Arizona is no stranger to winning its conference tournament, and the top-seeded Wildcats are the betting favorites to win their first Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City after securing the regular-season title.
UA's journey to the Big 12 Tournament championship begins in the quarterfinals Thursday at noon.
With every conference championship, more often than not, there's memorable moments and heroic performances from someone — sometimes from a role player.
Here's a look at some of Arizona's conference tournament heroes over the years:
University of Arizona Coach Lute Olson checks out Sean Elliott’s hairdo after Elliott broke the Pac-10 scoring record against UCLA on Feb. 18, 1989.
Sean Elliott
Arguably the most renowned basketball player in the history of Tucson sports, the Cholla product led the Wildcats to back-to-back Pac-10 Tournament championships in the early stages of the UA's former conference hosting a tournament. In the second edition of the Pac-10 Tournament in 1988, Elliott was named Most Outstanding Player. The Wildcats' average margin of victory in the 1988 Pac-10 Tournament — hosted at McKale Center — was 21.3 points. Elliott was named Most Outstanding Player for the 1988 and ’89 Pac-10 Tournaments. A few weeks prior to the 1989 Pac-10 Tournament, Elliott broke Lew Alcindor's all-time scoring record for the conference.
Arizona Wildcat Jud Buechler heads towards the basket, knocking over UCLA’s Trevor Wilson during action in their final game in the Pac-10 tournament, March 12, 1990, in Tempe. The Wildcats won 94-78.
Jud Buechler/Matt Muehlebach
In the last Pac-10 Tournament of the 20th century, because it was discontinued until 2002, UA forward Judd Buechler led the Wildcats to their third straight Pac-10 Tournament championship in 1990, which was hosted by Arizona State in Tempe. Buechler, who averaged just under 15 points per game, shared Pac-10 Tournament MVP with Arizona guard Matt Muehlebach, who recorded the program's first-ever triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against UCLA in the championship.
Luke Walton gets congratulated by teammates Rick Anderson (left) and Channing Frye (right) after being named the Pac-10 Tournament MVP on March 9, 2002.
Luke Walton
In the resurrected Pac-10 Tournament, which was hosted at then-Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, the conference had five teams — half the league, including Arizona — ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Arizona forward Luke Walton had 23 points and eight assists in the Pac-10 Tournament championship win over No. 22 USC. It marked the fourth straight Pac-10 Tournament championship for Arizona under former head coach Lute Olson. Walton and Arizona's backcourt of Jason Gardner and Salim Stoudamire were named to the All-Pac-10 Tournament Team.
Arizona's Brandon Ashley holds up the most outstanding player of the tournament trophy after Arizona defeated Oregon in the championship of the Pac-12 Tournament, March 14, 2015, in Las Vegas.
Brandon Ashley
A year after a season-ending foot injury — which he suffered in Arizona's first loss of the season in 2013-14, which is considered one of the what-if moments for a UA team that lost a heartbreaker to Wisconsin in the Elite Eight — Arizona power forward Brandon Ashley averaged 19.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in the Wildcats' run to the Pac-12 Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Arizona's 28-point win over Oregon is the largest margin of victory for a championship game in Pac-12 Tournament history.
Arizona's Allonzo Trier holds up the trophy for most outstanding player after Arizona squeezed past Oregon, 83-80, in the Pac-12 championship game in 2017.
Allonzo Trier
The Pac-12 was a top-heavy conference with top-seeded Oregon — led by current Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks — and third-seeded UCLA — led by point guard Lonzo Ball — as potential threats to Arizona, which was led by star forward Lauri Markkanen and shooting guard Allonzo Trier. The Wildcats took down UCLA in the semifinals and beat Oregon, 83-80, in the championship. Trier had 23 points and eight rebounds in the win over Oregon. The 2017 Pac-12 Tournament was the first year it was held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Arizona's Deandre Ayton (13) celebrates after scoring during overtime against UCLA in the semifinals of the Pac-12 men's tournament, March 9, 2018, in Las Vegas. Arizona won 78-67.
Deandre Ayton
Arizona forward-center Deandre Ayton is the only player to receive Pac-12 Player of the Year, Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors in the same season. Ayton averaged 24.7 points per game in the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament. Ayton had 32 points and 14 rebounds in an overtime win over UCLA in the semifinals, then had 32 points and 18 rebounds in the win over USC in the Pac-12 Tournament championship. UA small forward Rawle Alkins had probably the most memorable play, a posterizing dunk over USC guard Elijah Stewart.
Bennedict Mathurin speaks at a press conference about being inducted into the McKale Center Ring of Honor prior to the Arizona game against UCLA in Tucson on Jan. 20, 2024.
Bennedict Mathurin
Top-seeded Arizona was in danger of losing the 2022 Pac-12 Tournament championship to rival UCLA. Arizona trailed UCLA by 12 points and briefly had to move forward Dalen Terry to point guard with Justin Kier in foul trouble and Kerr Kriisa nursing an ankle injury. Arizona shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Year, scored 27 points in the conference title game and led the Wildcats on a 22-5 run to retake the lead. Mathurin was named Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis holds up a piece of the net after the team's win over UCLA in the championship of the men's Pac-12 Tournament on March 11, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Azuolas Tubelis
Arizona power forward Azuolas Tubelis was in contention for Pac-12 Player of the Year, but the award was given to UCLA forward Jaime Jacquez, who led the Bruins to the Pac-12 regular-season title in 2023. Tubelis, who was named Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, had a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds against UCLA and was 9 for 11 from the free-throw line. Arizona senior guard Courtney Ramey's only points of the night was a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18 seconds left. The Wildcats beat UCLA, 61-59, in the Pac-12 Tournament championship for the second straight season.
