West: Leading With Defense
Arizona was locked in a difficult game against Colorado on Friday night in Las Vegas when the Buffaloes' Xavier Johnson swooped down the lane for a one-handed dunk. But a not-so-strange thing happened on the way to a momentum swing.
High above the rim, the Arizona freshman Aaron Gordon jammed the jam with a hand of his own. It was one of the 17 shots that Colorado missed in the second half of Arizona's runaway 63-43 victory. The Buffaloes made just five.
Arizona (30-4, 15-3 Pacific-12), seeded first in the West, will take big-name talent to the N.C.A.A. tournament. Gordon is expected to jump to the N.B.A. next season. Guard Nick Johnson was the Pac-12 player of the year, and his two alley-oop dunks, one a reverse, were highlights against Colorado.
But if Arizona reaches its first Final Four since 2001, and wins its first national title since 1997, it will be on the strength of its man-to-man defense.
The Wildcats led the nation in defensive efficiency, allowing 87.3 points per 100 possessions during the regular season. That worked out to 58.7 points a game, the sixth-best mark in the country.
Talk about old-school defense; it is the fewest points allowed by Arizona since 1950-51.
In the Pac-12 tournament, Arizona began by holding Utah, the best-shooting team in the conference, to 39 points and a 25.5 percent field-goal percentage. Colorado fared little better.
It is a point of pride for the Wildcats. Johnson, at 6 feet 3 inches, usually guards the top perimeter scorer on the other team, regardless of height. Utah's Delon Wright arrived Thursday averaging more than 16 points, but he scored none against Johnson. Wright finished with 5 points, all after Johnson sat down during the blowout victory.
'It's about shutting the man down and making his life miserable,' Johnson said.
Defense can be hard to appreciate, especially on a team with the kind of flash that Arizona possesses.
'There are no tricks to this,' Arizona Coach Sean Miller said. 'It's get back in transition. It's defend the ball. It's having a system to defend screens. Same thing with the low post.'
Arizona never wavers from its man-to-man principles - win or lose, maybe all the way to a national championship.
'That's our philosophy,' Miller said, 'and we have these guys doing it right now, for sure.'
COWBOYS HAVE OVERLOOKED LEADER Marcus Smart receives most of the attention, but Oklahoma State forward Le'Bryan Nash might be just as valuable to the Cowboys. A McDonald's all-American coming out of high school in Dallas, Nash was thought to be a one-and-done player. Now a junior, he has given Oklahoma State leadership - as well as 14.2 points a game and 52 percent shooting, the second-highest percentage in the Big 12.
BIG BHULLAR Meet Sim Bhullar, the 7-foot-5, 355-pound center for New Mexico State. Bhullar scored in double figures in six of his last seven games and finished fifth in the nation with 3.56 blocks a game. Next season could be even more daunting for opponents: Bhullar's 7-foot-3 younger brother, Tanveer, will be ready to join him after redshirting this season.
UPSET SPECIAL Nebraska could be dangerous for Baylor. Coach Tim Miles has infused his team with energy, and the guards can shoot. A win over the Bears would set up an all-Nebraska second-round matchup with Creighton.
KEY FIGURE: 3,105 Points scored by Creighton's Doug McDermott in his career. It's the fifth-most in N.C.A.A. history.
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