LOS ANGELES – For over 30 minutes, there was the kind of casual air in Staples Center that suggested some sort of undercard, or warmup event, was going on.
And it was, really: Wasn’t an Arizona-Wisconsin rematch in the Elite Eight all anyone really expected out of the NCAA West Regional?
But en route to Arizona’s closer-than-it-looked 68-60 win over Xavier on Thursday in the West semifinals — a game that did finally set that Wisconsin-Arizona showdown Saturday at 3:09 p.m. — there was also this: A pesky Musketeer zone defense that packed serious interior strength and threw off UA’s offense, first-half struggles from T.J. McConnell, some UA defensive breakdowns, and even an injury scare to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who sprained his left knee in the first half.
All that changed the mood radically in the final minutes. The thousands of UA fans among the 18,809 on hand stood up and yelled frantically in the final five minutes, suddenly aware that it could all be over before Saturday’s rematch even came around.
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But even while Xavier led by up to four points in the second half, with center Matt Stainbrook putting together a 17-point, 10-rebound effort that led the Musketeers, several Wildcats said they were never worried.
“We’ve been battle-tested,” forward Brandon Ashley said, which is precisely why UA assistant coach Book Richardson said he didn’t worry, even as UA fans might have been in those nerve-wracking final minutes with the UA leading 63-60.
“I just kept believing in our team,” Richardson said. “We’ve been through so many bumps in the road.”
True, but it had been mostly a smooth ride for Arizona over the past six weeks. Since losing at ASU on Feb. 7, the Wildcats (34-3) had not had as much trouble putting any team away except UCLA, which lost to UA 57-47 at McKale Center on Feb. 21 and 70-64 in the Pac-12 tournament.
But Gabe York, who added much-needed 3-for-8 three-point shooting to help solve the zone defense, said the UA’s resolve was built up far before that even.
“Obviously, the fans get a little tense, but for us, we’ve been going hard in practice like this since October,” York said. “We’re used to it.”
The win moved Arizona to 34-3 and gave the Wildcats a chance to earn their first Final Four berth since 2001 if they can beat Wisconsin in the NCAA West Region final game on Saturday. The Wildcats have lost four straight Elite Eight games, including a matchup with the Badgers last season in nearby Anaheim, California.
Stainbrook led Xavier (23-14) while McConnell paced the Wildcats with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists despite struggling early. McConnell also hit a key three-pointer with 4:18 left to give the Wildcats a 58-54 lead, not hesitating to take the shot even though he missed his five other three-pointers.
“It was open. I saw they were playing off me,” McConnell said, and he knew precisely why: “I was abysmal from three tonight. Glad it went in.”
But even though McConnell struggled in the first half, and had four turnovers to his five assists, he had help around him to make up for it. Most notably, center Kaleb Tarczewski added his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
“The reason we won was Kaleb’s double-double and his very good defense,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “He did what we asked him to do.”
It was a tough job inside. The Wildcats still were outscored 34-18 in the paint, and allowed the Musketeers to shoot 55.8 percent from two-point range.
And on the other side of the court, it was even tougher. The Musketeers went heavy on a 1-3-1 zone that was unconventional even by 1-3-1 standards: Instead of having a quick guard zip along the baseline to guard corner threes, Xavier used Stainbrook alone at the bottom, where he helped clog the middle.
That made it even tougher for UA to operate inside. But still, Tarczewski hit a pair of free throws to give UA a 63-57 lead with just under two minutes to play, and the Wildcats hung on from there even after Myles Davis hit a three-pointer to cut UA’s lead to just four points entering the final minute.
When Davis tried to drive in for a layup with 38 seconds, the Wildcats stopped him and effectively ended the game. McConnell hit a pair of free throws with 32.9 seconds left that put UA ahead 66-60, and Hollis-Jefferson hit two more with 19 seconds left for the final score.
Earlier in the second half, after missing all seven of its three-pointers in the first half, Xavier added long-range shooting to take small leads over Arizona shortly after halftime. They had threes from Remy Abell and Dee Davis early to go ahead by up to 42-38, though York made his own three to quickly cut that lead to 42-41.
Arizona wound up tied with Xavier 28-28 at halftime while shooting 37.5 percent and never showing their normal offensive rhythm. The Wildcats were also out-rebounded 19-18 by the Musketeers.
Playing a mix of man-to-man and zone defenses throughout the season — and allowing opponents to shoot 43.6 percent against it — the Musketeers started flashing mostly zone early against Arizona, which had struggled against Ohio State’s zone last Saturday in Portland.
The Wildcats had a momentary scare midway through the first half when Hollis-Jefferson appeared to twist his left knee backward as he fell. But Hollis-Jefferson walked off the court and to the locker room under his own power, then returned to the game just 2:13 later.
UA trainer Justin Kokoskie said tests quickly ruled out any further injury and he was sent back on the court. Kokoskie expects Hollis-Jefferson to be sore Friday but that he should be fine Saturday.
Then again, you get the feeling Hollis-Jefferson would play Saturday even if he doesn’t feel OK. He said before the season that he felt uneasy just being near Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker at a summer camp, the Wildcats’ Elite Eight loss to the Badgers still hurting him.
It still hurts many of the Wildcats today. And will until Saturday’s tipoff.
“Still does,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “Won’t be satisfied until we get past that one.”
