![[ NEWS ]](/images/news97.gif)
Arizona Daily Wildcat March 24, 1997
A hero's welcome
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The Associated Press
Arizona head coach Lute Olson takes down one of the nets in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center after the Wildcats beat Providence 96-92 to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1994.
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That explosion of noise that occurred on campus shortly before midnight last night was not part of the campus construction projects.
It was the arrival of greatness.
Nearly 10,000 screaming fans showed up at McKale Center to welcome back and congratulate the Arizona men's basketball team on it's Final Four berth
The fourth-seeded Wildcats kept their dream season alive by beating 10th-seeded Providence College 96-92 in overtime in the Southeast Region finals to advance to the Final Four in Indianapolis for the first time since 1994.
"Now I know why we say we have the greatest fans in the world," Arizona head coach Lute Olson said to the crowd, which had been anxiously awaiting for the team's arrival for close to two hours.
The excitement was there all night, but it began to peak when the television screens in the rafters broadcasts the team moving through Tucson International Airport.
It rose to near ear-shattering levels when, one-by-one, the players entered the court, decked in their new shirts and hats plastered with the phrase "Final Four."
