Arizona basketball aims to end heartbreaking 24-year string without a Final Four

Because that team was also the Wildcats’ last Final Four team.

Nearly a full quarter century has gone by without one of college basketball’s proudest programs reaching the Final Four, a stretch that includes losses in five Elite Eight games and a handful of Sweet 16 games, all by teams that had the ability to be among the last four standing.

They were gone, each time, before or during the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, when Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games are played to determine the Final Four participants.

Arizona point guard Jaden Bradley can relate, and he’s only felt a fraction of that pain. Every one of his three previous college seasons has ended in the Sweet 16, the first with Alabama in a 2023 loss to San Diego State, and the past two at Arizona, which lost to Clemson and Duke in the Sweet 16s that followed.

“I haven't been able to get over the hump yet," he said.

Bradley says he's excited for the chance to make it this time, leading a 34-2 team that might be UA's best-equipped group to do so since 2001, but the Wildcats still will have to beat Arkansas on Thursday and then either Texas or Purdue in the Elite Eight on Saturday.

And, yes, maybe fittingly, that means the coach who could be ultimately standing in their way of a Final Four might be Texas coach Sean Miller, the former Arizona coach who was on hand for two of the Wildcats' most bittersweet Elite Eight losses ever: To Wisconsin, both in 2014 and 2015.

Here’s a look at those two losses and other second-weekend memories the Wildcats hope to exorcise this weekend in San Jose. (Note: We aren’t counting UA’s Elite Eight loss in 2011 because the Wildcats were seeded fifth that season, not expected to reach the Final Four, and beat Duke in a Sweet 16 game that was wildly celebrated).

2003

Record: 28-4

Seed: No. 1, West Region

Key players: Jason Gardner (G, Sr.), Luke Walton (F, Sr.), Andre Iguodala (F, Fr.), Hassan Adams (F, Fr.), Channing Frye (C, So.), Salim Stoudamire (G, So.)

How they got there: Ranked No. 1 in the preseason and for 13 weeks during it, the Wildcats lost only twice during the regular season — at LSU by a point in December and to then-rival Stanford at McKale Center. But they were shocked in overtime of the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals, losing to eighth-seeded UCLA, a team they had beaten by an average of 35.5 points in two regular-season games.

The tournament run: While then-coach Lute Olson was known to dislike the conference tournament, a feeling perhaps absorbed by his players, the UCLA loss may have shaken the Wildcats’ confidence. Their season nearly ended nine days later in a double-overtime win over Gonzaga in Salt Lake City, before they beat Notre Dame in a Sweet 16 game at Anaheim, Calif., to reach the Elite Eight.

The heartbreak: The top-seeded Wildcats, who had won at Kansas by 17 points earlier in the season, this time overcame a 16-point deficit in the first half and a 14-point deficit in the second against the Jayhawks … but lost 78-75 after Kirk Hinrich scored 28 points and blocked a late 3-point attempt by Gardner, who also missed a 3 as time expired.

He said it: “'I know it's going to be the last time in the locker room with the coaches, the players. That's the hardest part, knowing that it's all over and we're not going to have another shot at it." — Walton

2005

Record: 30-7

Seed: No. 3, Chicago (Midwest) Regional

Key players: Hassan Adams (F, Jr.), Channing Frye (C, Sr.), Salim Stoudamire (G, Sr.), Mustafa Shakur (G, So.), F Ivan Radenovic (C, So.)

How they got there: The Wildcats went 15-3 to win the Pac-10 regular-season title and lost 81-72 to Washington in the final of the Pac-10 Tournament.

The tournament run: The Wildcats weren’t expected to reach the Final Four after their Selection Sunday draw, which put them in the Chicago Regional (regions were named after cities that season), in the alumni turf of top-seeded Illinois. But the Wildcats raised expectations by beating Utah State and UAB in Boise, Idaho, to reach the Sweet 16, then beating Oklahoma State 79-78 when Stoudamire hit an off-balance jumper with 2.8 seconds left.

The heartbreak: UA’s Final Four expectations were going through the Allstate Arena roof by the time the Wildcats took a 15-point lead over Illinois with four minutes left in the Elite Eight. But in what a 2020 NCAA.com vote determined was the NCAA Tournament’s “Best March Madness Moment of all-time,” the Illini erased the lead and sent the game into overtime, then won 90-89. It was the last Elite Eight game Olson coached in, after having taken the Wildcats to four Final Fours.

He said it: “Guys left and right on their team were hitting big buckets, left and right, left and right. Whether it was a big guy or a guard. It was just an unbelievable thing to lose a game that way.” — Shakur

2014

Record: 33-5

Seed: No. 1, West Regional

Key players: Nick Johnson (G, Jr.), Aaron Gordon (F, Fr.), Brandon Ashley (F, So.), T.J. McConnell (G, Jr.), Kaleb Tarczewski (C, So.), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (F, Fr.)

How they got there: Arizona started the season on a then-school-record 21-0 mark until Ashley suffered a season-ending foot injury in UA’s loss at Cal on Feb. 1. The Wildcats still won the Pac-12 at 15-3 but lost to UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament final.

The tournament run: The Wildcats beat Weber State and Gonzaga in San Diego, then edged San Diego State 70-64 in a Sweet 16 game at Anaheim, Calif.

The heartbreak: A team that was arguably the favorite to win it all before Ashley’s injury ended its season in gut-wrenching style. UA lost 64-63 to second-seeded Wisconsin in an Elite Eight game at the Honda Center of Anaheim, Calif., after Nick Johnson was called for an offensive foul with 2.3 seconds left. It was the fourth straight Elite Eight game UA had lost at the Honda Center, dating back to Utah’s shocking win over the defending national champion Wildcats in 1998.

He said it: “I wish I could say that on the flight home ‘I'm good,’ but when you get to this level, you have a lot behind you, seven months of hard work and a great team, a team that we all know can get to a Final Four. You get to that overtime and you're right here, it's disappointing. It's not just disappointing for the coach, it's disappointing for the players, too.” — UA coach Sean Miller

2015

Record: 34-4

Seed: No. 2, West Regional

Key players: Brandon Ashley (F, Jr.) T.J. McConnell (G, Sr.), Kaleb Tarczewski (C, Jr.), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (F, So.), Stanley Johnson (G, Fr.).

How they got there: Arizona lost only once in nonconference play, in a pre-Christmas game at UNLV, and won the Pac-12 with a 16-2 record. Then it beat California, UCLA and Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament, crushing the Ducks by 28 points.

The tournament run: The Wildcats opened with wins over Texas Southern and Ohio State in Portland, Ore., then beat Miller’s old team, Xavier, in a Sweet 16 game at Los Angeles.

The heartbreak: The Badgers made it back-to-back trips through the Wildcats to reach the Final Four, this time hitting 10 of 12 3-pointers after halftime and outscoring UA 30-3 from long range. Center Frank Kaminsky, with 29 points, and Sam Dekker, with 27, cemented their place as two of UA’s alltime top villains.

He said it: “I’m not going to apologize for being 34-4 and I’m not going to apologize for not making the Final Four, and neither should these (players)… If that’s a problem, I think you know what you can do.” — UA coach Sean Miller

2017

Record: 32-5

Seed: No. 2, West Regional

Key players: Allonzo Trier (G, So.), Lauri Markkanen (F, Fr.), Rawle Alkins (G, Fr.), Dusan Ristic (C, Jr.)

How they got there: After a first-round NCAA Tournament exit in 2016, the Wildcats deployed two 7-footers in Markkanen and Ristic while “Iso-Zo” Trier averaged 17.2 points a game. UA tied Oregon atop the Pac-12 at 16-2 but beat the Ducks 83-80 in the Pac-12 tournament final.

The tournament run: The Wildcats beat North Dakota and Saint Mary’s to reach the Sweet 16 before disappointment hit again.

The heartbreak: While the Wildcats were seeded behind top-ranked Gonzaga that season, they were given a path through Pac-12 country to reach the Final Four in Phoenix. But they never saw the Zags, nor the Final Four, losing to Xavier 73-71 when Markkanen did not attempt a shot for the final 11 minutes, in the same San Jose arena where the Wildcats will play on Thursday.

He said it: “They played really well defensively. I did not get a good shot. They’re a really good team.” — Markkanen