Young people, do you also find it odd to see No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 12 Memphis listed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket? In the halcyon days of yesteryear, this could have been an NCAA Tournament Final, what with Penny Hardaway throwing up the alley-oops to Joey Dorsey and Miles Simon dishing the rock to Loren Woods. This game could have been somethi ... wait, what do you mean this is one of the best games of the Second Round? Arizona and Memphis both have athletic teams that could make deep Cinderella runs? There's a player in this game that might be the first pick in the 2011 NBA Draft? I should stop whining and tell you that you can find it on the 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule at 2:45 p.m. Friday on CBS? Fine.
NCAA Bracket Preview, Predictions: No. 5 Arizona Vs. No. 12 Memphis
Arizona's resurgence this year is one of the pleasant surprises of the college basketball landscape. The Wildcats were within an Isaiah Thomas stepback of winning both the Pac-10 regular season crown and the Pac-10 Tournament; as is, the 'Cats have re-established themselves as national contenders thanks to Derrick Williams. Williams is what makes Arizona go, but he's got a couple of nice sidekicks in Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom. And Arizona's greatest asset is its athleticism, which is sort of how building a team full of tweeners is supposed to work.
Memphis coach Josh Pastner used to coach at Arizona — you may hear that a few times this week — but would probably like nothing more than to announce he has Memphis on the right track with an upset in this game. Will Barton, Joe Jackson, Tarik Black, and Chris Crawford are all freshman with bright futures, but their youth often leads to poor shot selection and sloppiness. Only Wesley Witherspoon remains from Memphis' 2009 NCAA Tournament final appearance.
Star Watch: It’s hard to get a feel for how good Williams is without watching him, but his numbers are numbing. He’s shooting 61.8% on his two-pointers, 60.3% on his threes, and drawing nearly eight fouls per 40 minutes. It’s no wonder he ranks in the top four nationally in effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage, and frightening to consider that he adds over eight rebounds a game to his 19.1 points per contest. And if that’s frightening, it’s downright bone-chilling to learn that he doesn’t turn 20 until May.
Prediction: Williams explodes for something like 25 and 10 on the national stage and helps steady an Arizona team that tries to implode along with Memphis in a 75-65 win.
More Reading: SB Nation’s Arizona Desert Swarm has everything you could want on Derrick Williams and Arizona. For more on the Tigers, check SB Nation’s Memphis team preview. Learn more about the Musketeers in our Princeton team preview for more on the Tigers.
Need help picking your bracket? Check out SB Nation’s full 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions, picking every game of March Madness, or our region by region breakdowns for the East Region, West Region, Southeast Region, and Southwest Region.
Did your team miss the 2011 NCAA Tournament? We have you covered: check out the 2011 NIT bracket.
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