The best Arizona Wildcats moments of 2017

Let’s look back at the top moments of the year

2017 has come to a close, but it wasn’t without several memorable moments for the Arizona Wildcats all throughout the athletic department.

Let’s take a look back at the best of the best. If there are any you think we missed, please let us know in the comment section!

Basketball

• Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high 30 points in a win vs. ASU.
• Allonzo Trier returned from a 19-game suspension and poured in 12 points in a thrilling victory over UCLA in Westwood. That might have been Kobi Simmons’ best game as a Wildcat, too. He put Bryce Alford on skates.
• Rawle Alkins got his driver’s license.
• Kadeem Allen shut down No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz.
• Arizona hosted College GameDay which was fun. The game it led up to was not fun, though, as the Wildcats couldn’t beat the Bruins.
• The Wildcats took down ASU in Tempe to win a share of the Pac-12 title (and sweep the season series).
• Sean Miller was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, and Lauri Markkanen made the All-Freshman Team.
• Arizona downed Colorado in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, took down UCLA in the semis, then knocked off Oregon to win the whole dang thing.
• Trier and Markkanen made the All-Tournament Team, while Trier was the MVP.
• The Savage Life movement became a thing.
• Arizona earned a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and routed North Dakota in the first round. setting up a Round of 32 matchup vs. Saint Mary’s.
• Rawle Alkins dislocated a finger and Arizona fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half, but came back to win by a nice score of 69-60 thanks in part to a second-half outburst by Allonzo Trier. Alkins and Trier then spurned the NBA to return for another year.
• Shareef O’Neal committed to Arizona.
• Arizona hired Lorenzo Romar after he was fired by Washington.
• Arizona landed Duke transfer Chase Jeter.
• Brandon Williams committed to Arizona.
• Lauri Markkanen and Kadeem Allen were selected in the NBA Draft.
• Arizona unveiled plans for a new Lute Olson statue.
• NCAA women’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer Kelsey Plum worked out at the UA for a week and left the UA men’s team in awe.
• The women’s team signed a top-five recruiting class.
• The Wildcats beat No. 7 Texas A&M in an intense game in Phoenix.
• Collin Sexton and Alabama came to town, but Arizona took them down.
• Arizona beat third-ranked ASU in an amazing matchup that lived up to the hype.
• Deandre Ayton exists (no link needed for this one).

Football

• Arizona signed its 2017 recruiting class, which turned out to be pretty dang good.
• Arizona got new uniforms!
• An indoor practice facility is finally on the way.
• Arizona brought back legendary defensive back Chuck Cecil.
• Brandon Dawkins accounted for six touchdowns in a road win at UTEP.
• Dawkins got injured a week later against Colorado, and we all know how that ended. Khalil Tate came in and broke the FBS single-game quarterback rushing record, scampering for 327 yards on just 14 carries as the Wildcats won 45-42 in Boulder. Here are all the highlights from that masterful performance.
• Tate’s excellence continued the following week when Arizona beat UCLA 47-30 for the first time in six tries. The sophomore quarterback was 9 for 13 for 148 yards and a touchdown through the air, and ran for 230 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries. Jace Whittaker had two interceptions in the game — one for a touchdown — and dedicated his performance to his dad who was in the hospital.
• Arizona won its third game in a row, taking down Cal in Berkeley in double overtime fashion. Tate and Colin Schooler, whose pass breakup sealed the game, were named Pac-12 Players of the Week.
• The winning streak reached four games as Tate and company rolled No. 15 Washington State 58-37, posting 585 yards against one of the conference’s best defenses.
• Arizona was now 6-2 and in the Top 25.
• Arizona broke the school rushing record in a 49-28 win over Oregon State, which clinched a spot in a bowl game.
• Khalil Tate was No. 3 in ESPN’s Heisman Watch at one point. Reminder: He’s only a sophomore.
• Tate also became the first player to be Pac-12 Player of the Week four consecutive weeks.
• Arizona signed high school recruits in December for the first time.

Softball

• Taylor McQuillin fanned 17 batters in a win vs. Cal State Northridge.
• Freshman catcher Dejah Mulipola had eight RBIs on her birthday in a double header against Boston College and North Dakota State. Head coach Mike Candrea later compared Mulipola to a four-time All-American.
• Michelle Floyd threw the ninth perfect game in Arizona history on March 11 against Hartford. It was the senior’s lone start of the season.
• UA ace Danielle O’Toole tossed her first career no-hitter. — against No. 6 Washington, no less.
• Arizona swept that series allowing Candrea to pick up his 1,500th career win.
• UA first baseman Jessie Harper destroyed a Pac-12 Network camera and a windshield.
• Arizona hit seven homers in a 20-1 win against Stanford.
• Candrea was inducted into the USA Softball Hall of Fame.
• On April 22, Katiyana Mauga launched her 88th career home run to break the UA’s all-time record.
• O’Toole, Mauga, Mo Mercado, Mandie Perez were selected in the NPF Draft.
• Harper broke out of a slump in a big way to lead Arizona to 4-3 win over ASU.
• After losing the second game of the series, Arizona run-ruled the Sun Devils on an emotional senior day to win the season series vs. ASU.
• The next weekend, Arizona won the series finale against UCLA to win its first Pac-12 title since 2007.
• Arizona had 10 players recognized for all-conference honors. Most notably, Danielle O’Toole was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, and Katiyana Mauga was named Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year. Plus, Mike Candrea was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
• Arizona destroyed its competition in Regionals, routing South Carolina 9-0 to advance to Super Regionals.
• Super Regionals had a heartbreaking finish, but Arizona did win Game 1 thanks to a walk-off single by Harper.
• Candrea had his contract extended through 2022.
• O’Toole tossed a one-hit shutout against Japan in the World Cup.
• Taryne Mowatt returned to be the program’s pitching coach. And then answered our questions about it.
• Arizona added two highly-touted transfers from Louisiana-Lafayette in All-American center fielder Aleah Craighton and Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Alyssa Denham, a right-handed pitcher. Those two additions have completely changed the outlook of the team heading into the 2018 campaign.

Baseball

• Terry Francona gave a $1 million gift to the program which went toward a new hitting facility.
• Before the season started, Arizona made a Major League spoof, which was produced by outfielder Sawyer Gieseke.
• Catcher Cesar Salazar had a walk-off hit by pitch as the Wildcats swept Eastern Kentucky to begin the season.
• Left-hander JC Cloney threw 7.2 scoreless innings to put UA’s record at 9-0 and his scoreless streak at 38 innings.
• Cal Stevenson belted a walk-off double against Oklahoma State to give UA its first 10-0 start since 1999.
• Arizona scored 25 runs against Hartford ... a day after scoring 21.
• UA swept USC to extend its home winning streak to 16 games.
• Arizona routed ASU 11-2 in a mid-week game.
• The Wildcats had a ridiculous comeback against Washington, scoring five runs in the ninth to complete a three-game game sweep.
• That series also featured a complete game by Cameron Ming, and a walk-off homer by Cal Stevenson — the first ever at Hi Corbett Field.
• Arizona had its first sweep of ASU since 1992.
• Arizona was a No. 2 seed in the Lubbock Regional where it was eliminated by Sam Houston State, but don’t let that distract you from the progress Jay Johnson has made with the program.
• Also, Arizona’s win over Delaware State in Lubbock was nuts. Arizona led 5-1, blew that lead, and then won after a two-hour rain delay thanks to a solo homer by Alfonso Rivas.
• Seven Wildcats were selected in the 2017 MLB Draft.
• Johnson is impressed by UA’s new Terry Francona Hitting Center which recently opened.
• Johnson had his contract extended through 2022.

Soccer

• Arizona soccer began its season with a bang, upsetting No. 16 Oklahoma in Norman to open the season. UA redshirt freshman Jill Aguilera scored her first career goal in her first game back from a torn ACL.
• Arizona struggled a little bit after that, but ended non-conference play with two crucial wins against Texas Tech and BYU. Both games ended with late-game heroics. Sophomore Samantha Falasco had the game-winner vs. Texas Tech, and freshman Amanda Porter had the game-winner vs. BYU
• The momentum carried over into conference play and Arizona had so many corner kicks in a 3-1 win in their Pac-12 opener against Oregon that they broke the Mulcahy Stadium scoreboard. That victory was probably the most important of the season as it came just before the Wildcats played the four California schools in succession.
• While Arizona lost to No. 2 Stanford in Palo Alto, they held the nation’s best offense to just one goal. The Cardinal wound up winning the national title.
• The Wildcats picked up their most notable win of the regular season on Oct. 1, taking down No. 11 Cal in Berkeley, thanks to a wild goal by UA freshman Jada Talley.
• The next weekend, Arizona erased a 2-0 deficit in a 2-2 draw vs. No. 1 UCLA. It was the first time the Wildcats had ever tied the Bruins.
• Arizona scored two second-half goals to take down Washington, then beat Washington State on senior day thanks to the heroics of ... two seniors.
• Arizona finished the regular season with a 2-1 win over ASU to pick up its seventh conference win for the first time in program history. The Wildcats finished the regular season unbeaten in their final seven games.
• A few days later, Arizona was selected to host TCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That was just the second time in program history that the Wildcats hosted.
• Arizona won that game in come-from-behind fashion, scoring twice in the final 16 minutes to advance to the second round.
• Arizona would lose to Florida State in the next round, ending an “unforgettable” season for the Wildcats. Arizona’s senior class was the first to make the NCAA Tournament three times, helped produce four of the program's six NCAA wins, and exited with the most wins in program history (45).
• Arizona was the only non-California school to have multiple players in Top Drawer Soccer’s Pac-12 Top 20.
• The men’s soccer club team won a national championship.

Other highlights

• It was a rough year for volleyball from a record standpoint, but they did have some big wins, including a sweep of No. 15 USC, an upset of No 16. Oregon (despite trailing 2-0 at one point), and a season sweep of ASU.
• Arizona hired Dave Heeke as its new athletic director on Feb. 25, replacing Greg Byrne who departed for Alabama. Heeke officially started in early April.
• Augie Busch, son of former UA legend Frank Busch, was hired as the new swimming and diving coach, and the program had a good 2017.
• Gymnastics coach Tabitha Yim left for Stanford, allowing long-time assistant John Court to take over the program.
• The Arizona rugby team won its first ever PAC 7s championship by taking down Cal which was the reigning national champion.

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