Arizona Wildcats basketball: On savagery, Ash Wednesday, Gordon flashback
- Updated
Seen and heard at SAP Center on Wednesday during the Arizona Wildcats' media session and open practice in advance of their Sweet 16 game against Xavier.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The first day of every NCAA Tournament weekend includes open practices, though for Arizona — and most other teams — it’s more of a glorified warmup.
Arizona fans typically show up in droves to watch the Wildcats run drills and shoot around.
That wasn’t quite the case on Wednesday, though. Just a small smattering of Arizona fans made the trip.
Among them, Logan Rinsky stood out. The 4-month-old wore a tiny Arizona shirt and socks.
“It’s his first one,” said his mother, Nicole. “First of many.”
Nicole Rinsky was born and raised in San Jose and is a 2006 graduate of the UA. She remains a die-hard fan and will watch Thursday’s game with the BayCats alumni group. Nicole typically attends the Wildcats’ games at Cal and Stanford.
“I’m a huge fan and it’s a great opportunity to get up close and personal without having to pay an arm and a leg,” she said. “I would love to (go Thursday), but it’s, like, 300 dollars for my husband and I to go, for upper level. We’re going to go to the pep rally, do all that fun stuff then definitely watch the game.”
About this year’s Arizona team, Rinsky said, “It’s awesome. I love Sean Miller. They play so well together and I’m so excited they’re here.”
Rinsky moved Logan to the arena’s music as the Wildcats worked out. He’ll be an Arizona fan when he gets older, his mother said.
“Whether he likes it or not.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
$151: Price for a single upper-level ticket for Thursday’s Arizona-Xavier game, not including additional fees and taxes.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Rawle Alkins started a “savage life” movement on social media, and it’s been a sort of viral sensation in the Arizona community.
Apparently, it hasn’t spread to all corners of the Wildcats’ locker room.
Asked about “savage life” at Arizona’s player press conference on Wednesday, guard Allonzo Trier said, “I’m not in it, so I have no comments what it means or anything like that.”
Kadeem Allen echoed the sentiment.
“I can’t talk on it,” he said. “I don’t really know. Just a term one of our players came up with and we just rolled with it.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
With his team mired in a six-game losing streak, five coming in February, Xavier coach Chris Mack went to extremes.
Mack had players burn calendars from the month of February, and the team has saved the ashes of those calendars in a jar.
“We carry it around,” said Xavier star guard Trevon Bluiett. “It symbolizes forgetting about the past, forgetting about February and the six-game losing streak. We just carry it around so every time we see it, it reminds us of what we’ve been through and just how far we’ve come since that point.”
Xavier is 5-1 since, with its lone loss coming to Creighton on a last-second shot in the Big East Tournament.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Aaron Gordon helped the Wildcats reach the Elite Eight two years ago.
On Wednesday, Arizona returned to the place where it all started for Gordon — Archbishop Mitty High School, located 6 1/2 miles from SAP Center. The Wildcats held a closed practice there in preparation for Thursday’s game.
The workout “brought back a lot of memories for us,” UA coach Sean Miller said.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The general public hasn’t taken kindly to Arizona’s new uniforms this season.
Paul Lukas, the man behind ESPN’s Uni Watch column, has ranked the uniforms of all 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona finished 15th, ahead of only Baylor.
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with having gradient-toned stripes at the top and bottom of your uniform,” Lukas wrote. “But when the uniform is white and stripes signify as various shades of gray, the result is that your uniform just looks like it needs to go back in the laundry.”
Lukas’ favorite getup: North Carolina, with Oregon No. 2 and UCLA seventh. Xavier, Arizona’s Thursday opponent, was fourth.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
The first day of every NCAA Tournament weekend includes open practices, though for Arizona — and most other teams — it’s more of a glorified warmup.
Arizona fans typically show up in droves to watch the Wildcats run drills and shoot around.
That wasn’t quite the case on Wednesday, though. Just a small smattering of Arizona fans made the trip.
Among them, Logan Rinsky stood out. The 4-month-old wore a tiny Arizona shirt and socks.
“It’s his first one,” said his mother, Nicole. “First of many.”
Nicole Rinsky was born and raised in San Jose and is a 2006 graduate of the UA. She remains a die-hard fan and will watch Thursday’s game with the BayCats alumni group. Nicole typically attends the Wildcats’ games at Cal and Stanford.
“I’m a huge fan and it’s a great opportunity to get up close and personal without having to pay an arm and a leg,” she said. “I would love to (go Thursday), but it’s, like, 300 dollars for my husband and I to go, for upper level. We’re going to go to the pep rally, do all that fun stuff then definitely watch the game.”
About this year’s Arizona team, Rinsky said, “It’s awesome. I love Sean Miller. They play so well together and I’m so excited they’re here.”
Rinsky moved Logan to the arena’s music as the Wildcats worked out. He’ll be an Arizona fan when he gets older, his mother said.
“Whether he likes it or not.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Rawle Alkins started a “savage life” movement on social media, and it’s been a sort of viral sensation in the Arizona community.
Apparently, it hasn’t spread to all corners of the Wildcats’ locker room.
Asked about “savage life” at Arizona’s player press conference on Wednesday, guard Allonzo Trier said, “I’m not in it, so I have no comments what it means or anything like that.”
Kadeem Allen echoed the sentiment.
“I can’t talk on it,” he said. “I don’t really know. Just a term one of our players came up with and we just rolled with it.”
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
With his team mired in a six-game losing streak, five coming in February, Xavier coach Chris Mack went to extremes.
Mack had players burn calendars from the month of February, and the team has saved the ashes of those calendars in a jar.
“We carry it around,” said Xavier star guard Trevon Bluiett. “It symbolizes forgetting about the past, forgetting about February and the six-game losing streak. We just carry it around so every time we see it, it reminds us of what we’ve been through and just how far we’ve come since that point.”
Xavier is 5-1 since, with its lone loss coming to Creighton on a last-second shot in the Big East Tournament.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Aaron Gordon helped the Wildcats reach the Elite Eight two years ago.
On Wednesday, Arizona returned to the place where it all started for Gordon — Archbishop Mitty High School, located 6 1/2 miles from SAP Center. The Wildcats held a closed practice there in preparation for Thursday’s game.
The workout “brought back a lot of memories for us,” UA coach Sean Miller said.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
The general public hasn’t taken kindly to Arizona’s new uniforms this season.
Paul Lukas, the man behind ESPN’s Uni Watch column, has ranked the uniforms of all 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona finished 15th, ahead of only Baylor.
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with having gradient-toned stripes at the top and bottom of your uniform,” Lukas wrote. “But when the uniform is white and stripes signify as various shades of gray, the result is that your uniform just looks like it needs to go back in the laundry.”
Lukas’ favorite getup: North Carolina, with Oregon No. 2 and UCLA seventh. Xavier, Arizona’s Thursday opponent, was fourth.
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