Arizona celebrates 'Year of the 1sts'

Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore guard Jason Terry makes a lay up during the Wildcats' game against Southern Cal. Arizona took the NCAA Championship March 31 when it beat Kentucky 84-79.

It was a season of firsts, but not only because the team won its first ever national championship.

The Wildcats were the first team to:

• Defeat three No. 1 seeds in their title run.

• Hand Lute Olson a national title in 24 years of coaching.

• Win the championship as a fourth seed.

• Have a freshman point guard at the helm of a championship team.

• Return the top eight players from a national champion team since the 1967-68 UCLA Bruins.

• Win the national championship, but lose to the National Invitation Tournament champs in the regular season (Arizona lost to Michigan 73-71 on December 21, 1996).

And in its top nine players, four were first year performers at Arizona.

While this youth helped Arizona with a "nothing-to-lose" attitude in the tournament, it also amounted to some growing pains in the regular season.

After starting the season 12-2 with one of the nation's top non-conference schedules, the Wildcats returned to reality with a two game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles schools.

"We just played with no heart," said freshman Eugene Edgerson following the team's 84-78 loss in UCLA. "There were times when we could have won the game, but we just didn't step up."

That series also marked the low point for freshman point guard Mike Bibby, who went up against his father Henry, the head coach at Southern Cal. After scoring 15 points against California and recording nine assists against Arizona State, Bibby shot a combined 6 of 18 in the LA series with six assists.

"There was so much pressure on Mike with the situation," said UA coach Lute Olson following the loss. "This was his first match-up against USC, and I think it will be the worst for him."

Olson's words were proven true when Bibby lit up his father's Trojans for 17 when the teams squared off in McKale Center.

Oft-injured Miles Simon seemed to hurt Arizona's chemistry in the final eight games of the season, with a disappointing 4-4 finish landing it fifth in the Pac-10 heading into the NCAA Tournament.

But after sophomore guard Jason Terry's heroic effort defeated South Alabama in the first round, the one-two punch of Simon and Bibby began to knock-out NCAA foes. After Simon broke the 20 point mark in a win against College of Charleston, Bibby recorded 21 and helped defeat the No. 1 team in the nation, Kansas.

And when all the dust had settled, Arizona was left standing above the remaining field of 63 with its first national championship.

Now that Arizona has finished its year of the firsts, the Wildcats hope that next year will be the year of the second.

As in a second national championship.