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Longtime Tucson scribe weighs in on Arizona’s best long-range plays after Love’s miracle shot



Longtime Tucson sports scribe Anthony Gimino, recently with AllSportsTucson.com and PHNX Sports following a career with the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen, discussed his opinion of the most memorable long-range plays involving Arizona athletics following Caleb Love’s backcourt shot against Iowa State on Monday night at McKale.

His list, which indicates 1986 was a very special year for such plays:

1982 — Tom Tunnicliffe‘s 92-yard touchdown pass to Brian Holland in an upset win over No. 4 Arizona State that helped keep the Sun Devils from the Rose Bowl.

1986 — TheMcShot: Craig McMillan scores in the last seconds against Pac-10 power Oregon State off a deflected length-of-court pass thrown by Steve Kerr.

1986 — Chuck Cecil’s 106-yard interception return against Arizona State in another upset win over the Sun Devils during “The Streak.”

1986 — Dave Shermet’s walk-off home run against Maine in the opening game of the College World Series, which the Wildcats eventually won for their third national title.

1996 — Marisa Baena holes a 147-shot from the fairway for an eagle during a one-hole playoff against San Jose State for the 1996 national title. The Wildcats ended up winning by a stroke.

1996 — Miles Simon’s 65-foot shot against Cincinnati that earned Lute Olson his 500th career coaching victory.

2023 — Gunner Maldonado’s 87-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the Alamo Bowl

2025 — Caleb Love’s 55-foot buzzer-beater to force overtime against. No. 3 Iowa State

Some other long-range plays to consider:

1973 — Arizona post player Bob “Big Bird” Elliott makes a 35-foot shot at the buzzer to upset No. 14 Kansas State at McKale.

Arizona Daily Star clipping

1982 — Max Zendejas’ 48-yard field goal as time expired, downing the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind.

1983 — Zendejas drills a 45-yarder as time expires to beat Arizona State 17-15 in front of a stunned crowd at Tempe.

1989 — Doug Pfaff’s 40-yard field goal to close the 6-3 upset win over Oklahoma at Arizona Stadium.

2005 —  Salim Stoudamire’s game-winning long-distance 3-pointer downs UCLA in 2005 at McKale.

2006 — Nick Folk drills a 48-yard field goal with 1 second left, giving Arizona a 16-13 win over BYU.

2007 — Kristie Fox’s walk-off home run gives Arizona a 2-1 win over Baylor in 10 innings in the opening-round game of the Women’s College World Series, which the Wildcats went on to win.

2014 — “Hill Mary”: Anu Solomon’s 47-yard pass to Austin Hill that defeats California at Arizona Stadium, capping a comeback after trailing 31-13 entering the fourth quarter.

2014 — Casey Skowron’s 47-yard field goal splits the uprights as time expires, giving Arizona a 27-26 win over Washington.

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