UA point guard Nic Wise, a 2nd team all-Pac-10 selection
The University of Arizona men's basketball team plays Thursday in a game that may determine the team's postseason fate.
The Wildcats enter the Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles as the No. 5 seed (19-12, 9-9 Pac-10) and opens play in the quarterfinal round against No. 4 seed Arizona State (22-8, 11-7 Pac-10).
Thursday's game is the 216th meeting between the two schools with Arizona holding a 138-77 series advantage.
The last time the two teams met on Feb. 22, Arizona fell behind early, dug itself out of a big hole, but didn't make enough plays late in the game to pull off a win. The final score was 70-68 in favor of Arizona State.
Arizona enters the tournament with four postseason Pac-10 honors. Chase Budinger (1st team), Jordan Hill (1st team) and Nic Wise (2nd team) were named all-conference players, while Kyle Fogg was an honorable mention all-freshman pick.
It marks the 26th consecutive season that UA has had at least one all-Pac-10 player and the 25th time it has had at least one first-team selection.
This is the 12th year of the Pac-10 Tournament and during that time, Arizona has been a No. 1 seed four times (1988, 89, 2003, 05). Additionally, no other Pac-10 team has played in as many conference tournament games as Arizona's 24.
Arizona's 17 wins and four championships (1988-90, 2002) in this event are league bests and since the event was reincarnated at the Staples Center in 2002, the Cats are 8-6 in tournament play.
A win sends Arizona into the Pac-10 tournament's Friday semifinal, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net.
A loss sends the Cats home to await word of its postseason fate.
TV: Fox Sports Net (Barry Tompkins/Dan Belluomini)
Arizona Athletics
Richard Paige
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