# 2002–03 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Head coach Lute Olson led the team in his 20th season at Arizona. The team played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members of the Pacific-10 Conference.
The team earned the program's 10th Pacific-10 Conference championship with a record of 17–1 in conference play and 28–4 overall.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov. 23, 2002* | No. 1 | No. 19 Western Kentucky | W 107-68 | 1–0 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Nov. 27, 2002* | No. 1 | Northern Arizona | W 101-66 | 2–0 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec. 3, 2002* | No. 1 | Saint Louis | W 91-58 | 3–0 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec. 7, 2002* | No. 1 | at San Diego State | W 89-81 | 4-0 | Cox Arena San Diego, California |
| Dec. 15, 2002* | No. 1 | No. 8 Texas | W 73-70 | 5-0 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec. 21, 2002* | No. 1 | at LSU | L 65-66 | 5-1 | Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Dec. 28, 2002* | No. 4 | Davidson | W 95-69 | 6-1 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec. 30, 2002* | No. 4 | Boston University | W 85-71 | 7-1 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan. 2, 2003 | No. 4 | at No. 9 Oregon | W 81-72 | 8-1 (1-0) | McArthur Court Eugene, Oregon |
| Jan. 4, 2003 | No. 4 | at Oregon State | W 80-65 | 9-1 (2-0) | Gill Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon |
| Jan. 9, 2003 | No. 2 | Washington State | W 82-69 | 10-1 (3-0) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan. 11, 2003 | No. 2 | Washington | W 79-61 | 11-1 (4-0) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan. 16, 2003 | No. 2 | at Southern California | W 81-72 | 12-1 (5-0) | L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
| Jan. 18, 2003 | No. 2 | UCLA Rivalry | W 87-52 | 13-1 (6-0) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Jan. 22, 2003 | No. 1 | Arizona State Rivalry | W 71-63 | 14-1 (7-0) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan. 25, 2003* | No. 1 | at No. 6 Kansas | W 91-74 | 15-1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Jan. 30, 2003 | No. 1 | Stanford | L 77-82 | 15-2 (7-1) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb. 1, 2003 | No. 1 | No. 20 California | W 95-80 | 16-2 (8-1) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb. 6, 2003 | No. 2 | at Washington | W 88-85 $^{OT}$ | 17-2 (9-1) | Bank of America Arena Seattle, Washington |
| Feb. 8, 2003 | No. 2 | at Washington State | W 75-62 | 18-2 (10-1) | Beasley Coliseum Pullman, Washington |
| Feb. 13, 2003 | No. 1 | No. 19 UCLA Rivalry | W 106-70 | 19-2 (11-1) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb. 15, 2003 | No. 1 | Southern California | W 86-51 | 20–2 (12-1) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Feb. 22, 2003 | No. 1 | at Arizona State Rivalry | W 92-72 | 21-2 (13-1) | Wells Fargo Center Tempe, Arizona |
| Feb. 27, 2003 | No. 1 | at No. 23 California | W 88-75 | 22-2 (14-1) | Haas Pavilion Berkeley, California |
| Mar. 2, 2003 | No. 1 | at No. 19 Stanford | W 72-69 | 23-2 (15-1) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, California |
| Mar. 6, 2003 | No. 1 | Oregon State | W 72-60 | 24-2 (16-1) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Mar. 8, 2003 | No. 1 | Oregon | W 88-80 | 25-2 (17-1) | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Pacific-10 tournament ||||||
| Mar. 13, 2003* | (1) No. 1 | vs. (8) UCLA Quarterfinals | L 89-96 $^{OT}$ | 25–3 | Staples Center Los Angeles, California |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar. 20, 2003* | (1 W) No. 2 | vs. (16 W) Vermont First Round | W 80-51 | 26-3 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mar. 22, 2003* | (1 W) No. 2 | vs. (9 W) Gonzaga Second Round | W 96-95 $^{2OT}$ | 27–3 | Jon M. Hunstman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mar. 27, 2003* | (1 W) No. 2 | vs. (5 W) No. 22 Notre Dame Sweet Sixteen | W 88-71 | 28–3 | Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, California |
| Mar. 29, 2003* | (1 W) No. 2 | vs. (2 W) No. 6 Kansas Elite Eight | L 75-78 | 28-4 | Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, California |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||

### NCAA Division I tournament

* West
** Arizona (#1 seed) 80, Vermont 51
** Arizona 96, Gonzaga 95 (2OT)
** Arizona 88, Notre Dame 71
** Kansas 78, Arizona 75

## 2003 NCAA Tournament

Arizona was invited to the NCAA tournament for the 19th-straight season, receiving the top seed in the West Region. The team advanced to the Elite Eight by defeating (16-seed) Vermont, (9) Gonzaga, and (5) Notre Dame before falling 78-75 to (2) Kansas.

## Awards
### Jason Gardner

* Consensus NCAA All-America Second Team
* Pac-10 All-Conference Team

### Luke Walton

* Pac-10 All-Conference Team

### Hassan Adams

* Pac-10 All-Freshman Team

### Andre Iguodala

* Pac-10 All-Freshman Team

### Lute Olson

* Pac-10 Coach of the Year
* Induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (September 27, 2002)