EDITOR NOTE: AllSportsTucson.com will run a feature this basketball season highlighting what happened 25 years ago on that particular day commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Arizona Wildcats’ national championship. The next in the series is what occurred and what was written concerning the developments of Dec. 30, 1996, when ninth-ranked Arizona beat Penn 93-51 in the championship game of the Fiesta Bowl Classic at McKale Center. The information gathered is through articles written by beat reporters Steve Rivera (Tucson Citizen) and Javier Morales (Arizona Daily Star), who now write for AllSportsTucson.com
You can access previous stories in this series by clicking on this link.
DATELINE: Dec. 30, 1996, McKale Center
Arizona forward Michael Dickerson has advice for the Wildcat worrywarts: Don’t panic, because he’s not — at least when his shot is not falling.
“I think I kind of spoiled people when I had three 30-point games,” said Dickerson, referring to his early-season offensive successes and a major reason why the University of Arizona is in the top 10 at No. 9. “I think God spoiled me when he let me have three 30-point games. Now I expect everyone else expects me to score 30 every night. And when I have a 20-point night, I feel bad as though I didn’t do too much.”
His 21-point effort today — just two points under his season average — was more than enough for Arizona as it had its second consecutive blowout game in the 1996 Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic.
Today, Dickerson led four UA players in double figures as the Wildcats beat up on Penn, 93-51, at McKale Center. Arizona moves to 7-2 as it opens Pac-10 play Jan. 2 against California at McKale Center.
The bright spot for Dickerson today may not have been his point total but his efficency getting there. He took just 13 shots, making eight. And that was after going 4 for 20 against Michigan for a season-low nine points 10 days ago. Dickerson was 4 for 16 two days ago against Robert Morris and finished with 20 points.
Against Robert Morris, Dickerson just smirked when asked whether it was time to panic.
Today, he was all smiles after receiving the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
“It means a lot to me because it means I was doing something well,” Dickerson said. “I give all the credit to my teammates for that award. They got me the ball when I was open. I just took the shots. And (today) it felt good.”
One reason was because he didn’t panic; another because over the past couple of days, he’s been working overtime on his shot.
“The thing with shooters is when they shoot, they have to snap the wrists through and not try to steer the ball,” Arizona coach Lute Olson said. “And I thought during this so-called slump, he was trying to steer the ball.
“The difference between in and out and a swish is snapping the wrist. If you’re guiding it, that’s when it goes in and out.”
His teammates never doubled Dickerson’s game.
“He’s the type of player who has to take as many shots as he does in order to help us win,” said Jason Terry, who had 19 points, nine assists and four steals today. “He’s the go-to guy. He’s going to miss shots. He may take four and miss those four, but he’s going to get his next six.”
Named to the Fiesta Bowl All-Tournament team were MVP Dickerson; Bennett Davison and Terry, Arizona; Kenyan Weaks, Florida; and Michael Jordan and Paul Romanczuk, Penn.
Arizona walk-on guard Jason Lee, who scored 15 points in his first game as a Wildcat when they beat Robert Morris, followed that performance shooting 5 of 6 from the field and finishing with 11 points against Penn.
— Steve Rivera
Arizona Wildcats 1996-97 Men's Basketball Schedule
| Date | Rank | Opponent | Result | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/22/96 | 19 | 7 North Carolina Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic | W 83–72 | Springfield (MA) |
| 11/26/96 | 11 | Northern Arizona | W 88–70 | McKale Center |
| 11/30/96 | 11 | 19 New Mexico | L 84-77 | Albuquerque (NM) |
| 12/7/96 | 15 | 3 Utah John Wooden Classic | W 69–61 | Anaheim (CA) |
| 12/9/96 | 15 | 13 Texas | W 83–78 | McKale Center |
| 12/14/96 | 8 | Jackson State | W 111–83 | McKale Center |
| 12/21/96 | 6 | 4 Michigan | L 73-71 OT | Auburn Hills (MI) |
| 12/28/96 | 9 | Robert Morris Fiesta Bowl Classic | W 118–54 | McKale Center |
| 12/30/96 | 9 | Penn Fiesta Bowl Classic | W 93–51 | McKale Center |
| 1/2/97 | 9 | California | W 81-80 | McKale Center |
| 1/4/97 | 9 | 21 Stanford | W 76-75 | McKale Center |
| 1/11/97 | 7 | Arizona State | W 92-84 | Tempe |
| 1/16/97 | 6 | USC | L 75-62 | Los Angeles |
| 1/18/97 | 6 | UCLA | L 84-78 OT | Los Angeles |
| 1/23/97 | 11 | Oregon State | W 99-48 | McKale Center |
| 1/25/97 | 11 | Oregon | W 88-66 | McKale Center |
| 1/30/97 | 10 | Washington State | W 87-78 | Pullman (WA) |
| 2/2/97 | 10 | Washington | L 92-88 | Seattle |
| 2/5/97 | 14 | Arizona State | W 87-71 | McKale Center |
| 2/9/97 | 14 | 21 Tulane 7Up Shootout | W 81-62 | Phoenix |
| 2/13/97 | 11 | 24 UCLA | L 66-64 | McKale Center |
| 2/15/97 | 11 | USC | W 101-77 | McKale Center |
| 2/20/97 | 13 | Oregon | L 78-72 | Eugene (OR) |
| 2/22/97 | 13 | Oregon State | W 74-64 | Corvallis (OR) |
| 2/27/97 | 15 | Washington State | W 100-86 | McKale Center |
| 3/2/97 | 15 | Washington | W 103-82 | McKale Center |
| 3/6/97 | 12 | 23 Stanford | L 81-80 | Palo Alto (CA) |
| 3/8/97 | 12 | California | L 79-77 | San Francisco |
| 3/13/97 | 4 | 13 South Alabama NCAAT 1st Round | W 65-57 | Memphis |
| 3/15/97 | 4 | 12 College of Charleston NCAAT 2nd Round | W 73-69 | Memphis |
| 3/21/97 | 4 | 1 Kansas Sweet Sixteen | W 85-82 | Birmingham (AL) |
| 3/23/97 | 4 | 10 Providence Elite Eight | W 96-92 OT | Birmingham (AL) |
| 3/29/97 | 4 | 1 North Carolina Final Four | W 66-58 | Indianapolis |
| 3/31/97 | 4 | 1 Kentucky Championship | W 84-79 OT | Indianapolis |
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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. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
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