As McKale Center celebrates its 50th birthday, we continue our countdown of its 50 most memorable moments with Nos. 40-31:Β
40. Lute Olson statue unveiling Date : April 12, 2018
What happened : Arizonaβs Hall of Fame head coach became immortalized with a statue of Olson waving to the crowd after the Wildcatsβ national championship in 1997. The statue is on the north side of McKale Center outside of the βHall of Champions.β
39. Mills records first McKale triple-double Date : Dec. 8, 1991
What happened : Although Matt Muehlebach and Damon Stoudamire were the first Wildcats to record triple-doubles, Chris Mills had the first one by a Wildcat at McKale Center, with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against NAU.
38. McConnell kisses court on Senior Day Date : March 7, 2015
What happened : The beloved T.J. McConnell, Arizonaβs two-year starting point guard after transferring from Duquesne, knelt down to kiss the βBlock Aβ at center court before checking out for the final time at McKale Center in a 91-69 win over Stanford.
37. GymCats host 1991 NCAA Regional Date : 1991
What happened : Arizonaβs gymnastics program hosted the programβs first NCAA Regional at McKale Center during the 1991 season. The Wildcats defeated ASU, Utah State, Oklahoma, BYU and Nebraska after an opening loss against Utah.
36. UA volleyball beats No. 1 UCLA in Rubioβs second season Date : Nov. 7, 1993
What happened : In Dave Rubioβs second season as Arizona volleyball head coach, the Wildcats knocked off top-ranked UCLA, snapping a 21-match losing streak to the Bruins.
35. McKale hosts NCAA Tournament Date : March 14, 1974
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What happened : A little over a year after McKale Center opened, the building hosted its first NCAA Tournament game, with Bill Walton and UCLA, coached by icon John Wooden, outlasting Dayton 111-100 in triple overtime in the Sweet 16.
Arizona's Chase Budinger goes after Aubrey Coleman of Houston after Coleman stepped on Budinger's face at McKale Center on Jan. 24, 2009. After a long delay, a flagrant foul was called and Coleman was ejected from the game. Arizona won the game 96-90.
James Gregg
34. Budingerβs face gets stepped on Date : Jan. 24, 2009
What happened : Olson announced his retirement just before the 2008-09 season, which left Russ Pennell as the interim head coach. In a nonconference bout with Houston in the heart of Pac-12 play, the Wildcats, riding a three-game losing streak, were in trouble of snapping their NCAA Tournament appearance streak until Houston guard Aubrey Coleman stepped on Chase Budingerβs face during a dead ball. The scuffle propelled the Wildcats to overcome a 10-point deficit with just one minute left in regulation to beat the Cougars in overtime. Arizona went on a seven-game win streak and secured an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.
33. Arizona beats defending champion Kansas Date : Dec. 23, 2008
What happened : Fresh off a national championship, the Kansas Jayhawks were outscored 49-29 in the second half to lose to Arizona 84-67.
32. Chen's game-winning shot waved off Date : Jan. 3, 2013
What happened : Colorado guard Sabatino Chenβs game-winning shot at the buzzer was controversially waved off. Arizona won 92-83 in overtime.
Oregon forward Dillon Brooks (24) slips around and over Arizona center Kaleb Tarczewski (35) for a lay-in at McKale Center on Jan. 27, 2016. Brooks scored 24 as Oregon ended Arizona's 49-game win streak at McKale.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
31. Ducks end Arizonaβs 49-game streak Date : Jan. 28, 2016
What happened : Dillon Brooksβ 24 points powered Oregon to an 83-75 win over Arizona, ending the Wildcatsβ 49-game win streak at McKale Center.
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.
Tucson Citizen file
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.
UA Libraries Special Collections
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 Libraries Special Collections
UA athletic director Dick Clausen, shown in 1969, Clausen was the driving force behind construction of McKale Center.
Jack W. Sheaffer / Arizona Daily Star
McKale Center under construction in 1972, looking southeast from the College of Optical Sciences.
Bruce Hopkins / Tucson Citizen
McKale Center under construction in September 1971, looking southeast from the College of Optical Sciences.
UA Libraries Special Collections
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.
Gary Gaynor / Tucson Citizen
A camera with a fisheye lens gives a bird's eye view of progress on McKale Center in December, 1971.
Bob Broder / University of Arizona
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.
Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
Steel beams that hold up the McKale Center roof sit on the concrete bowl before being raised into place in 1972.
Gary Gaynor / Tucson Citizen
McKale Center under construction from the interior in August 1972.
UA Libraries Special Collections
McKale Center interior takes shape on Aug. 4, 1972.
Bill Hopkins / Tucson Citizen
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.
Bill Hopkins / Tucson Citizen
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.
Manuel Miera / Tucson Citizen
Workers lay the floor for McKale Center under a protective plastic roof on Dec. 19, 1972,
Manuel Miera / Tucson Citizen
McKale Center with its gleaming copper dome in place on Feb. 28, 1973.
UA Libraries Special Collections
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.
UA Libraries Special Collections
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.
Bruce Hopkins / Tucson Citizen
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.
Art Grasberger / Tucson Citizen
The trophy room at McKale Center, also known as the McKale Room, shown on Nov. 29, 1973, displayed University of Arizona athletic trophies.
Art Grasberger / Tucson Citizen
Football training room at McKale Center on March 24, 1975.
UA Libraries Special Collections
One of the entrances to McKale Center on March 24, 1975.
UA Libraries Special Collections
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.
Bruce Hopkins / Tucson Citizen
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.
Bruce Hopkins / Tucson Citizen
McKale Center seating chart published in the Tucson Citizen in 1977.
Tucson Citizen
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.
Arizona Daily Star
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.
UA Libraries Special Collections
1973: Players practice on the new McKale Center basketball floor on Nov. 19, 1973.
Art Grasberger / Tucson Citizen
1990: The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team during a game at McKale Center in December, 1990.
Bruce McClelland / Arizona Daily Star
2014: Renovations inside McKale Memorial Center in 2014 included seating and a new basketball floor.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
2018: Participants in coach David Rubio's volleyball camp break out into groups at McKale Center in Tucson on July 16, 2018.
A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
2023: Just under 9,000 fans in the stands as Arizona women's basketball takes on Washington at McKale Center on January 27, 2023.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
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.
H. Darr Beiser / Tucson Citizen
UA basketball legend Coniel Norman teaches young athletes about basketball basics at McKale Center in June, 1975.
Tucson Citizen
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.
Jack W. Sheaffer / Arizona Daily Star
Senator Barry Goldwater speaking at UA graduation ceremonies at McKale Center on May 13, 1989.
David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Joe Vitti, Arizona Daily Star 1982
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.
Peter Weinberger / Tucson Citizen
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.
Joe Vitti / Arizona Daily Star
Donald Trump with girlfriend Marla Maples at a University of Arizona basketball game at McKale Center, Tucson, on Dec. 27, 1990. (Β© Arizona Daily Star)
Linda Seeger Salazar / Tucson Citizen
University of Arizona women's basketball coach Joan Bonvicini works with players at McKale Center in 1991, her first year as coach.
Mari Schaefer / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Bruce McClelland / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Ben Kirkby / Arizona Daily Star
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.
David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Max Becherer / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Rebecca Sasnett Arizona Daily Star
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.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Arizona guard Aari McDonald high-fives fans as she enters the court in McKale Center on March 1, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
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.
A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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.
David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
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.
Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star
Forward Cate Reese slams the NCAA March Madness bracket after a first-round victory over UNLV at McKale Center on March 19, 2022.
Rebecca Sasnett Arizona Daily Star
The University of Arizona once had a live "Wildcat" mascot; however, the current mascot β with a few changes that include wife, Wilma, along the way β Wilbur the Wildcat has been a favorite around Tucson for more than 60 years.
By Johanna Eubank
Arizona Daily Star
Contact sports producer Justin Spears at jspears@tucson.com . On Twitter: @JustinESports