When the Arizona Wildcats hop a flight to Los Angeles this afternoon, nearly half of them will be heading home.
The rest of them may feel like they’re at home, too.
While the Wildcats have a tendency to draw fans anywhere they go, Los Angeles is probably second only to Las Vegas (for the Pac-12 tournament) in places where the Wildcats enjoy their biggest fan support outside the state.
The Wildcats had dominant crowds root for them when they played Connecticut at Anaheim, California, in the 2011 Elite Eight and again last season, when they played Wisconsin in another Elite Eight.
In between, plenty of UA fans also showed up at the Staples Center in 2013 to watch the Wildcats play Ohio State in the Sweet 16.
The only problem? The Wildcats lost all three of those games.
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Going “home” to SoCal has historically been a mixed blessing for the Cats, who are a combined 10-12 there under coach Sean Miller during conference play, Pac-10/12 tournament play and NCAA appearances.
Even before Miller arrived at UA, the Wildcats only won one title and were 8-7 overall during the Pac-10 tournaments held from 2002-09 at the Staples Center, where Thursday’s Arizona-Xavier game will be held.
Overall, UA’s NCAA tournament record in Southern California is 10-8, which includes an upset loss to Alabama in Long Beach in 1990, and a 4-4 mark at Anaheim’s Honda Center, home to some of UA’s most heartbreaking losses ever (Elite Eights in 1998, 2003, 2011 and 2014).
Why? Maybe it’s just the matchups. Maybe it’s a false sense of security. Or maybe, in some sort of way, it’s what happens when you have all that family and familiar faces around.
UA wing Stanley Johnson says it’s “very exciting” to head home, but fellow SoCal native Parker Jackson-Cartwright is also aware of the danger.
“It should be nice to be at home,” Jackson-Cartwright said. “But focus has to be on the game. Any other distraction has to be avoided.”
Here’s a look at UA’s Southern California history and connections:
The SoCal boys
- Johnson, a freshman from
- Fullerton.
- Jackson-Cartwright, a freshman from Los Angeles.
- Gabe York, a junior from West Covina.
- Ryan Anderson, a redshirting senior from Lakewood.
- Trey Mason, sophomore walk-on from Los Angeles.
- Jacob Hazzard, junior walk-on from Los Angeles.
- Drew Mellon, senior walk-on from Santa Ana.
Other California kids: Brandon Ashley, a junior forward from San Francisco; and Elliott Pitts, a sophomore from Dublin.
The records
AT STAPLES CENTER
Pac-10/12 tournaments 2002-12: 12-10
NCAA tournament 2013: 0-1
Total Staples Center: 12-11
NCAA TOURNAMENTS
Los Angeles: 5-2
Long Beach: 1-2
Anaheim: 4-4
Total NCAA record: 10-8
SEAN MILLER
At USC: 2-3
At UCLA: 2-3
At Pac-10/12 tournament: 4-3
At NCAA tournament: 2-3
Overall record in SoCal: 10-12
Highs
March 18, 1976: Herman Harris scored 31 points, with nine rebounds and nine assists, to lead Arizona to a 114-109 overtime win over UNLV at Pauley Pavilion.
March 20, 1988: Anthony Cook had 20 points to lead UA to an 84-55 romp over Seton Hall in the second round en route to the Wildcats’ first Final Four appearance.
March 26, 1994: Damon Stoudamire had 27 points in a 92-72 Elite Eight win over Missouri to put the UA in its second Final Four.
Lows
March 21, 1998: Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon shot a combined 6 for 36 against Utah’s triangle-and-two defense in a shocking 76-51 loss in the Elite Eight, ending UA’s defense of its 1997 national championship.
March 29, 2003: Jason Gardner raced downcourt for a game-tying three with 0:07 left, but his first attempt was blocked and the second one missed, allowing Kansas to beat the No. 1-seeded Cats 78-75.
March 29, 2014: Nick Johnson was called for an offensive foul with 3.2 seconds left and didn’t get a shot off in time after Wisconsin lost the ball out of bounds, allowing the Badgers to beat top-seeded UA 64-63 in OT in the Elite Eight.
