When Arizona decided to jump into the Big 12’s lifeboat back in early August 2023, one major upside for its men’s basketball program was immediately visible: Forcing the Kansas Jayhawks to visit McKale Center.
After developing one of college basketball’s top nonconference rivalries during the peak of the Lute Olson era at UA, the Wildcats and Jayhawks haven’t played each other at all for 14 years and not at McKale for 16.
Now, the Jayhawks were coming, it seemed. Until this season’s Big 12 schedule came out.
The now-16-team league opted to prioritize scheduling some “double-play” (or home-and-home) series between regional rivalries such as UA-ASU, but not necessarily marquee matchups.
So Kansas didn’t visit McKale at all this season and will instead only play No.. 24-ranked Arizona on Saturday at home in a game that was crammed between the Wildcats’ visit to Iowa State last week and a visit to Kansas City next week for the Big 12 Tournament.
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But at least the Wildcats get to visit Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse, one of the most storied venues in college basketball. Even UA center Tobe Awaka, who grew up in upstate New York as the son of Nigerian emigrants, couldn’t help but hear about that place.
“Even from when I was in middle school, high school, I’ve heard it’s one of the best college basketball environments,” Awaka said. “I think first and foremost, our goal is to win and take care of business. But I think it’s definitely going to be a fun experience and environment, for sure.”
The Wildcats will also be catching Kansas when it is finishing up a second straight season below expectations, with the Jayhawks (19-11, 10-9) unranked and sitting in a tie for sixth place in the Big 12.
Overall, though, Kansas has an 8-4 lead over Arizona in the series that has included a number of big regular-season and postseason games. Here’s a recap of the biggest ones:
The prequel
March 22, 1996: Kansas 83, Arizona 80
What went down: The young core of what would become the 1997 national champions, plus seniors Ben Davis and Corey Williams, ended their season in a Sweet 16 game at Denver that featured multiple runs by both teams and ultimately a late 3-pointer from Kansas’ Jerod Haase.
Arizona Wildcats guard Miles Simon (34) shoots over Kansas Jayhawks forward Raef LaFentz (45) during the second half of the Jayhawks 83-80 victory in the NCAA West Regional semifinal game in Denver on March 22, 1996.
Leaders: Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon had 21 points for Arizona, while Paul Pierce led Kansas with 20.
Postscript: Haase later went on to lose 12 times in 16 games against the Wildcats as Stanford’s head coach.
The breakthrough
March 21, 1997: Arizona 85, Kansas 82
What went down: When asked about facing the “Goliath” of college basketball in the days leading up to Arizona’s Sweet 16 game with the top-seeded Jayhawks, coach Lute Olson retorted by saying “Who’s David and who’s Goliath?” Then his Wildcats pulled off a shocker in Birmingham, Ala.
Leaders: Freshman guard Mike Bibby had 21 points and five assists, while center A.J. Bramlett had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Miles Simon, center, and Bennett Davison, to Simon's right, lead the celebration after Arizona beat top-seeded Kansas 85-82 in the 1997 Sweet 16 in Birmingham, Ala.
Postscript: The Wildcats went on to become the first (and still only) team to beat three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, also beating North Carolina in the semifinals and Kentucky in the championship game. (Notably, but often overlooked, is that UA also survived an overtime Elite Eight game against Providence).
The Great Eight
Dec. 2, 1997: Kansas 90, Arizona 87
What went down: The Wildcats and Jayhawks agreed to participate in a “Great Eight” event at Chicago that aimed to rematch top tournament teams from the season before. This time, Kansas held off a furious UA second-half run, with Raef LaFrentz making two free throws with 27.6 seconds left.
Leaders: LaFrentz had 32 points, while Bibby led UA with 22.
Postscript: The defending national champions stayed in the Top 10 rankings all season but ultimately were crushed 71-56 by Utah in the Elite Eight.
Youthful lesson
Dec. 1, 2001: Kansas 105, Arizona 97
What went down: After losing the bulk of its 2001 national runner-up team — and then bolting into 2001-02 with wins over Maryland, Florida and Texas — the Wildcats were humbled in their home opener against Kansas.
Leaders: Drew Gooden had 23 points and 15 rebounds for Kansas, while Jason Gardner had 34 points for the Wildcats.
Postscript: The Wildcats still far exceeded expectations that season, finishing in a tie for second in the Pac-10 and reaching the Sweet 16.
Candygate
Jan. 25, 2003: Arizona 91, Kansas 74
What went down: Arizona erased a 20-point deficit to go on to an easy win at Allen Fieldhouse but drew questions off the court during their visit to Lawrence. According to Lawrence police, a Chicago resident said he saw three UA players steal 80 candy bars from a vending machine at the team’s hotel. A UA assistant coach repaid the hotel $80 and UA investigated the allegation, though the hotel’s manager did not press charges.
Leaders: Salim Stoudamire had 32 points while hitting 6 of 9 3-pointers for UA, while Keith Langford scored 27 for Kansas.
Postscript: The Wildcats spent most of the 2002-03 ranked No. 1, before losing to the same Jayhawks in the Elite Eight.
Bitter end
March 29, 2003: Kansas 78, Arizona 75
What went down: Arizona overcame Kansas leads of 16 points in the first half and 14 in the second but ultimately lost in an Elite Eight game at Anaheim, Calif. UA guard Jason Gardner missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the final seven seconds – the first of which was blocked by Kansas’ Kirk Hinrich.
Leaders: Luke Walton had 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Arizona, while Hinrich scored 28 points for Kansas.
Postscript: On a team with future NBA all-star Andre Iguodala coming off the bench, the 2002-03 Wildcats were arguably Olson’s best even though they didn’t reach the Final Four.
KO’d in OT
Nov. 25, 2007: Kansas 76, Arizona 72
What went down: The Wildcats lost in overtime at Lawrence just five games into their bizarre 2007-08 season, when assistant Kevin “KO” O’Neill took over as interim head coach when Olson went on a leave of absence.
Leaders: Chase Budinger had 27 points while hitting 6 of 12 3s for Arizona while Darrell Arthur had 20 points, six rebounds and three assists for Kansas.
Postscript: Olson returned to the Wildcats for the 2008 offseason, removed O’Neill from his staff, then retired in October 2008. The Wildcats beat Kansas 84-67 at McKale Center the next season under another interim head coach, Russ Pennell.
D-Will dependency
Nov. 27, 2010: Kansas 87, Arizona 79
What went down: Before Derrick Williams blew firmly into the No. 2 overall pick, having led the Wildcats into the 2011 Sweet 16, the Wildcats learned what it was like to play without him: He fouled out of a Las Vegas Invitational game with 2:27 left, and the Wildcats never pulled within less than five points the rest of the way.
Arizona's Derrick Williams (23) gets denied by Kansas' Thomas Robinson during first-half action at the Las Vegas Invitational iBN Sports tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 27, 2010.
Leaders: Williams had 27 points and eight rebounds, while Kansas’ Marcus Morris had 16 points and nine rebounds to earn the MVP of the event.
Postscript: Sean Miller’s second UA team rode Williams’ heroics into a Pac-10 regular season title and a Sweet 16 win over Duke before losing to UConn in the Elite Eight.
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
Bruce Pascoe
Reporter
