As McKale Center celebrates its 50th birthday, we conclude our countdown of its 50 most memorable moments with Nos. 10-1:
10. Olson’s last game at McKale
Date: Feb. 17, 2007
What happened: Lute Olson’s final game on the sidelines as Arizona’s head coach was an 81-66 loss to UCLA.
9. Arizona upsets juggernaut Stanford in 1998
Date: Jan. 12, 1998
What happened: Future UA coach Adia Barnes assisted Reshea Bristol for a game-winning 3-pointer to upset No. 11 Stanford 91-90 and end a 22-game losing streak to the Cardinal. The Wildcats have beaten Stanford seven times since then.
8. Elliott records 38 and 25 vs. ASU
Date: Feb. 3, 1974
What happened: Bob “Big Bird” Elliott recorded an eyebrow-raising 38 points and 25 rebounds to beat Arizona State and snap a six-game skid to the Sun Devils.
7. The Steve Kerr Game
Date: Jan. 20, 1984
What happened: Days leading into Arizona’s home matchup with Arizona State, Steve Kerr’s father, Malcolm, who was the president of American University in Beirut, was assassinated. The emotional Kerr checked in about eight minutes into the game and made his first shot attempt. Kerr had 12 points in 25 minutes to end ASU’s nine-game winning streak against Arizona.
UCLA guard Darrick Martin shoots a jumper at the buzzer for the win against Arizona in McKale Center on Jan. 11, 1992. The UCLA victory broke a 71-game winning streak at McKale Center.
6. ‘McMiracle’
Date: Jan. 23, 1986
What happened: Oregon State was closing in on a 62-61 win, but Kerr launched a pass — a play called “home run” — the length of the court, which deflected off forward Anthony Cook’s hand and was picked up by Craig McMillan, who hit the game-winning shot, giving the Wildcats their first Pac-10 championship. McMillan’s heroics were coined “McMiracle,” “McClutch” and “McShot at McKale.”
5. Salim Stoudamire’s game-winner vs. UCLA
Date: Jan. 15, 2005
What happened: With the game tied at 73, Salim Stoudamire passed the half-court stripe, took six dribbles and squared up for a game-winning 3-pointer to beat UCLA 76-73. Hassan Adams stole the ensuing inbounds pass to seal the win.
4. Williams’ block in the ‘white out’
Date: Feb. 19, 2011
What happened: The first attempt at a “white out” on national television turned into one of the most memorable home games of the Sean Miller era. Darnell Gant’s potential game-winning shot was swatted away by Arizona star Derrick Williams as Arizona defeated Washington 87-86.
3. Losing to UCLA, snapping 71-game streak
Date: Jan. 11, 1992
What happened: Arizona’s longest winning streak at McKale Center ended at 71 games after UCLA outlasted the Wildcats 89-97. Darrick Martin hit the game-winner at the buzzer. UCLA star Don MacLean added 38 points. The streak began on Dec. 4, 1988, against Long Beach State.
Arizona forward Dominique McBryde, left, and teammate Sam Thomas grab handfuls of confetti off the McKale Center floor after a 56-42 win against Northwestern in the WNIT championship game at McKale Center on April 6, 2019.
2. WNIT championship
Date: April 6, 2019
What happened: Arizona set a program and Pac-12 record for the most-attended women’s basketball game — 14,644 — in the Wildcats’ win over Northwestern in the WNIT championship. The postseason quest by Arizona in Adia Barnes’ third season at the helm sparked a turn for the program. Two years later, Arizona fell a basket short of winning a national championship.
1. Elliott breaks Lew Alcindor’s scoring record
Date: Feb. 18, 1989
What happened: Sean Elliott, arguably the greatest basketball player in Tucson history, scored 35 points to break Lew Alcindor’s career scoring record in a 102-64 thumping of UCLA — the school for which Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, once played.
Which McKale moment was your personal favorite?
Photos: 50 years of McKale Center at the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona campus in 1967, showing the empty lot right of Sancet Field at the bottom of the frame where McKale Center sits today. Construction of the viewing stands at Sancet Field underway. Arizona Stadium is starting to look like the current-day structure after a multi-level press box and 10,000 seats were added to the west grandstand in 1965. Note the Warren Ave. and Martin Ave. still poke through campus all the way to Speedway Blvd.
Excavation for McKale Center on the University of Arizona campus in January 1971. View is southeast. Dirt from the excavation is piled on an empty lot bounded by Martin Ave., Campbell Ave., and 4th and 5th streets. All but Campbell were eaten up by university expansion.
Hank Leiber, left, and legendary University of Arizona coach James Fred "Pop" McKale, ca. 1950s. Leiber was a baseball star for UA in the 1930s and played in two World Series with the New York Giants and made the All-Star game twice with the Chicago Cubs.
UA athletic director Dick Clausen, shown in 1969, Clausen was the driving force behind construction of McKale Center.
McKale Center under construction in 1972, looking southeast from the College of Optical Sciences.
McKale Center under construction in September 1971, looking southeast from the College of Optical Sciences.
Excavation for the service drive to the McKale Center floor in 1972. The steel beams to hold up the roof sit low across the bowl before being lifted into place.
A camera with a fisheye lens gives a bird's eye view of progress on McKale Center in December, 1971.
Crowds raise the roof at the University of Arizona's McKale Center now, but in January 1972, it was a construction crew that was carrying out that task.
Steel beams that hold up the McKale Center roof sit on the concrete bowl before being raised into place in 1972.
McKale Center under construction from the interior in August 1972.
McKale Center interior takes shape on Aug. 4, 1972.
The new McKale Center starting to take shape as construction continues at the University of Arizona on August 4, 1972. The health and physical education complex includes a 15,000-seat basketball facility. McKale, named after legendary coach James "Pop" McKale Center, replaced the aging Bear Down Gym.
A protective plastic roof over the McKale Center floor on Dec. 12, 1972. The floor was scheduled for completion in October, but the concrete floor was not drying as expected. Workers erected the tent and used gas heaters to speed the process.
Workers lay the floor for McKale Center under a protective plastic roof on Dec. 19, 1972,
McKale Center with its gleaming copper dome in place on Feb. 28, 1973.
13,652 fans watched the Arizona Wildcats defeat Wyoming, 87-69, and move into a tie for the lead in the Western Athletic Conference on opening night of McKale Memorial Center, Feb. 1, 1973, Coniel Norman led the Wildcats with 37 points.
The newly-minted McKale Memorial Center on the southeast corner of the University of Arizona campus in May, 1973. Note Arizona Stadium with the original stands on the east side and the open north end. Warren Avenue still goes through campus. Martin Ave. dead-ends at the new McKale Lawn and extended UA Mall.
Betty McKale, daughter of legendary UA coach "Pop" McKale, tries out the dance hall piano under the watchful gaze of her father's painting (above) in the McKale Center trophy room (McKale Room) on Nov. 29, 1973.
The trophy room at McKale Center, also known as the McKale Room, shown on Nov. 29, 1973, displayed University of Arizona athletic trophies.
Football training room at McKale Center on March 24, 1975.
One of the entrances to McKale Center on March 24, 1975.
After playing on a borrowed wooden basketball floor during the 1975-76 season, the UA installed their own floor as seen on Oct. 28, 1976. It was put down on top of the original Tartan floor built at McKale Center. The first game on the new floor was against the Yugoslavian Olympic team.
After playing on a borrowed wooden basketball floor during the 1975-76 season, the UA installed their own floor as seen on Oct. 28, 1976. It was put down on top of the original Tartan floor built at McKale Center. The first game on the new floor was against the Yugoslavian Olympic team.
McKale Center seating chart published in the Tucson Citizen in 1977.
UA head coach Fred Snowden surrounded by players during University of Arizona basketball vs. Arizona State at McKale Center in Tucson on Mar. 6, 1976.
McKale Center as seen from Arizona Stadium, looking northeast, in 1982. Today, the realigned Warren Avenue dead-ends at the Cherry Avenue parking garage, which took the place of the surface lot at left.
1973: Players practice on the new McKale Center basketball floor on Nov. 19, 1973.
1990: The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team during a game at McKale Center in December, 1990.
2014: Renovations inside McKale Memorial Center in 2014 included seating and a new basketball floor.
2018: Participants in coach David Rubio's volleyball camp break out into groups at McKale Center in Tucson on July 16, 2018.
2023: Just under 9,000 fans in the stands as Arizona women's basketball takes on Washington at McKale Center on January 27, 2023.
University of Arizona women's basketball players (dark jerseys) run the floor during a game against Arizona State at McKale Center on Jan. 9, 1978.
UA basketball legend Coniel Norman teaches young athletes about basketball basics at McKale Center in June, 1975.
Fans swarm the court after University of Arizona (still in the Western Athletic Conference) defeated basketball powerhouse UCLA (then #1 in the nation), 70-69, at McKale Center on Jan. 18, 1979.
Senator Barry Goldwater speaking at UA graduation ceremonies at McKale Center on May 13, 1989.
Former University of Houston athletic director Cedric Dempsey speaking in the McKale Room at McKale Center on Aug. 17, 1982, after being named athletic director of the University of Arizona. It was a post he kept until 1993.
Linda Ronstadt in concert at McKale Center on Nov. 2, 1980. The original negatives are missing from the archives, but the contact sheets of all the outtakes remain. Note the comment on the photo assignment.
Thousands of people line up outside McKale Center on Oct. 15, 1978, for tickets to see Bob Dylan in concert at the arena. Dylan performed for 11,000 fans on Nov. 19.
Donald Trump with girlfriend Marla Maples at a University of Arizona basketball game at McKale Center, Tucson, on Dec. 27, 1990. (© Arizona Daily Star)
University of Arizona women's basketball coach Joan Bonvicini works with players at McKale Center in 1991, her first year as coach.
Barbara Brady answers the phone in the University of Arizona basketball office in McKale Center in 1997. The office was in the midst of a major face left. Improvements included enlarging quarters for Coach Lute Olson and redecorating the rest of the office.
A.J. Greene looks over the shoulder of UA student Anna Marie Butler in 1998 as she signs the bottom of a piece of the new basketball floor in McKale Center.
Assistant UA basketball coach Jim Rosborough explains some basketball secrets to 270 Lute Olson Basketball Camp participants during an afternoon lecture on June 16, 1998.
UA basketball coach Lute Olson waves to the crowd as he is introduced during the midnight madness practice game at the McKale Center on Oct. 12. 2001. UA competed in their second NCAA national championship game the previous season.
Arizona junior Sirena Linton finishes her bar routine while fellow teammates watch during Arizona Wildcats Gymnastics final home meet against Sacramento State at McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. on March 10, 2022.
Arizona outside hitter Kendra Dahlke rises high from deep on the court to smash a spike against Arizona State at McKale Center on Sept. 21, 2016.
Arizona guard Aari McDonald (2) flies into the pain against Wyoming in their round of eight game of the WNIT at McKale Center on March 31, 2019.
Arizona guard Aari McDonald high-fives fans as she enters the court in McKale Center on March 1, 2020.
Sand volleyball player Jianna Bonomi walks past some of the images of legendary University of Arizona basketball players such as Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Gilbert Arenas, Mike Bibby and others in a hallway in McKale Center in 2015.
Graduates get one last celebration on the floor of McKale Center following the Spring 2012 Commencement. Dr. Peter Rhee, Chief of Trauma and Critical Care at UMC during the 2011 mass shooting, was the honorary guest speaker. A total of 4,206 undergraduate degrees, 882 master's degrees, and 298 doctoral degrees were conferred.
Hallways at McKale Center have been upgraded through the years to commemorate the UA's basketball history, such as the 2011 display honored legendary coach Lute Olson.
University of Arizona deputy director of athletics Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose makes her rounds through the coaching offices in McKale Center during her last full day of work on Oct. 8, 2013, after 30 years in athletics.
Forward Cate Reese slams the NCAA March Madness bracket after a first-round victory over UNLV at McKale Center on March 19, 2022.
With students back at UA for the fall semester, here's a look at the Tucson campus over the years compared to now.
Greg Hansen: Over 50 magical years, McKale Center's 'personality' has shone again and again
