Former UNC provost now backs UA

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - When Robert Shelton was informed he was the new UA president, one of his first reactions was, "How can I get two basketball tickets?"

Shelton, the former executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was behind the Arizona bench when the Wildcats (13-7, 6-3 Pacific 10 Conference) lost 86-69 to the Tar Heels (12-5) on Saturday. Although Shelton still has a semester's work to do at UNC, he said he will "shift his allegiance out West." [Read article]

Defending champions wallop Arizona with inside/outside attack

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - If this was supposed to be a highly contested big game that people would remember for a long time, one team failed to live up to its end of the bargain.

The Arizona men's basketball (13-7, 6-3 Pacific 10 Conference) failed to show up for a majority of the game Saturday afternoon as North Carolina (12-5) blew them out of Chapel Hill, 86-69, in front of a packed Dean Dome. [Read article]

WSU forward combo combines for 52 points

The last time Arizona and Washington State got together, on Dec. 29, the Wildcats forced 35 turnovers in a victory.

This time around, the Cougars only turned it over 20 times, shot 52 percent and nailed 26 of 34 free throws en route to an 84-77 victory - their first in the Pacific 10 Conference this season - in Pullman, Wash., Saturday afternoon.

It took that next-to-perfect effort from Washington State (7-13, 1-10 Pac-10) to topple the Wildcats (7-14, 3-8), who nearly came back from a 13-point deficit in the closing minutes of the game. [Read article]

Arizona nabs top three all-around scores in rout of Cal

Arizona gymnastics junior Aubrey Taylor had one goal for herself against the California Golden Bears on Friday.

"I want to get another 9.900 on bars," she said last week.

Taylor was referring to her career-high score on the uneven bars against ASU Jan. 22.

Not only did she match her score, she went out and won the first all-around title of her career with a total score of 39.175. Taylor set or matched her career highs in all four events. [Read article]

The No. 11 Arizona club hockey team (14-10) split the series at No. 7 Weber State this weekend having already swept their opponent at home earlier in the season.

The Icecats avenged Friday night's 6-2 loss to WSU with a 4-3 win Saturday afternoon. Freshman goaltender Nick Boddy was between the pipes for Arizona on Saturday, improving to 3-0 this season against Weber State.

"I'm very pleased how we played on Saturday," Arizona head coach Leo Golembiewski said. "That's probably the best 60 minutes we've played in a long time." [Read article]

Track teams improving, coaches say

The Arizona men's and women's track and field teams continued their success this weekend as the team split between the University of Washington Indoor Invitational in Seattle and the Arizona/California Invitational in Flagstaff.

In Seattle, the Wildcats' distance team had its first NCAA indoor automatic qualifier of the season Saturday when senior distance runner Robert Cheseret posted a personal best time of 7:50.40 in the 3,000 meter. [Read article]

North Carolina is college basketball country, with three universities within a 30 square-mile radius that all have programs worthy of specials on the History Channel.

The University of North Carolina is the king of the three, at least until Duke takes over. What other place do you know that has a color, Carolina Blue, named after it? The experience of being among college basketball royalty as well as those southern accents made the trip worthwhile in itself, and that was before the Arizona game. [Read article]

Ross' work ethic questioned

Although the Arizona football team added the "bell cow" of its 2006 recruiting class when www.scout.com's No. 4 cornerback prospect Devin Ross verbally committed to the Wildcats late Thursday night, one national analyst said a rosy future isn't necessarily set for the heralded recruit.

Although Ross has registered a 4.40-second time in the 40-yard dash and boasts a 36-inch vertical leap, his willingness to listen to coaches and play within himself will be critical for any long-term success, said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scout.com and the publisher of SuperPrep magazine. [Read article]