Arizona Wildcats basketball: On student spirit, Nike swooshes, Ducks swishes
- Updated
Seen and heard at Matthew Knight Arena during Arizona's game against Oregon.Â
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Everything about Saturdayâs game screamed big-time.
It was the fifth sellout of the season at Matthew Knight Arena, with a crowd louder for any UA-UO game since the Ducks moved out of MacArthur Court, and the Pac-12 assigned well-regarded officials Verne Harris and Mike Reed to it.
ESPN beamed the game nationwide to a Saturday afternoon audience, while the marquee Pac-12 crew of Dave Pasch and Bill Walton called the action (with Walton wearing his classic tie-dye Pac-12 âConference of Championsâ T-shirt, of course).
Even Pasch, who also calls Arizona Cardinals football games, couldnât help but get fired up.
âThis is awesome,â Pasch said as the pregame atmosphere began to build Saturday. âItâs like some of the great Pac-10 games you used to see all the time, like Arizona-UCLA and Arizona-Stanford.âÂ
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Even with the high stakes of Saturdayâs game, though, Oregon students lining up outside Matthew Knight Arena as late as 8:30 or 9 a.m. were still able to get the best seats along the sidelines.
Much of the time, itâs even easier.
âYou can usually come out here an hour before the game and get the same spot,â said Alex Ballesteros, a freshman from Huntington Beach, California.
Then again, there is often rain to have to deal with while youâre waiting. And, as good as the Ducks are, thereâs maybe not quite as much urgency within the UO basketball culture as there is during football season. Â
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
But all thatâs not to say there was no spirit in the Pit Crew student section. The Ducks had four shirtless guys spell out the phrase âGo Ducksâ and freshman Maxwell Tempell wore a banana suit to his fourth-row center court seat while carrying a sign asking to âGet Your Cats Spayed or Neutered.â
Then there was an eraseable white board held by one of the leaders of the Pit Crew that barked instructions for the students or just made statements from time to time.
At one point, it read: âAlternative fact: Bill Walton only talks about basketball on TV.âÂ
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
While many Wildcat fans showing up at road games are UA grads who happen to live in the region where the game is played, Brian Kersten and two other friends went out of their way to attend UAâs games Thursday at OSU and Saturday at Oregon.
Kersten, a 2012 UA grad from Scottsdale, said they flew up from Phoenix to Portland and commuted to both Wildcat games from there. They spent Friday seeing the damp sites of Portland, where a near-freezing rain fell much of the time between Thursday night and Saturday night.
âThe weather sucked, but it was fun checking everything out,â Kersten said.Â
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
While Arizona pulled out its âState Prideâ uniforms, featuring red with copper numbering and stripes, it wasnât easy to keep up with the Ducks.
Oregon featured its yellow uniforms, with large duck feathers flying up each side of playersâ shorts, and wore warmup T-shirts saying âThanx Aunt Penny," a reference to the wife of Nike boss and Oregon benefactor Phil Knight.
Early in warmups, some of the Ducks also wore mesh warmup tops labeled âPit Crewâ that were lined with trees. Most of the Pit Crew students wore the same shirts for Saturdayâs game.
Gear appears so important to Oregon (and its recruits) that the first thing you see when descending the main elevator toward the floor and Oregon locker room is a glass cabinet containing three headless mannequins wearing Oregon basketball uniforms, while 10 different shoe types in various UO color schemes hang on individual pedestals against the wall. Â
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
16:Â 3-pointers made by Oregon on Saturday, in 25 attempts (64.0 percent).Â
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
27:Â Arizonaâs margin of defeat, its biggest since BYU beat UA 99-69 at McKale Center in December 2009, Sean Millerâs first season. Â
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
40:Â Straight home games won by Oregon, which snapped UAâs 49-game home win streak last season.Â
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
"The crowd was great today. âĻ with every 3, the crowd got louder. It was just a really good atmosphere." â Oregon coach Dana Altman
Everything about Saturdayâs game screamed big-time.
It was the fifth sellout of the season at Matthew Knight Arena, with a crowd louder for any UA-UO game since the Ducks moved out of MacArthur Court, and the Pac-12 assigned well-regarded officials Verne Harris and Mike Reed to it.
ESPN beamed the game nationwide to a Saturday afternoon audience, while the marquee Pac-12 crew of Dave Pasch and Bill Walton called the action (with Walton wearing his classic tie-dye Pac-12 âConference of Championsâ T-shirt, of course).
Even Pasch, who also calls Arizona Cardinals football games, couldnât help but get fired up.
âThis is awesome,â Pasch said as the pregame atmosphere began to build Saturday. âItâs like some of the great Pac-10 games you used to see all the time, like Arizona-UCLA and Arizona-Stanford.âÂ
Even with the high stakes of Saturdayâs game, though, Oregon students lining up outside Matthew Knight Arena as late as 8:30 or 9 a.m. were still able to get the best seats along the sidelines.
Much of the time, itâs even easier.
âYou can usually come out here an hour before the game and get the same spot,â said Alex Ballesteros, a freshman from Huntington Beach, California.
Then again, there is often rain to have to deal with while youâre waiting. And, as good as the Ducks are, thereâs maybe not quite as much urgency within the UO basketball culture as there is during football season. Â
But all thatâs not to say there was no spirit in the Pit Crew student section. The Ducks had four shirtless guys spell out the phrase âGo Ducksâ and freshman Maxwell Tempell wore a banana suit to his fourth-row center court seat while carrying a sign asking to âGet Your Cats Spayed or Neutered.â
Then there was an eraseable white board held by one of the leaders of the Pit Crew that barked instructions for the students or just made statements from time to time.
At one point, it read: âAlternative fact: Bill Walton only talks about basketball on TV.âÂ
While many Wildcat fans showing up at road games are UA grads who happen to live in the region where the game is played, Brian Kersten and two other friends went out of their way to attend UAâs games Thursday at OSU and Saturday at Oregon.
Kersten, a 2012 UA grad from Scottsdale, said they flew up from Phoenix to Portland and commuted to both Wildcat games from there. They spent Friday seeing the damp sites of Portland, where a near-freezing rain fell much of the time between Thursday night and Saturday night.
âThe weather sucked, but it was fun checking everything out,â Kersten said.Â
While Arizona pulled out its âState Prideâ uniforms, featuring red with copper numbering and stripes, it wasnât easy to keep up with the Ducks.
Oregon featured its yellow uniforms, with large duck feathers flying up each side of playersâ shorts, and wore warmup T-shirts saying âThanx Aunt Penny," a reference to the wife of Nike boss and Oregon benefactor Phil Knight.
Early in warmups, some of the Ducks also wore mesh warmup tops labeled âPit Crewâ that were lined with trees. Most of the Pit Crew students wore the same shirts for Saturdayâs game.
Gear appears so important to Oregon (and its recruits) that the first thing you see when descending the main elevator toward the floor and Oregon locker room is a glass cabinet containing three headless mannequins wearing Oregon basketball uniforms, while 10 different shoe types in various UO color schemes hang on individual pedestals against the wall. Â
16:Â 3-pointers made by Oregon on Saturday, in 25 attempts (64.0 percent).Â
27:Â Arizonaâs margin of defeat, its biggest since BYU beat UA 99-69 at McKale Center in December 2009, Sean Millerâs first season. Â
40:Â Straight home games won by Oregon, which snapped UAâs 49-game home win streak last season.Â
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