One of the most unspoken truths of college basketball is this: When you hit the road, the road hits back.
Rarely was it more true than Friday night at Wisconsin’s Kohl Center when No. 9 Arizona was pummeled 103-88 by unranked Wisconsin. In a basketball sense, what happened to the Wildcats was historic.
History?
- Arizona recently had a 496-game streak of not allowing 100 points in non-overtime games snapped. No Arizona opponent scored 100 points in a non-overtime game between the 2009 Sweet 16 — interim coach Russ Pennell’s last game, a 103-64 blowout loss to Louisville — until last New Year’s Eve when Stanford beat Arizona 100-82. Incredibly, Sean Miller coached 411 Arizona games without an opponent scoring 100 in a regulation game against him.
- Sixty-three fouls were called Friday night. That’s absurd. Arizona committed an average of 16.2 fouls per game a year ago. Friday: 32. The last time an Arizona opponent attempted more than 47 free throws, as Wisconsin did Friday, was a 1979 game when New Mexico attempted 60.
- With 87 free throws attempted Friday, the game required 2 hours and 34 minutes. The average college basketball game is about 2 hours, 5 minutes.
- The UA school record for free-throw attempts in a game is 22, set by Derrick Williams in 2011. Wisconsin’s John Tonje, a sixth-year double transfer from Colorado State and Missouri, attempted a UA opponent’s record, 22, on Friday.
I could write several more paragraphs about the excessive number of fouls called Friday, and its historical context, but it would be more enlightening to talk about the three-man officiating crew. It explains how such a freakish game took place.
Referee Jason Phillips was officiating his first college game since 1998. He had spent 19 years as an NBA referee, then retired in 2019 to work at the NBA’s TV replay center in New Jersey.
Referee Larry Scirotto had been the Pittsburgh chief of police until he retired on Nov. 1. He then returned to his old gig, basketball officiating, but probably got over-scheduled. He worked the UCLA-Boston game Monday in Los Angeles, the Oregon-Portland game Tuesday in Oregon, the Toledo-Wright State game Wednesday in Ohio, and then the UA-Wisconsin game Friday. Can you imagine how exhausted he must’ve been?
Referee Ron Riley, ranked No. 133 nationally by Kenpom.com, normally works Ivy League and Patriot League games. He was probably in over his head Friday.
To me, the game’s most telling quote came from the well-seasoned Tonje, who told reporters, “Our mentality coming into this game was to take it to them and not wait for them to hit us first.”
Wisconsin guard John Blackwell (25) celebrates a basket with guard John Tonje (9) during the second half against Arizona Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Tonje became just the eighth UA opponent to ever score 40 or more.
Wisconsin’s aggressive nature won the game as much as a weird officiating crew. Or maybe it was a split.
Either way, Tonje became just the eighth UA opponent to ever score 40 or more. The recap:
- 50: Bob Beckel, Air Force, 1959
- 49: Jimmer Fredette, BYU, 2010
- 45: Eric Murdock, Providence, 1990
- 44: Jared Brownridge, Santa Clara, 2015
- 42: Luke Jackson, Oregon, 2004
- 41: John Tonje, Wisconsin, 2024
- 40: Desmon Farmer, USC, 2004
- 40: Allen Iverson, Georgetown, 1995
But all that is old news now. Duke arrives at McKale Center on Friday for the first time in 33 years. Wisconsin will be long forgotten by the 8:30 p.m. tipoff. Let’s hope a capable officiating crew is appointed to work the game.
