LA story
The Arizona Wildcats flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday - though Solomon Hill wouldn't admit to it.
"I told the coaches, 'I'm not even going to L.A.,' " Hill said after the game. "We're going to Nebraska."
You can't blame Hill, from nearby Fairfax High School, for trying to play mind games. The Wildcats were 4-15 in Los Angeles since the start of the 2005-06 season before winning Thursday.
"I really don't think about the L.A. thing - that was a big thing when we came out for USC and UCLA," he said.
The Wildcats were swept there by a combined 30 points in late February.
Hill, not a Los Angeles Lakers fan, wasn't in awe of Staples Center, either.
"Winning on this court is more important than playing on this court," he said.
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Guard MoMo Jones, from the Bronx, said the team had nothing to prove in L.A.
"We're not playing at USC or UCLA," he said. "We're playing at the Staples Center and we're playing for a Pac-10 championship. That's what we came here to do. It's not about proving anything to anybody."
Fans
Arizona put two teams in today's Pac-10 tournament semifinals - its men and women.
The men's team was keeping an eye on the women's tournament. Jones, who called UA guard Davellyn Whyte "my best friend," said the men have talked to their female counterparts about team success.
"We try to tell them the situation we're in, and how good it feels," he said. "And that they can be in the same position if they come together as a team and play."
Whyte plays pickup basketball with the men's team.
"She does great," Hill said. "She's a great spot-up shooter."
Next year
Look for next year's Pac-12 tournament to give the top four teams a bye, with the bottom eight teams playing Wednesday.
Commissioner Larry Scott called that format "the most obvious" after Utah and Colorado join next season.
The conference has an agreement to stay at Staples Center next year. Beyond that, Scott said, he would have to consult with whomever the league signs a television contract in the next year - "in terms of who's rights it's going to be, and who's going to make the decision."
Scott admitted to being "disappointed in the crowds last year," but pointed to USC's postseason ban and UCLA's struggles as a reason the locals stayed away.
While attendance the first days this season has been underwhelming, Scott said he'd "reserve judgment" until the end of the week.
"As I've looked across the country at other conference tournaments, weekdays at the beginning of the tournament are sparsely attended everywhere," he said.
More Scott
Scott said he was "laser-focused" on getting the league more national exposure in basketball and football.
"I think it's a complex set of issues," he said. "It's got a lot to do with what broadcasters we're on, having national clearance versus regional clearance, start times to some extent, nights we play. We're the most rigid of any conference out there."
Scott stressed that a TV deal starting in 2012 would probably include a conference-owned network because "we're determined to get broader exposure" for women's and Olympic sports and ensure no football or men's basketball game is not aired.
Any TV deal is still "a fair few months" away, he said.
The big number
5
Former UA athletes we counted, at least, watching the game. Former basketball players Kenny Lofton, Matt Othick, Kevin Flanagan and Pete Williams were in attendance at Staples Center, as was football legend Ricky Hunley.
Quotable
"Sometime in the next few weeks you'll see it unveiled."
Scott, on the logo for the new Pac-12
Patrick Finley
