Arizona Sees Itself Playing For Title No. 2

Last year, it was about respect.

This year, it’s about history.

Let’s see, there was the Walton Gang of UCLA and the Grant Hill-Christian Laettner-led Duke Blue Devils of the early 1990s.

Since UCLA’s streak of seven national championships was ended by North Carolina State in 1974, only Duke, in 1991 and ‘92, has been able to defend a national title.

Simon says Arizona can do it. Bibby says it too.

The Arizona Wildcats enter tonight’s West Regional game against Nicholls State at Arco Arena with perhaps the most legitimate shot at defending a title since Jerry Tarkanian’s Runnin’ Rebels raced full-speed into the 1991 tournament before being derailed by Duke in the national semifinals.

Arizona returns all five starters and its top three bench players off the team that defeated three top-seeded teams en route to last year’s championship.

You want to pick against that?

The Wildcats did it with a freshman at guard, Mike Bibby, and largely without offensive contribution from their top scorer, forward Michael Dickerson, who had a miserable tournament.

Since Arizona cut down the nets in Indianapolis last spring, sophomore Bibby has developed into the nation’s top point guard - he was named a first-team All-American this week - while Dickerson sizzled down the stretch in the Pacific-10, scorching UCLA for 30 points in his last pre-NCAA tuneup.

Last year, getting out of the first round was an accomplishment for Arizona, Olson’s impressive resume in Tucson tainted by first-round NCAA upset losses in the 1990s to Santa Clara and Miami of Ohio.

After surviving early-round scares from South Alabama and College of Charleston, the Wildcats defeated Kansas, Providence, North Carolina and Kentucky to win the title.

This year, the first round is no longer a proving ground.

“I feel that anything less than getting to the Final Four could be considered a failure,” senior forward Bennett Davison said this week.

Arizona has reason to be cocky. The Wildcats seem perfectly cast for NCAA Tournament play. They have the best backcourt trio in the country in Bibby, Miles Simon and sixth man Jason Terry, complementing a tall, quick and athletic front court that gives plodding opponents fits - ask last year’s Kansas team about this.

“The pressure is not on us, I don’t think,” Bibby said. “We just have to go out, stay loose, have fun, and get our running game going. The pressure is going to be on the other teams to try and beat us.”

Jamison, Holdsclaw tops for TSN

North Carolina’s Antawn Jamison and Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw have been named men’s and women’s players of the year by The Sporting News.

North Carolina’s Bill Guthridge has been named men’s coach of the year by The Sporting News. Tennessee’s Pat Summit was voted TSN’s women’s coach of the year.

Knight forks over $10,000 to coach

Bob Knight paid $10,000 to coach one basketball game - and never thought twice about doing so.

“Unless I was broke,” he said, “which I’m not.”

Rather than give up his seat on the Indiana bench for today’s NCAA Tournament opener against Oklahoma, Knight opted to pay the Big Ten fine himself for haranguing a referee.

Referee Ted Valentine was censured by the Big Ten for improperly calling a technical during the Indiana-Illinois game. The Big Ten also placed restrictions on his conference assignments next season.