was 16-15 in Miller’s first season. It followed a 99-69 loss to BYU and Jimmer Fredette at home with another loss, at USC 56-50. The Wildcats won six of eight games after and led the Pac-10 midway through the conference season with a 6-3 record. They finished 10-8 in league play.
Coming off the 27-point loss at Oregon on Saturday, Miller’s team hosts Stanford tonight. The talent level and promise of this team is far better than those teams in 2006-07 and 2009-10.
What happens tonight should resemble what happened in the six wins after a blowout loss under Olson and Miller. Arizona won by an average of 15.7 points in those games.
In the last time in this situation in 2011, Arizona defeated Oregon State 70-59 at McKale Center after the 22-point loss at UCLA.
WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY RATING?:
PP: Productivity Points (Points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocked shots, FGs made, FTs made added together and then subtracted by missed FGs, missed FTs, personal fouls and turnovers)
MIN: Minutes played overall
PR: Productivity rating per minute played (Productivity points divided by minutes played)
SEASON PRODUCTIVITY RATING
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PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
ARIZONA PAC-10/12
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
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PREVIOUS GAME
OREGON 85, ARIZONA 58
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS
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ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
*-Honolulu
**-Las Vegas
***-Los Angeles
****-Houston
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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