1986–87 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

1986–87 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
1986–87 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
Fiesta Bowl Classic Champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Pacific-10
Record	18–12 (13–5 Pac-10)
Head coach	Lute Olson (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Tom Billeter (2nd season); Ricky Byrdsong (5th season); Kevin O'Neill (1st season); Scott Thompson (4th season);
Home arena	McKale Center (Capacity: 14,545)
	Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 15 UCLA †	14	–	4	.778	25	–	7	.781
Arizona	13	–	5	.722	18	–	12	.600
Washington	10	–	8	.556	20	–	15	.571
California	10	–	8	.556	20	–	15	.571
Oregon State	10	–	8	.556	19	–	11	.633
Stanford	9	–	9	.500	15	–	13	.536
Oregon	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
Arizona State	6	–	12	.333	11	–	17	.393
Washington State	6	–	12	.333	10	–	18	.357
USC	4	–	14	.222	9	–	19	.321

† 1987 Pacific-10 Tournament winner As of March 25, 1987^[1] Rankings from AP poll

The 1986–87 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Lute Olson. The team played its home games in the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona, and was a member of the Pacific-10 Conference. The Wildcats finished with an overall record of 18–12 (13–5 Pac-10) and reached the NCAA tournament, but lost in the opening round for the third consecutive year.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	00	Anthony Cook	—	—	So	Van Nuys HS	Los Angeles, CA
PG	11	Kenny Lofton	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Washington HS	East Chicago, IN
G	20	Craig McMillan	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr
G	22	Bruce Fraser	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	Sr	Long Beach City College	Long Beach, CA
C	23	Tom Tolbert	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Cerritos College
G	25	Steve Kerr	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Palisades Charter HS	Los Angeles, CA
SF	32	Sean Elliott	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Cholla HS	Tucson, AZ
SF	35	Jud Buechler	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Poway HS	Poway, CA

Head coach

Lute Olsen

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 21, 1986*	No. 19	at No. 5 UNLV Preseason NIT	L 87–92^[2]	0–1	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV
Dec 4, 1986*	No. 20	at San Diego State	W 110–78	1–1	Peterson Gym San Diego, CA
Dec 6, 1986*	No. 20	Utah	L 67–68	1–2	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Dec 8, 1986*	No. 20	at Northern Arizona	W 76–69	2–2	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ
Dec 10, 1986*		Hawaii Pacific	W 105–85	3–2	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Dec 13, 1986*		at No. 13 Georgetown	L 74–82	3–3	Capital Centre Landover, MD
Dec 27, 1986*		St. Bonaventure Fiesta Bowl Classic	W 70–64	4–3	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Dec 28, 1986*		Texas Tech Fiesta Bowl Classic	W 53–40	5–3	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Pac-10 regular season
Jan 2, 1987		at Oregon State	W 54–48	6–3 (1–0)	Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
Jan 4, 1987		at Oregon	L 54–55 ^OT	6–4 (1–1)	McArthur Court Eugene, OR
Jan 8, 1987		USC	W 78–44	7–4 (2–1)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan 10, 1987		UCLA Rivalry	L 83–84	7–5 (2–2)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan 15, 1987		at Washington State	W 96–59	8–5 (3–2)	Friel Court Pullman, WA
Jan 17, 1987		at Washington	W 73–72	9–5 (4–2)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
Jan 19, 1987		Stanford	W 77–70	10–5 (5–2)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan 22, 1987		California	L 81–82 ^2OT	10–6 (5–3)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan 24, 1987*		at No. 9 Illinois	L 63–67	10–7	Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
Jan 29, 1987		at Arizona State Rivalry	W 82–67	11–7 (6–3)	ASU Activity Center Tempe, AZ
Feb 3, 1987		Arizona State Rivalry	W 66–54	12–7 (7–3)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb 5, 1987		Oregon	W 68–53	13–7 (8–3)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb 7, 1987*		No. 4 Iowa	L 80–89^[3]	13–8	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb 12, 1987		at UCLA Rivalry	L 65–81	13–9 (8–4)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
Feb 14, 1987		Oregon State	W 71–61	14–9 (9–4)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb 17, 1987		at USC	W 73–61	15–9 (10–4)	L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
Feb 19, 1987		Washington State	W 84–58	16–9 (11–4)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb 21, 1987		Washington	W 81–70	17–9 (12–4)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb 26, 1987		at Stanford	L 73–75	17–10 (12–5)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Mar 1, 1987		at California	W 70–51	18–10 (13–5)	Harmon Gym Berkeley, CA
Pac-10 Tournament
Mar 6, 1987*	(2)	vs. (7) Oregon Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinal	L 63–72	18–11	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1987*	(10 W)	vs. (7 W) UTEP First round	L 91–98 ^{OT^[4]}	18–12	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Sources^[5]^[6]

Rankings

References

^ "2011-12 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 67. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
^ "Rebels rally to overcome Arizona". Las Vegas Sun. November 21, 1986. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
^ "Gamble Pays Off as Iowa Comes From Behind to Defeat Arizona". Los Angeles Times. February 8, 1987. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
^ "Arizona Is Ousted by UTEP". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 1986. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
^ "1986-87 Arizona Wildcats Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
^ "Arizona Men's Basketball 2018–19 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Arizona Athletic Department. Retrieved July 21, 2019.

[1] "2011-12 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 67. Retrieved November 23, 2011.

[2] "Rebels rally to overcome Arizona". Las Vegas Sun. November 21, 1986. Retrieved July 21, 2019.

[3] "Gamble Pays Off as Iowa Comes From Behind to Defeat Arizona". Los Angeles Times. February 8, 1987. Retrieved July 21, 2019.

[4] "Arizona Is Ousted by UTEP". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 1986. Retrieved July 21, 2019.

[5] "1986-87 Arizona Wildcats Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2019.

[6] "Arizona Men's Basketball 2018–19 Media Guide" (PDF). University of Arizona Athletic Department. Retrieved July 21, 2019.

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v t e Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Bear Down Gym (1926–1973) McKale Center (1973–present)
Rivalries	Arizona State UCLA
Culture & lore	Bear Down Wilbur and Wilma "Fight! Wildcats! Fight!" 2017–18 corruption scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics