Ten things I’ve learned about Big 12 basketball through Arizona’s showing-up-late-is-better-than-nothing win over Colorado on Saturday:
Arizona forward Trey Townsend (4) looks for an opening to pass under Colorado center Elijah Malone (50) in the first half of their Big 12 game at McKale on Jan. 25, 2025.
I: Failing to build a lasting momentum this year, Arizona could lose its next three games: Monday at 8:30 p.m. against No. 3-ranked Iowa State, Saturday at ASU and the following Tuesday at BYU. Three sold-out, rocking arenas. Do you realize Lute Olson didn’t lose three consecutive Pac-12 games from 1985-2006 at Arizona? Wow.
II: Slumping Caleb Love is not going to repeat his 2024 Pac-12 Player of the Year award in the Big 12. Repeating at POY is rare and unexpected anyway. In the UA’s 46 years in the Pac-12, only UCLA’s David Greenwood (1978, 1979) and Arizona’s Sean Elliott (1988, 1989) repeated as POY.
III: Elliott improved his scoring average from 19.6 to 23.3 in his POY seasons. Love has gone from 18.1 last year to 15.2 this year. There’s an asterisk involved in the POY lists: Until Love came along, Arizona’s last eight POYs did not return for another season. That includes, in order, Chris Mills, Damon Stoudamire, Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, Derrick Williams, Nick Johnson, Deandre Ayton and Bennedict Mathurin.
IV: Jason Gardner, whose jersey No. 22 hangs in the rafters at McKale, had the biggest one-season drop of a star-level player in Arizona history, one that goes beyond Love’s decline. In 2002-03, Gardner fell from 20 points per game to 14.6. But it requires an explanation: Gardner was surrounded by teammates who were ranked No. 1 for 13 weeks, scorers like Salim Stoudamire (13.0), Channing Frye (12.7), Luke Walton (10.8), Ricky Anderson (10.7), Hassan Adams (9.1) and Andre Iguodala (6.4). That’s surely the deepest team in school history. Gardner gave up shots for the good of the order.
V: The Big 12 has introduced Arizona to many new referees, including ASU grad and former Chandler High School basketball standout DeSelle Dean, who worked Saturday’s Arizona-Colorado game. The Pac-12 had a rule that officials like Rincon High/UA grad Chris Rastatter couldn’t work their alma mater’s games. That seemed a little too much. Good to see the Big 12 puts trust in its refs and lets a Sun Devil work at McKale Center.
VI: Arizona’s games on ESPN+ are often blurry in stretches and periodically go blank for a few minutes at a time.
Plus, its lead-in to each half identifies McKale Center as being in TUSCON, Arizona.
VII: I miss the Pac-12 Network because it regularly aired 30-minute and one-hour highlights shows. You became familiar with players on every team and knew the name of every Pac-12 coach. You knew the standings and the schedules on a familiar Thursday-Saturday rotation. The Big 12 remains a very unfamiliar face.
VIII: Anthony Dell’Orso isn’t new to scoring 20 or more points in a game, as he did Saturday. Last January at Campbell, Dell’Orso scored 29 vs. Elon, 28 vs. Hofstra, 24 vs. North Carolina A&T and 29 vs. William and Mary. He’s got game. He has found his confidence.
IX: Arizona’s first real “crisis game’’ in the Big 12 is Monday’s vs. Iowa State. Did you know that Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois hired ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger when she was the AD at UNLV in 2019? She found the former Lorenzo Romar-Washington assistant coaching at South Dakota State. “I wanted someone who is laser-focused,” she said. Consider Otzelberger a laser. Good hire.
X: Put me down and hold me to this opinion: Henry Veesaar will be the UA’s first-ever All-Big 12 player. Expect the announcement in March 2026.
