Sort of Homecoming for Arizona’s Williams as he prepares for Duke
Arizona’s Derrick Williams returns close to home in Anaheim where he played high school basketball, and will have plenty of fans to cheer on his Wildcats as they take on the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the West regional semifinals Thursday night.
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#5 Arizona (29-7, 14-4 Pac-10) vs. #1 Duke (32-4, 13-3 ACC)
Date/Time: Thursday, March 24, 9:45 PM EST
Venue: Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.
Broadcast: CBS
Money Line: Duke -900, Arizona +390
Spread: Duke -9
Over/Under: 145
The Wildcats remain the last Pac-10 team standing, thanks to Williams who is now 2-for-2 in game-saving plays in the tournament.
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The Pac-10 Player of the Year blocked a potential tying shot in the final seconds to seal Arizona’s 77-75 win over Memphis in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Friday, and then followed up with a three-point play with 9.6 seconds remaining to lift the Wildcats to a 70-69 win over Texas on Sunday.
The win advanced the ‘Cats to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009 and 13th time in school history. The win marks a triumphant return to the second weekend of play in the school’s first trip back to the tournament after last season’s absence ended its 25-year appearance streak.
Williams led the Wildcats with a team-high 17 points, including 14 in the second half. Eight three-pointers helped the Wildcats to the win as Jordin Mayes hit all four of his to lead the three-point assault. Solomon Hill and Mayes both added 16 points.
Meanwhile, head coach Mike Krzyzewski moved to within two wins of Bobby Knight for the most wins in Division I history when the Wolverines’ last shot banged off the iron, sealing a 73-71 win for the defending champs on Sunday. The win marked the 900th victory of Krzyzewski’s Hall of Fame career.
Nolan Smith scored 24 points while Kyle Singler added 13 for the Blue Devils who shot 51 percent, and are headed to the round of 16 for the 12th time in 14 years.
Kyrie Irving, in just his second game back from injury, didn’t make his first field until the final minute. Ryan Kelly finished with 11 points to help Duke outscore the Michigan bench 28-16.
As good as the win was for the Blue Devils, it has to raise a few questions as well, as the Wolverines were able hang around for much of the afternoon outscoring Duke 28-15 to finish the game.
In order to pull off the upset, Arizona must play solid defensively. Defense has been an issue for the Wildcats all season as they finished ranking 248th in the country in field goal percentage defense at 44.5 percent. Fortunately, the Wildcats have still managed to be very successful because they have shot the ball at a 47.0 percent clip this season – good for 29th in the nation.
The odds makers have the Duke Blue Devils as a -9 point favorite with an over/under of 145.
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Prediction: Close to home, I’d like to lean towards Arizona to fare well against a Duke team who has lost four times on the road. However, the Devils are just that much better and should be one win closer to defending their title.
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