Arizona Wildcats basketball: On a (red and) blue-blooded fan, Kareem's Day, trolling Trier
- Updated
Seen and heard at Pauley Pavilion during Arizona's 96-85 win over No. 3 UCLA.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The first UCLA student in line outside Pauley Pavilion early Saturday morning wasn't even a UCLA fan, really.
Instead, it was Catalina Foothills High School grad Liam Giffin, a UCLA freshman who said he grew up a “huge” Wildcat fan. So even though Giffin showed up at 5:30 a.m, wearing a UCLA shirt under his CFHS sweatjacket, he said he would be pulling for UA.
“But don’t tell anyone in line with me,” Giffin said.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
There was no Alfordville sprouting up outside Pauley Pavilion starting Friday night because, well, it’s not allowed.
UCLA students were prohibited from camping out, or even lining up outside the building before 10 a.m. for the 1 p.m. Pacific time game. Giffin showed up at 5:30 a.m. anyway; before long, he was leading a pack of several hundred diehard students who were ordered to wait atop a nearby hill.
By 10 a.m., a line five people thick crawled all the way up the hill, probably counting several thousand students, on a notably unbalmy (45-50 degrees) Southern California morning.
“It was cold, but it was OK,” said UCLA student Shane Taleinsnick, who showed up at 7 a.m.
The student crowd didn't grow just because Arizona was in town, either. UCLA junior Joey Levin, dressed in a bear onesie, said even Thursday night’s UCLA-ASU game drew a similarly large lineup of student fans.
“People are very excited,” Levin said. “Last year you could show up an hour before the game and get good seat. This year if you show up an hour before the game you won't get a seat.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
While it might have been Allonzo Trier Day for the Wildcats, it was officially Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Day at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins legend-turned-social-activist was honored for having received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in November.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block introduced Abdul-Jabbar at center court, saying his storied Bruin playing career was just “really his warmup” for a post-playing career of supporting civil rights and social justice.
Abdul-Jabbar received a second standing ovation at the halftime ceremony, having already received one when he walked into Pauley Pavilion before the game.
“It’s a very special thing for me,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “A number of my heroes attended this school, including Jackie Robinson.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
While UCLA students chanted at Trier from the moment he hit the court for warmups 90 minutes before the game started — “P-E-D! P-E-D! P-E-D!” and “CHEAT! CHEAT! CHEAT!” were among their favorites — coach Sean Miller, the UA program and the city of Tucson all took some heat on a “dirt” sheet distributed in the student section.
“The Dirt from the Den” introduced UA’s coach as “SEAN MILLER, WHO IS THE HUMAN EMBODIMENT OF CAPS LOCK.”
Of UA’s program, it wondered: “Has any team in the history of organized sports gained so much prestige with so few actual accomplishments? … Both Kentucky and Zac Enfron’s East High School team in High School Musical have more basketball championships than Zona.”
It also claimed that the residents of Tucson “compete to illegally dump more garbage in their backyard than anyone else.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Miller compared UCLA point guard wizard Lonzo Ball to an NFL quarterback.
“If you let Tom Brady just sit back in the pocket, go through his progression, no blitz, no pass rush… he’s just too good and he makes everybody else better,” Miller said. “We wanted to challenge him. We wanted to pressure him.”
They did, sort of. But Ball was still Ball. He had 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting — including 4 of 8 from beyond the 3-point line — along with eight assists to one turnover, plus six rebounds and two steals.
“We didn’t do anything to stop him,” Miller said. “He’s the best guard that I’ve seen.”
Yet, in his postgame UCLA news conference, Ball was hardly in a mood to talk about himself. The biggest number he saw was this: 50, the percent UA shot from the field.
“We’ve gotta guard going forward,” Ball said. “The places we want to go, we have to play defense.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
24: Second-chance points by Arizona off 12 offensive rebounds, helping defuse UCLA’s offensive attack.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
“It feels like a different team, of course.” — Miller, when asked about the return of Allonzo Trier.
The first UCLA student in line outside Pauley Pavilion early Saturday morning wasn't even a UCLA fan, really.
Instead, it was Catalina Foothills High School grad Liam Giffin, a UCLA freshman who said he grew up a “huge” Wildcat fan. So even though Giffin showed up at 5:30 a.m, wearing a UCLA shirt under his CFHS sweatjacket, he said he would be pulling for UA.
“But don’t tell anyone in line with me,” Giffin said.
There was no Alfordville sprouting up outside Pauley Pavilion starting Friday night because, well, it’s not allowed.
UCLA students were prohibited from camping out, or even lining up outside the building before 10 a.m. for the 1 p.m. Pacific time game. Giffin showed up at 5:30 a.m. anyway; before long, he was leading a pack of several hundred diehard students who were ordered to wait atop a nearby hill.
By 10 a.m., a line five people thick crawled all the way up the hill, probably counting several thousand students, on a notably unbalmy (45-50 degrees) Southern California morning.
“It was cold, but it was OK,” said UCLA student Shane Taleinsnick, who showed up at 7 a.m.
The student crowd didn't grow just because Arizona was in town, either. UCLA junior Joey Levin, dressed in a bear onesie, said even Thursday night’s UCLA-ASU game drew a similarly large lineup of student fans.
“People are very excited,” Levin said. “Last year you could show up an hour before the game and get good seat. This year if you show up an hour before the game you won't get a seat.”
While it might have been Allonzo Trier Day for the Wildcats, it was officially Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Day at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins legend-turned-social-activist was honored for having received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in November.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block introduced Abdul-Jabbar at center court, saying his storied Bruin playing career was just “really his warmup” for a post-playing career of supporting civil rights and social justice.
Abdul-Jabbar received a second standing ovation at the halftime ceremony, having already received one when he walked into Pauley Pavilion before the game.
“It’s a very special thing for me,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “A number of my heroes attended this school, including Jackie Robinson.”
While UCLA students chanted at Trier from the moment he hit the court for warmups 90 minutes before the game started — “P-E-D! P-E-D! P-E-D!” and “CHEAT! CHEAT! CHEAT!” were among their favorites — coach Sean Miller, the UA program and the city of Tucson all took some heat on a “dirt” sheet distributed in the student section.
“The Dirt from the Den” introduced UA’s coach as “SEAN MILLER, WHO IS THE HUMAN EMBODIMENT OF CAPS LOCK.”
Of UA’s program, it wondered: “Has any team in the history of organized sports gained so much prestige with so few actual accomplishments? … Both Kentucky and Zac Enfron’s East High School team in High School Musical have more basketball championships than Zona.”
It also claimed that the residents of Tucson “compete to illegally dump more garbage in their backyard than anyone else.”
Miller compared UCLA point guard wizard Lonzo Ball to an NFL quarterback.
“If you let Tom Brady just sit back in the pocket, go through his progression, no blitz, no pass rush… he’s just too good and he makes everybody else better,” Miller said. “We wanted to challenge him. We wanted to pressure him.”
They did, sort of. But Ball was still Ball. He had 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting — including 4 of 8 from beyond the 3-point line — along with eight assists to one turnover, plus six rebounds and two steals.
“We didn’t do anything to stop him,” Miller said. “He’s the best guard that I’ve seen.”
Yet, in his postgame UCLA news conference, Ball was hardly in a mood to talk about himself. The biggest number he saw was this: 50, the percent UA shot from the field.
“We’ve gotta guard going forward,” Ball said. “The places we want to go, we have to play defense.”
24: Second-chance points by Arizona off 12 offensive rebounds, helping defuse UCLA’s offensive attack.
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Allonzo Trier finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his season debut.
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