Duke-Arizona Preview: Can the Wildcats Take Down the Blue Devils?
Duke and Arizona haven’t met one another in the NCAA tournament in a long time, but history is tilted toward the Blue Devils.
Duke has won both games these two have played during March Madness.
The last time that they met was in the 2001 national final, where Duke rolled Arizona 82-71.
Since then, little has changed for Coach K's program. The Blue Devils have remained dominant throughout the first decade of the 21st century, book-ending championships in 2001 and 2010.
However, much has changed for Arizona. Lute Olson, the Wildcats' legendary coach, withdrew (and retired) over an ungraceful period that saw the program drop out of the top tier of college basketball.
Last year, under new coach Sean Miller, the Wildcats failed to make it into the NCAA tournament for the first time in over a quarter of a century.
But Miller has things turned in the right direction and is moving forward...quickly.
Arizona (29-7, 14-4 Pac-10), having won the Pac-10 regular-season title and their first two tournament games in dramatic fashion, enters this Sweet 16 matchup with Duke (32-4, 13-3 ACC) ready to show that they belong here.
Let's take a quick look at how these two teams match up and how this West Regional semifinal game will go.
Backcourt Matchups
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Duke: The Blue Devils may very well have the best backcourt in the 2011 NCAA tournament.
Even before the return of freshman phenom Kyrie Irving, Duke's combination of ACC Player of the Year Nolan Smith (21 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.2 apg) and Seth Curry (9.2 ppg) presented an extreme difficulty for nearly everyone in the country.
Now, you add Irving (16.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.4 apg) back into the mix, and you have a backcourt trio unlike any other current college team.
All three can score and distribute. All three can shoot the three and play some pretty intense defense.
Arizona: The Wildcats bring energy, intensity and depth at you from their backcourt.
MoMo Jones (9.5 ppg, 2.4 apg) and Kyle Fogg (8.1 ppg, 2.7 apg) will not back down from anybody, including their Thursday night opponents.
Kevin Parrom (7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg) is a tough, physical competitor that can use his size (6'6", 205 lbs.) to his advantage.
Freshman combo guard Jordan Mayes (5.1 ppg) may be the team's best shooter. He drilled Texas, shooting 6-for-7 from the floor, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Advantage: Duke
Frontcourt Matchups
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Duke: The Blue Devils frontcourt, while very talented, has been the source of much discussion throughout the season.
Kyle Singler (16.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg) has, at times, played like he did when he won last year's Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
At other times, Singler has relied too much on his jump shot and lacked consistency. Many people expected him to do better than shoot under 32 percent from beyond the arc as a senior.
Mason Plumlee (7.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg), Ryan Kelly (6.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and Miles Plumlee (4.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg) provide adequate interior defense and rebounding, but have been less than intimidating as a unit.
Arizona: Derrick Williams, the Wildcats' sophomore power forward, is one of the best frontcourt players in the country.
Williams (19.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg) is a master at taking his man off the dribble, getting into the lane and going to the line. He also does not hesitate to step out and hit the three (58.1 percent).
Solomon Hill (8.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg) continues to impress in the tournament, putting up 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds against Texas. Jesse Perry (6.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg) can guard all three frontcourt positions.
Off the bench, Jamelle Horne (6.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg) brings offensive spark and Kyryl Natyazhko (6'11", 265 lbs) patrols the middle.
Advantage: Arizona
Coaches
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Duke: With the Blue Devils' win this past Sunday against Michigan, Mike Kryzewski now has won 900 college basketball games.
Coach K is only two wins away from matching Bob Knight for the most wins in Division I history.
He has led the Blue Devils to four NCAA championships, 11 Final Fours (tied for second most in college basketball history), 12 ACC regular-season titles and 13 ACC championships over 30 seasons at Duke.
Arizona: When Sean Miller was graduating high school in 1987, Coach K already had amassed 219 collegiate wins and had been to the NCAA tournament four times, including one trip to the championship game.
With that said, Miller has been greatly successful in his first seven years of coaching, with a 165-69 record and five trips to the NCAA tournament.
Advantage: Duke
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Prediction
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The Wildcats will have to play even better than they did this past Sunday night (when they beat Texas) if they are going to compete in this one.
Derrick Williams cannot afford to have a first half (three points and two fouls) like he did against the Longhorns.
As Williams goes, so go the Cats.
Duke needs to stay aggressive and not settle for shooting one three-pointer after another. Even though they can usually hit shots from beyond the arc, they can rely too much on the three.
In their four losses this season, the Blue Devils shot the following from three-point range:
- Florida State: 11-for-35 (31.4 percent)
- St. John's: 5-for-26 (19.2 percent)
- Virginia Tech: 4-for-20 (20 percent)
- North Carolina: 6-for-27 (22.2 percent)
Obviously, when teams do a good job of shutting Duke down from downtown, anything can happen.
Even though Vegas has Duke as an 8.5-point favorite, the game will be closer than that.
Prediction: Duke by three
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