I’m the opposite of a homer: I usually assume that my teams will fail when faced with a real challenge. So, naturally, when Arizona was set to take on fourth-seeded Texas, I was nervous. Like, Britney-Spears-about-to-take-a-driving-test nervous. I had all but accepted that the Wildcats’ season had reached its expiration date.
I have never been happier to be wrong. For the record: Before now, I have never been wrong.
Arizona looked completely different from the team that squeaked by Memphis on Friday. The Wildcats were uncharacteristically disciplined on defense and made very few mistakes, especially in the first half. Sean Miller told the media before the game that he was most worried about defensive rebounding—giving Texas second-chance opportunities on offense would surely give away the game. But no, the ‘Cats crashed the defensive glass harder than Britney Spears in that driving test, tallying 21 defensive boards on the night.
Arizona started the second half with an 11-point lead, but between Jordan Hamilton finally making an appearance and J’Covan Brown making every free throw in the world (13 of 13), the Longhorns chipped away at the lead until the three-minute mark when they tied it up at 65. The score remained painfully close from then on. Instead of giving you the play-by-play of the last 15 seconds, watch the turning point here.
AAHHHHHHHHHH.
A special kudos goes to freshman Jordin Mayes: When MoMo Jones decided to take the night off (two assists, zero points), Mayes drained all four of his three-point attempts and put up 16 points total. Jordin, thank you for being you.
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Up next: Arizona faces top-seeded Duke Thursday night in Anaheim. As the “top-seeded” label may suggest, they’re kind of good. Also, Mike Krzyzewski made a deal with Satan in the late ‘80’s, so that could be a hindrance. Stay tuned.