Rating Arizona: Sean Elliott, 1988 Cats handle 2001 UA in simulation semifinals

Editor’s note: This week, the Star is using Whatifsports.com to simulate a single-elimination tournament among eight great all-time UA teams. Whatifsports.com provides a play-by-play and box score, and each matchup was simulated only once in a true win-or-go-home scenario. The teams were seeded on how far they advanced in the NCAA Tournament. We are down to the semifinal round, and today features a classic matchup between the No. 2-seeded 2001 Wildcats and the No. 3-seeded 1988 UA squad. No. 5-seeded 2003 UA will face the No. 8 seed 2011 UA in the other semifinal tomorrow.

Today’s game

With a five-minute burst in the second half, Sean Elliott showed why he once rapped “They want me in the NBA.” The No. 3-seeded 1988 UA team entered the court to the song that line appeared in, “Wild About the Cats,” and then Elliott showed why the NBA wanted a piece of him in the late 1980s. He scored 10 points in five minutes as that Wildcat team went from being down by two to up 10 in a short span and held on to beat the No. 2-seeded 2001 Arizona team 91-85 to advance to the championship game of the simulation bracket. Elliott, who scored a game-high 26 points, had two 3s, a 2-point basket and two free throws as UA turned a 53-51 deficit into a 71-61 lead. When Steve Kerr drained a 3 on the next possession, followed by a bellowing callout of his name by the McKale Center fans, the ’88 Cats had their largest lead of the game at 74-63.

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The 2001 Cats were far from finished with nine minutes still left. They answered with an 8-0 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to 74-71. But that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. Anthony Cook’s dunk made it 76-71 and Elliott scored the team’s next four points to give it some breathing room. The ’01 Wildcats lost center Loren Woods to his fifth foul with 3:26 left and the 1988 Cats up 80-74. He finished with six points and six rebounds in 30 minutes. Even without Woods, the 2001 squad cut the lead to 89-85 with 12 seconds left on a 3 by Richard Jefferson, but Tom Tolbert sunk two free throws with eight seconds left to wrap up the scoring. Tolbert had a monster game of his own, scoring 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds. He scored six of the team’s last seven points to keep his team solidly ahead down the stretch.

Jefferson led the 2001 team with 22 points while Gilbert Arenas added 17. The 2001 Cats, who were outrebounded 40-32 and let the ’88 Wildcats shoot 52% from the field, managed to stay in the game by hitting 11 of 29 3s. The 2001 Wildcats made a point of laughing and pointing at how short the 1988 team’s shorts were during warmups but were all business once the game started as the teams — two of the most popular ones in UA history — put on a back-and-forth show in the first half for the McKale crowd, who seemed evenly split. Craig McMillan’s basket in the final seconds of the first half wasn’t as dramatic as his “McShot” to beat Oregon State in 1986, but it did give the 1988 team a 45-44 lead at the intermission. The 2001 team had led 17-10 early before the 1988 Cats came back with a 17-9 run to take a one-point lead. Kenny Lofton and Tolbert each scored four points to later extend the lead to 39-31 thanks to an 8-2 run, but Arenas hit two 3-pointers in 25 seconds to cut the 2001 team’s deficit from 43-35 down to 43-41 in a heartbeat. Harvey Mason played only one minute off the bench for the ’88 UA team, but he scored five points on a 3 and two free throws and helped his team turn a 24-20 deficit into a 27-26 lead over the space of 40 seconds. Overall, the Gumbies on the 1988 bench combined for 20 total points in 38 minutes. The 1988 team will play either the No. 5 2003 Wildcats or the No. 8 2011 Cats in the championship on Saturday.