Wildcats at No. 25 in latest AP College Basketball poll

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The Arizona Wildcats (10-3) cling to No. 25 in the latest AP College Basketball poll, while Pac-12 opponent Oregon (11-2) comes in at No. 4.  Gonzaga (13-1) is No.1 again this week.

Happy New Year from Bookemdanosports

Happy New Year!

from Bookemdanosports

Photo: Dan and Sue in lobby at Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Bookemdansports entering 12th year with 3,700 posts and more to come in 2020. Happy New Year to all my readers.

Arizona Wildcats fall to No. 24

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The Arizona Wildcats (10-3) fall to No. 24 in latest AP College Basketball poll. Gonzaga (13-1) is the new No. 1.

Wildcats look tired

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The Arizona Wildcats (10-3) need a break. They look tired.

The 16th-ranked Wildcats were outplayed by St. John's in San Francisco last night, losing 70-67 to the Red Storm (11-2). Well, the Wildcats will get a much-needed break and can rest their collective shooting hands until Jan. 4 when they open up Pac-12 play at home against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Maybe two weeks off is the answer.

Last night, Arizona made just three 3-pointers. The Wildcats were 3 for 16 from beyond the arc, but managed to shoot 39.6 from the field, canning 19 of 48 attempts. Nico Mannion was off the mark on nine shots, Josh Green went 2 for 7, Chase Jeter 2 for 6, Jemarl Baker missed all five of his attempts at the bucket and Max Hazzard managed one 3-pointer out of four attempts.

Arizona made more free throws (26 of 32) than field goals. The 13 turnovers didn't help with most of those coming in the first half as the Wildcats trailed at intermission, 40-26. Arizona's late spurt in the second half was a carbon-copy attempt at winning, much like its losses to Baylor and Gonzaga.

Mannion finished with 19 points, Green ended up with 11 and Zeke Nnaji was the best player on the court for Arizona with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Nnaji was 8 for 10 from the field.

Rest up, Arizona.

Wildcats drop one spot to No. 16 in AP Poll

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona's 84-80 loss to Gonzaga at McKale last Saturday was worth a one-spot drop in the latest AP College Basketball Poll. Arizona comes in at No. 16, while the big four remain at the top with Kansas   at No.1, Gonzaga moves up to No. 2, Louisville is No. 3 and Duke is No. 4.

Oregon clings to No. 8 and Washington is No. 22.

Arizona takes on St John's this Saturday in San Francisco at the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Al Attles Classic. The Red Storm own a 9-2 record and one of their two losses was to Arizona State (80-67) on Nov. 23.

Ducklow's infield hit leads to walk-off win

Tucson Old Timers  (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Team White's Dick  "Double D" Ducklow knocked in two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a walk-off 9-8 win over Team Blue today at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Joe Opocensky, the starting pitcher for Team Blue, needed just three outs to escape with an 8-7 win, but he had to maneuver through the heart of the Team White lineup. Reed Palmer and Ron Ryan started things off in the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles to center and Mike Dawson reached base on an infield hit to load the bases.

Opocensky got the next two batters to hit into force outs and that brought up Ducklow, who hit a slow roller to second baseman Jerry Hamelin. The throw to first was wide of the bag and too late to nip Ducklow. Two runners scampered home and Team White picked up the hard-fought win.

Dawson, the starting pitcher for Team White, owned an early 4-1 lead after three innings of play, but a few errors by his teammates during the middle innings allowed Team Blue to finally grab the lead.

Team Blue's Arnie "Montana Kid" White collected two hits and knocked in three runs.

The TOTS return to action on Wednesday. Game time: 10 a.m.

Photo: Dick Ducklow, 77, from Spring Valley, Wisconsin.

Zags take down Wildcats at McKale, 84-80

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


It happened in Waco against Baylor... and tonight at McKale Center it happened again.

The 15th-ranked Arizona Wildcats (10-2) missed too many shots once again, shooting just 38.5 percent (30 of 78) from the field and made just eight of 30 shots from beyond the three-point line en route to a 84-80 loss to 6th-ranked Gonzaga.

Freshman sensation Nico Mannion dished out 10 assists for Arizona, but made just three of 20 field goal attempts -- including a dismal 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.

Not good enough to beat Gonzaga. The Zags improve to 11-1 on the season.

The Wildcats needed a good performance from freshman Zeke Nnaji and they got it. Nnaji finished with a double-double, collecting 16 points, while contributing a game-high 18 rebounds. Arizona's other freshman guard Josh Green scored 17 points, but made just five of 15 field goals.

Mannion finished with just seven points.

Wildcats roll to a 50-pt win over Omaha

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The 15th-ranked Arizona Wildcats rolled to a 99-49 win over Omaha tonight at McKale.

Five players scored in double figures and a sixth player, freshman center Christian Koloko, came off the bench to grab a team-high 10 rebounds.

Nico Mannion, who finished with 13 points, dished out 11 of Arizona's 25 assists, while Chase Jeter and Josh Green scored 15 points apiece. Dylan Smith hit 4 of 6 from beyond the 3-point line to finish with 14 points, while Ira Lee came off the bench and tallied 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Arizona (10-1) out rebounded the Mavericks 47-33 and ended up hitting 38 of 66 shots, a 57.6 percentage from the field. The Wildcats canned 12 of 26 from long range for 46.2 percent.

The 50-point win serves as a tune up for Arizona's showdown on Saturday at McKale against 6th-ranked Gonzaga.

Arizona's lone loss worth a 3-spot drop in AP Poll

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona's 63-58 loss last Saturday in Waco to Baylor was worth a three-spot drop to No. 15 in the latest AP College Basketball Poll.

All things considered, not too bad of a drop. Louisville (9-0) remains No. 1.

Gonzaga (10-1), the Wildcats' opponent on Saturday night at McKale is currently ranked No. 6, while Arizona's Pac-12 opponent Oregon (7-2) slips in at No. 10. Baylor (7-1) moves up to No. 11 thanks to its hard-fought win in Waco over the Wildcats.

Wildcats throw up bricks in Waco

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The 12th-ranked Arizona Wildcats (9-1) went 2 for 18 from long range in Waco, Texas today and fall from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 63-58 loss to 18th-ranked Baylor.

A frustrating game for coach Sean Miller and the Wildcats.

Arizona scored just 24 points in the first half, but despite the poor shooting had a shot to tie the game at 61-all with five seconds left in the game when Josh Green missed a three-point shot from the corner.

The Wildcats battled from behind the entire game and were led by Nico Mannion's 15 points and five assists. Still, Mannion was off target for most of the 40 minutes and ended up 3 for 14 from the field. Arizona made just 14 of 52 from the field, a miserable 26.9 percent -- including a dismal 11.1 percent from beyond the three-point line.

The Wildcats head back to Tucson to the friendly confines of McKale and take on Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Ochoa top TOTS' hitter in November

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Jesse Ochoa, 68, led the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers during the month of November with 17 hits in 28 at bats at Udall Park for a .607 batting average.  Ochoa also led the club in RBI with 16.

The hard-hitting Reed Palmer was not far behind with 16 hits in just 21 at bats for a hefty .762  batting  average.  Palmer, who walked a club-high six times during the month, hit one of two home runs.  Ernesto Escala also hit his first homer with the TOTS. Palmer's homer was his 18th of the season and he is 11 home runs shy of his own single-season, club record of 29, set in 2018.

Lloyd Barzell, Tim Tolson, Ron Ryan, Pete Peters and Mike Steele finished with 13 hits apiece  during the month. Mike Dawson ended up with 12 hits for the month, while Dave Byars collected 11 hits and Joe Opocensky had 10.

The TOTS played just eight games in November. Four players -- Palmer, Dawson, Opocensky and Bob Daliege -- tied for the most pitching victories with two.

Floyd Lance, 94, led the 80-somethings with two hits in 20 trips to the plate. Lance played in seven of the eight games. Forty players played during the month.  Bad weather has caused some rain outs recently. In fact, the field at Udall was unplayable on Monday and Wednesday of this week and the first game for December was played today -- a 10-2 win by Team White over Team Blue. Palmer picked up the pitching victory, while Dave Margolis was saddled with the loss.

The TOTS return to action on Monday at Udall. Game time: 10 a.m.

Photo: Ochoa

The combination lock

Life in the 70s


One of my fears in high school was forgetting the combination to the lock on my hallway locker.

I recall breaking out in a sweat as I took small steps the final eighty feet or so from my locker. I could see it just ahead. After three years as an underclassman, I was now a senior...it's now 1963 and I was  still battling in my mind, desperately trying to remember the combination.

I could hear the bell ring in the background. I had just minutes to reach the entrance to my next class.

Yes! Suddenly it came to me. Left, right...left. Or was it, right, left...right? Six digits away from a grand opening. A click. A push on the lever. Success!

Why my locker was normally empty was another story. Not one picture even of an image of a blonde, blue-eyed classmate staring back at me. To tell you the truth I was scared of women even back then.

I'm not sure I have ever got over that.

Fast forward to 2019...almost 2020, and in the far corner of my brain are 2,000 passwords...stored, ready to leap out and open up a window of opportunity, allowing me to get through another day, another week...another year.

I realize now that I have come a long way. I have a mind...a real mind. I have the ability to store numbers and exist comfortably in the 21st century.

It's a number's game and I'm still counting...still looking for the right combination to get me on down the road.

Arizona reaches No. 12 in AP College Basketball Poll

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona (9-0) is No. 12 in this week's AP College Basketball Poll after winning the Wooden Legacy Classic on Sunday. Louisville takes its turn at No. 1.

The Wildcats face #18 Baylor (5-1) in Waco, Texas on Saturday, Dec. 7, takes on Nebraska-Omaha (5-4) at McKale Center on Wednesday, Dec. 11 and lock horns with #9 Gonzaga (8-1) at McKale on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Wildcats win Wooden Legacy Championship

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Dylan Smith scored 20 points and Chase Jeter netted 17 points and hauled in nine rebounds to lead the Arizona Wildcats to a 73-66 win over Wake Forest in the championship game tonight at the Wooden Legacy Classic in Anaheim.

The Wildcats, shorthanded tonight with out the injured Stone Gettings and the services of Zeke Nnaji and Ira Lee, who both had fouled out, received a lot of support from freshmen Nico Mannion (9 points, 7 assists) and Josh Green (8 points and a team-high 12 rebounds).

Arizona brings home the hardware and improves to 9-0 on the season.

Joiner scores 2 TD's in Arizona's season finale

Arizona Wildcats Football


Jamarye Joiner hauled in two touchdown passes from Khalil Tate, but that was all the Arizona Wildcats could muster in a 24-14 loss in Tempe to ASU last night.

Joiner, the former Tucson Cienega High School star, caught seven passes for 140 yards.

Arizona's season is over. The Wildcats finish the season with seven straight losses and a 4-8 record.