SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Loren Woods and the Arizona Wildcats went out
of their way to stop Mississippi's Rahim Lockhart.
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Fri, March 23
Keep the cry coming out in the West: West Coast basketball is as good as any
hoops in the country. Arizona marched on Friday night with solid defense and
excellent interior play. Richard Jefferson – who has developed into a solid
defensive player for the Wildcats – had his offensive game going too as he
scored 15 with 11 rebounds. Center Loren Woods (7-foot-1) had a big game with
16 points and 11 rebounds, and was a major factor inside. Woods' ability to
change shots and dominate in a three-second area created problems for Ole
Miss star Rahim Lockhart. Ole Miss never got going on the interior.
Arizona came out with the impressive victory despite a poor shooting night
from their perimeter guys – Jason Garder and Gilbert Arenas. Arizona and Lute
Olsen prove again that with solid defense, great team play and interior
domination is the formula for getting to the winner's circle.
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Woods, towering over Lockhart at 7-foot-1, helped contain
Mississippi's wide-body center and send the second-seeded Wildcats
to a 66-56 victory Friday night in the Midwest semifinals.
"It was a huge part of our game plan to double-team Lockhart,"
said Woods, who had 16 points and three blocks to 11 points and one
block for Lockhart.
"We definitely wanted to try to get the ball out of his hands
as much as possible, or if he did take a shot make sure there were
a lot of guys around him."
Arizona (26-7) will play top-seeded Illinois on Sunday. The
Illini beat Kansas 80-64 in the second semifinal.
Arizona survived a 16-0 first-half punch to trail by only
one point at the half, then took the lead for good early in the
second half.
Despite a year of sorrow and tumult that included player
suspensions and the death of Bobbi Olson, wife of coach Lute Olson,
the Wildcats are headed for their first regional final since 1997.
Since their coach returned following the loss of his wife, they
have been as hot as any team in the country, going 16-2 and winning
their first three tournament games by a total of 56 points.
The Wildcats also will be joined in the final eight by two other
members of the Pac-10, Stanford in the West and Southern California
in the East.
Lockhart, who had 24 points against Notre Dame last week as the
Rebels (27-8) won their first second-round game ever, was
constantly harassed down low and just 1-of-5 in the first half.
|  | | Mississippi's Rahim Lockhart tries to weave through Arizona's Eugene Edgerson, middle, and Loren Woods, top. |
"They came out with a great game plan to double-team me," he
said. "In the first half, I was very tentative and I let them
attack me. In the second half, I started to attack. But they have a
really good defense."
Richard Jefferson had 15 points for the Wildcats, who went
ice-cold early in the first half when the third-seeded Rebels went
on a 16-0 spree, taking an 18-6 lead on Jason Holmes' 3-pointer
with 10:11 to go.
The Wildcats had four turnovers in a dry spell of 7:11 that did
not end until Richard Jefferson banked in a 4-footer with 9:50 to
go, cutting the lead to 18-8.
But then the Rebels went cold and scored only six points in the
final 10:11 while Arizona staged runs of 7-0 and 8-0 and trailed at
halftime by only one point despite going 0-for-6 from 3-point
range.
"I thought we had an opportunity to go up by 20," Ole Miss
coach Rod Barnes said. "They missed some shots and then we missed
some shots. They're a sound defensive team and they sustained their
defensive intensity."
The Wildcats, after making only five of their first 21 shots,
hit 19 of their final 36 against the rugged Ole Miss defense, which
held them to their second-lowest total of the season.
"Their reputation preceded it," said Woods. "It was probably
the best defense I've ever seen."
The Wildcats had just three assists in the game and were 0-of-8
behind the 3-point line.
Justin Reed had 16 points for Mississippi, which won the SEC
West despite being picked to finish last.
The Wildcats got their lead up to 11 points when Woods dropped
in a pair of free throws to make it 48-37 with 8:59 to go. Aaron
Harper's bucket cut the lead to 56-52 with 4:03 left, then Woods,
when Lockhart picked up his fourth foul, hit a pair of free throws
at the 3:48 mark for a 58-52 lead.
Arizona will play the winner of the Kansas-Illinois game in the
regional finals on Sunday.
The Wildcats took a 31-26 lead early in the second half with
three quick, impressive buckets. Woods put down a monster slam off
an alley-oop pass and then Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson
snatched away Ole Miss passes on consecutive possessions and went
coast-to-coast for uncontested layups.
But instead of fading in the face of the 12-point favorites, the
Rebels stopped the surge with a softly banked 10-footer by Justin
Reed and a pair of free throws by David Sanders.
"There is no doubt in my mind that we earned respect," said
Sanders. "Making it to the Sweet 16 was a great experience for
everyone in this room."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Mississippi Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
Katz: Woods willing to play winning role
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Loren Woods and Arizona knew what to do in the 2nd half against Mississippi.(Courtesy: NCAA Productions)
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes says his team let the tempo get too fast.(Courtesy: NCAA Productions)
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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