No. 1: Wise’s Senior Day
Dominique Giovanni Wise sent McKale Center into one last frenzy, one last buzzer beater and one last curtain call to a most fitting ending that Hollywood writers couldn’t even script.
The 14,591 fans in capacity saw one of the most breathtaking games in UA basketball history — a 86-84 buzzer-beater win in double-overtime against the USC Trojans at the expense of ex-UA interim coach Kevin O’Neill.
“”There isn’t another college player in history that’s been through what I’ve been through,”” Wise said. “”It’s hard to hold it in. It’s a great feeling today.””
— Bryan Roy
No. 2: Fogg hits three clutch free throws
With the Arizona basketball team down 69-66 against USC in McKale Center’s final game of the season, only a few seconds remained with sophomore guard Kyle Fogg attempting a game-tying three-pointer. Fogg missed, but before the Trojans could celebrate a referee’s whistle blew, rewarding Fogg three foul shots to send the game to overtime. Fogg stepped to the free throw line for the biggest shots of his life and calmly knocked them down to send the game into overtime to set up Nic Wise’s heroics. After the game Fogg admitted he wasn’t as calm as he appeared while shooting them.
“”I wish I could tell you I got ice water going through my veins,”” Fogg said. “”But man I was shaking especially with this being Nic (Wise’s) last game at home.””
— Vincent Balistreri
No. 3: Crowd rushes field early
For all intents and purposes, Nov. 21, 2009, was a banner day for Arizona football — ESPN College GameDay, a nationally broadcasted primetime game on ABC, and a back-and-forth thriller on the field that epitomized
the 2009 Pacific 10 Conference season. There were
a few culprits in this otherwise clean cast — the UA fans. The Zona Zoo poured onto the field with just over a minute left in the game ready to rush the field and celebrate a 31-24 victory, only Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli tied the game with a few seconds left. Then after Oregon won in double overtime, Arizona fans threw debris onto the field and injured an Oregon cheerleader.
— Tim Kosch
No. 4: Freak endings in losses to Washington, California
After taking the Wildcats on his shoulders in a 37-32 victory against Oregon State in his first game as a starter, Nick Foles was impressive again the next week against Washington throwing for 384 yards and a touchdown. The rise to prominence came to a halt with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter. Up 33-28, Foles threw to an open Delashaun Dean on a quick seam. The ball was thrown low and behind Dean, however, and it bounced off of his foot and into the hands of Washington linebacker Mason Foster, who then returned it 37 yards for a game-winning touchdown. Then a few weeks later Foles tried to lead a comeback against California when his third down pass late in the fourth quarter was tipped at the line. Foles then caught the tip, rolled to his right, and hit Dean for a first down. Only it’s illegal to throw two forward passes in one play. The Wildcats could never recover and lost 24-16.
— Tim Kosch
No. 5: Wise’s back-to-back game winners
Senior leaders are supposed to hit game-winners. Men’s basketball guard Nic Wise hit two in a row.
Down 82-80 to Lipscomb University on Dec. 21, 2009, Arizona grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw. The clock ticking down, guard Kyle Fogg passed to a sprinting Wise and own the run, he released a 3-pointer just as the buzzer sounded.
The result — an 83-82 overtime victory.
Two days later against North Carolina State University, Wise did it again, taking the ball the length of the court with the score tied at 74. His running floater lifted the Wildcats to yet another victory in McKale.
— Kevin Zimmerman
No. 6: Momo’s Stanford buzzer beater
The veterans watched it from the bench.
The freshmen did it.
While Nic Wise and Jamelle Horne were absent from a down-to-the-wire 69-69 game at Stanford, UA coach Sean Miller opted to call upon his future and close out a Pacific 10 Conference road game.
Freshmen Derrick Williams and Momo Jones led the Wildcats down the stretch, capped off by a Jones’ pull-up buzzer-beater in transition to stun the Cardinal. The shot brought Arizona more than just a tally in the win column, but a vote of confidence in Miller’s system. At that point, maturity became standard from the leaders of the freshman class.
— Bryan Roy
No. 7: Zendejas’ game-winner against ASU
It was sweet revenge for UA kicker Alex Zendejas. The sophomore had gone through some growing pains all year long. But after an incredible special teams effort by Mike Turner, Zendejas was given the opportunity to knock in the game winner as time expired against archrival ASU. The 32-yarder gave the Wildcats their second straight victory against the Sun Devils and set up a season finale against USC for second place in the Pacific 10 Conference.
— Tim Kosch
No. 8: ‘No Easy Buckets’
In a hostile Wells Fargo Arena on Jan. 23, the Arizona men’s basketball team — with the score at 47-37 and with 8:35 on the game clock — was about to blow the game against the ASU Sun Devils wide open.
Slipping behind the Arizona defense, ASU guard Ty Abbott had a straight shot to the basket — or so he thought.
Coming from behind, Arizona forward Kevin Parrom fouled Abbott across the arms, but his swipe also ripped through Abbott’s face.
Abbott got in Parrom’s face, but Parrom simply smiled back before teammates pulled the pair apart. The Wildcats went on to win 77-58 and later that evening, Parrom Tweeted the now-infamous “”No Easy Buckets”” post on Twitter.
— Kevin Zimmerman
No. 9: Men’s back-to-back individual national championships
No one knew what to expect from senior Clark Burckle and sophomore Cory Chitwood going into their NCAA events. Just days earlier both of them had been hit hard by the norovirus and they were in the hospital hooked up to IVs. The one-day postponement of the NCAAs gave them extra time to get healthy, and it worked. Within just minutes of each other the two Kentucky natives who grew up competing against each other brought the UA men their only two NCAA individual championships of the meet.
— Derek Lawrence
No. 10: Women’s basketball sets single game scoring record
With the Pacific 10 Conference Freshmen of the Year Davellyn Whyte scoring an Arizona record-setting 39 points, the game was destined to be a shootout. The Arizona women’s basketball team defeated the Oregon Ducks 119-112 on Jan. 16 in McKale Center in the highest scoring NCAA women’s basketball game in history.
At game’s end, a total of 231 points were tallied off of 153 shot attempts.
Pac-10 Player of the Year Ify Ibekwe took it upon herself to procure a double-double with 32 points and 14 boards. Ibekwe and her Wildcats were able to lead the charge and keep the momentum from start to finish.
— Dan Kohler
