OPINION: 'The deafening chants of the crowd sent out seismic shock waves for five minutes during player introductions, triggering Arizona players to go into a frenzy. The arena was lit up with glowing sticks to a point where I could…
As soon as the lights went out in McKale, I could hear the University of Arizona basketball gods whispering to each other that this game will go down in the annals of UA basketball lore.
McKale being a rather small arena, all the senses get amplified. I could hear my broadcast partner’s heart palpitating as each player was introduced. During our game preview, we had to set our headphones to max volume because the noise in the building was getting louder and louder with each passing minute.
I knew this game wasn’t going to be a cake walk for Arizona. Oregon was coming off a blowout loss at Arizona State and needed a quality win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. They also have a knack for playing well at McKale. Arizona came right back with an 11-1 scoring run, turning McKale back into a madhouse, thanks to the Wildcats’ vintage “run and gun” offense, topped off by an Azoulas Tubelis and-one conversion that sent the student section into hysteria. Those plays are always fun to call.
Right when it appeared Oregon might escape McKale with a victory, my favorite play of the night and a moment I will never forget happened: Kerr Kriisa hit a three-pointer from 30 feet to give Arizona a three-point lead with 1:25 left in the game, sending me into an out-of-body experience and blowing the roof off McKale.
After Arizona prevailed 84-81, my partner and I had so much adrenaline that we figured it would have been a crime if we conducted our postgame analysis sitting down.
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