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
[table sort=”desc”]
Season,Opponent,Loss,After
1989-90,at Oregon State,84-61,Won eight straight
1989-90,Alabama,77-55,No games/Was NCAA first round game
1997-98,Utah,76-51,No games/Was NCAA Elite 8 game
1999-00,at LSU,86-60,Won seven straight
2001-02,at Oregon,105-75,Won seven of next eight games
2001-02,Oklahoma,88-67,No games/Was NCAA Sweet 16 game
2006-07,North Carolina,92-64,6-5 rest of season
2009-10,BYU,99-69,7-7 stretch in Miller’s first year
2009-10,at California,95-71,Won three straight before losing last game
2010-11,at BYU,87-65,Won seven of next eight games
2010-11,at UCLA,71-49,Won seven of nine before losing in Elite 8
2016-17,at Oregon,85-58,To be determined
[/table]
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
[table sort=”desc”]
Player,Pos,G,S,PP,MIN,PR
Lauri Markkanen,PF,24,24,601,740,.812
Allonzo Trier,SG,5,0,107,140,.764
Dusan Ristic,C,24,24,446,585,.762
Rawle Alkins,SF,24,24,413,709,.583
Kadeem Allen,SG,23,22,349,692,.504
Kobi Simmons,SG,24,19,327,707,.463
Chance Comanche,C,24,0,199,438,.454
Keanu Pinder,PF,23,0,123,305,.403
Parker Jackson-Cartwright,PG,18,7,154,428,.360
AVG 5-9.9 MIN,,,,,
None,,,,,
AVG 1-4.9 MIN,,,,,
Kory Jones,G,3,0,5,6,.833
Tyler Trillo,G,7,0,-1,29,-.034
Jake DesJardins,G,5,0,-2,11,-.182
Paulo Cruz,G,7,0,-5,20,-.250
TOTAL TEAM,,24,,2702,4800,.563
[/table]
PRODUCTIVITY REPORT
ARIZONA PAC-10/12
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
[table sort=”desc”]
Name (Year),G,S,PP,MIN,PR
Derrick Williams (2011),38,38,1190,1141,1.043
Sean Elliott (1989),33,33,1128,1125,1.003
Chris Mills (1993),28,28,838,870,.963
Sean Elliott (1988),38,38,1167,1249,.934
Damon Stoudamire (1995),30,30,964,1092,.883
Mike Bibby (1998),35,35,905,1124,.805
Jason Terry (1999),29,29,877,1107,.792
Nick Johnson (2014),38,38,848,1254,.676
Total,269,269,7917,8962,.883
[/table]
PREVIOUS GAME
OREGON 85, ARIZONA 58
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS
[table sort=”desc”]
Player,Pos,PP,MIN,PR
*Rawle Alkins,SF,27,28,.904
*Dusan Ristic,C,17,20,.850
Allonzo Trier,SG,12,27,.444
*Kadeem Allen,SG,11,32,.344
Chance Comanche,C,5,22,.227
*Lauri Markkanen,PF,4,28,.143
Parker Jackson-Cartwright,PG,-1,19,-.053
*Kobi Simmons,SG,-4,21,-.190
LESS THAN 10 MIN,,,,
Keanu Pinder,PF,2,4,.500
TOTAL TEAM,,73,200,.365
[/table]
ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
*-Honolulu
**-Las Vegas
***-Los Angeles
****-Houston
[table sort=”desc”]
Date,Opponent,W/L,Score,PR,Productivity Leader,Pos,PP,MIN,PR
11/11,*Michigan St,W,65-63,.395,Kobi Simmons,SG,22,26,.846
11/15,CS Bakersfield,W,78-66,.560,Lauri Markkanen,PF,48,36,1.333
11/18,Sacred Heart,W,95-65,.805,Dusan Ristic,C,31,22,1.409
11/21,N. Colorado,W,71-55,.565,Parker Jackson-Cartwright,PG,35,34,1.029
11/24,**Santa Clara,W,69-61,.510,Keanu Pinder,PF,12,12,1.000
11/25,**Butler,L,69-65,.390,Lauri Markkanen,PF,17,21,.810
11/30,Texas So.,W,85-63,.705,Lauri Markkanen,PF,35,29,1.207
12/3,***Gonzaga,L,69-62,.420,Dusan Ristic,C,17,23,.739
12/6,Cal-Irvine,W,79-57,.635,Dusan Ristic,C,32,30,1.067
12/10,at Missouri,W,79-60,.556,Rawle Alkins,SF,27,37,.730
12/14,Grand Canyon,W,64-54,.450,Dusan Ristic,C,19,31,.613
12/17,****Texas A&M,W,67-63,.545,Dusan Ristic,C,27,26,1.038
12/20,New Mexico,W,77-46,.680,Chance Comanche,PF,25,23,1.087
12/30,California,W,67-62,.410,Dusan Ristic,C,27,28,.964
1/1,Stanford,W,91-52,.725,Rawle Alkins,SF,36,29,1.241
1/5,Utah,W,66-56,.530,Dusan Ristic,C,29,26,1.115
1/7,Colorado,W,82-73,.580,Lauri Markkanen,PF,28,22,1.273
1/12,ASU,W,91-75,.765,Lauri Markkanen,PF,42,30,1.400
1/19,at USC,W,73-66,.490,Lauri Markkanen,PF,34,35,.971
1/21,at UCLA,W,96-85,.735,Kobi Simmons,SG,34,33,1.030
1/26,Wash.St.,W,79-62,.640,Allonzo Trier,SG,26,25,1.040
1/29,Washington,W,77-66,.575,Dusan Ristic,C,19,24,.792
2/2,at Ore. St.,W,71-54,.545,Allonzo Trier,SG,25,28,.893
2/4,at Oregon,L/85-58,.365,Rawle Alkins,SF,27,28,.904
[/table]
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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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