Both teams felt it. It lingered in the air long before the game began.
It was evident for 40 minutes — from the opening tip to the final shot. Both coaches expressed it in their sideline display of emotion, eventually leading to a technical foul for both.
“I think all the guys were really emotional,” Arizona guard Chris Rodgers said. “This was an intense game.”
Intense doesn’t begin to describe it. Arizona head coach Lute Olson headed in Oregon head coach Ernie Kent’s way at one point.
“He was just trying to make a statement,” senior Luke Jackson said of Olson. “He’s just trying to show emotion. It just shows how bad both teams wanted this game.”
In the end, Arizona wanted it more. Emotion didn’t get the best of the No. 14 team in the country that scored 100 points for the second straight game.
“We wanted to win this game,” Arizona forward Hassan Adams said. “This game’s getting us ready for the tournament.”
Arizona (16-7 overall, 9-5 Pac-10) has won three straight as it finishes up its final road trip of the season. The Wildcats have struggled recently, at one point losing three of four in midseason.
But Adams is confident. Arizona has started to play its best basketball as the season winds down. He’s seen it in every one of his players.
“We’re playing good, I know that,” Adams said. “The last three games, we’re playing together and we’re getting better. Everyday in practice, everybody’s getting better and more focused. Sky’s the limit with us. We keep the intensity up, keep playing hard, we should be all right.”
It was a huge win for an Arizona team that has lost four games on the road against Pacific-10 Conference opponents. But at McArthur Court, Arizona didn’t play like a team that started two freshmen and two juniors.
Adams, a sophomore out of Los Angeles, scored 10 points above his average and doubled his rebounding average.
With Arizona’s final road game against Oregon State Saturday, the Wildcats are readying for the Pac-10 Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona has lost just twice at home this year, both to top 10 ranked teams. With its final three home games against the Washington schools and Arizona State, will the Wildcats win the rest of their regular season games?
“Most definitely, we’re going to try to,” Adams said. “We’re going to go out there and just play Arizona basketball — play aggressive, play tough, just go out there and try and get a win.”
Arizona should have little problem against Oregon State on the road. The Beavers have one of the worst records in the conference.
The Wildcats hold down the second position in the conference, behind Stanford, and are a for sure bet come end of March.
If the Wildcats manage to bring the same emotion and energy to the court as they did against the Ducks, they will be tough to stop.
“This was a very emotional game,” Arizona sophomore Andre Iguodala said. “The way things were being called, we just had to play through it.”
Senior Salim Stoudamire, a Portland native, was very satisfied with his performance after saying he’s never had a good game in his home state since being at Arizona.
“I was really feeding off the energy,” Stoudamire said.