NCAA Tournament West Region Third Round
#4 Texas Longhorns vs #5 Arizona Wildcats
Bank of Oklahoma Center, Tulsa, OK
Sunday, March 11, 2011, 6:10 pm Eastern, TV: TNT
Opening Line: Texas -5 1/2
Current Line: Texas -6
Opening Total: 137
Current Total: 139
Money Line: Texas -255 / Arizona +215
Arizona and Texas meet in Tulsa for the right to go to Western Regional semifinals in Anaheim next week. The winner of this game will play the winner of Duke and Michigan in the Sweet 16. Texas earned the #4 seed in this region with a 27-8 record, but some people thought they deserved a higher seed. They finished a game behind Kansas in the Big 12 standings with a 13-3 record. Texas has struggled a bit down the stretch going 5-4 in their last 9. They beat Oakland 85-81 in the second round Friday. Oakland was a trendy upset pick, but Texas jumped out to a double digit lead early. They were up by 8 at halftime, and extended the lead to as many as 17 points. The Longhorns were up by 15 with less than five minutes to play before holding off a furious rally by the Golden Grizzlies to win by 4. Forward Tristan Thompson and Guard Jordan Hamilton both had doubles to led the Longhorns. Thompson had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Hamilton had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Arizona won the Pac 10 regular season title with a 28-7 record and 14-4 record in the conference. Arizona has won 4 of the last 5 games but did lose to Washington in overtime 77-75 in the Pac Ten Championship game. The Wildcats beat Memphis by the same 77-75 score in the second round Friday. Arizona hit one of two free throws late to take a 2 point lead. Memphis got a good shot off for the tie, but Pac-10 player of the year forward Derrick Williams blocked it to preserve the two point win. He also had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Arizona leads the overall series 8-2 against Texas. The two teams haven’t played since 2003, and have never played in the NCAA tournament against each other. Arizona was 5-6 against teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament this year. Texas is 8-5 against tournament teams.
Arizona has no significant injuries right now. Arizona sophomore forward Derrick Williams leads the Wildcats in almost every statistical category except assists. He is averaging 19.2 points a game, 8.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks a game. Though he doesn’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers he is shooting 61% from behind the arc. Guard Lamont Jones averages 9.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists a game. Guard Kyle Fogg is averaging 8.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists to lead the team and 0.8 steals a game. Forward Solomon Hill averages 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.9 steals a game. Arizona is outscoring opponents 77-68 this season. The Wildcats are shooting 47% from the field and 39.6% from 3-point range. Arizona opponents are shooting 44.5% from the field. The ‘Cats make 75% of their free throws. Arizona averages 34.4 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +3.7. Arizona averages 14 assists and 12.9 turnovers a game. They force 12.7 turnovers a game on defense. Arizona averages 2.6 blocks and 5.1 steals a game.
Texas guard Cory Joseph is probable after getting hit in the mouth against Oakland Friday. Texas is led by guard/forward Jordan Hamilton. Hamilton is averaging 18.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists a game. He is the leading scorer for the Longhorns and also is shooting 38.3% from 3-point range. Forward Tristan Thompson averages 13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 2.3 blocks a game. He leads the team in rebounding and blocks. Forward Gary Johnson averages 11.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists a game. Guard Cory Joseph averages 10.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3 assists to lead the team, and 1 steal a game to lead the team. Forward J’Covan Brown averages 10.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2 assists a game. Texas is outscoring opponents 75-62 on the season. They are shooting 45.5% from the field and 37.8% from 3-point range. Longhorn opponents are shooting 38.5% from the field. Texas makes only 65% of their free throws. Texas averages 40.5 rebounds and has a rebounding margin of +6.5. The Longhorns average 13.5 assists and 11.7 turnovers a game. Texas forces 12.8 turnovers a game on defense. Texas averages 5.1 blocks and 5.8 steals a game.
Texas has more balanced scoring than Arizona. Arizona depends on Williams for the vast majority of their scoring, while Texas has5 players scoring in double digit figures. Texas also is 5th in the country in rebounding, and Arizona is average at best at rebounding. Both teams like to run and this could be a high scoring game.
Our college basketball handicappers are red hot in this tournament. Don’t miss out on any more winners.
