TULSA, Okla. — Take the best and the worst of the last two games Arizona played against Washington, and you have Friday’s 77-75 victory over the Memphis Tigers.
Arizona nearly squandered a five-point lead with less than a minute to play, but Derrick Williams blocked a shot that could have tied the game with 0.4 seconds left to give his Wildcats the ticket to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. They will face the Texas Longhorns, who beat Oakland earlier in the day, on Sunday.
Arizona began the second half by drawing four quick fouls in the first 1:35, giving two of the Tigers four fouls each and pushing the lead to 48-40. But back-to-back 3-pointers by Memphis evaporated the lead and brought the Tigers within two points.
Just before the first media timeout, Memphis big man Will Coleman tied the game at 48 points apiece with a running hook.
UA guard Kyle Fogg and forward Kevin Parrom picked up four fouls each by the 13-minute mark, and Arizona went with an unconventional lineup of point guards Jordin Mayes and Momo Jones in the backcourt.
Down 53-48 after a Coleman alley-oop dunk, the Wildcats scored off a Solomon Hill jump hook and a Horne 3-pointer, which came after UA had only hit 2-for-12 from beyond the arc to that point.
But with a 58-57 UA lead, Memphis went on a 6-0 run consisting of two dunks and a lay-up. The Tigers also slipped into a zone defense to force the Wildcats to shoot 3-pointers. Arizona ended the day with a lowly 26.3 percent, 5-for-19 shooting, from 3-point land.
Parrom tied the game at 65 with less than six minutes to play, but the forward fouled out on a steal attempt with 4:47 to go.
Williams, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, drilled a 3-pointer with less than four minutes to play for a 68-65 lead.
Jones hit his own 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the game to give Arizona a 71-68 lead. Mayes, who was subbed in offensively for Fogg, hit two clutch free throws on a drive to put Arizona’s advantage at five points with the clock running down.
But Memphis’ Will Barton hit a floater with 38.8 seconds left. Horne hit two free throws with 23.7 seconds on the clock to put Arizona’s lead at 75-70. A made shot and a turnover by Hill on the inbounds pass brought Memphis within one point.
Jones, who had 18 points, hit two free throws on a foul to give UA 77 points before Williams blocked a shot attempt off a Memphis offensive rebound following a missed free throw.
After a rough start that saw it Arizona behind by as many as 10 points, the Wildcats led Memphis 41-38 at halftime.
Derrick Williams led UA with 12 points and six rebounds while point guard Momo Jones chipped in 10 points at the half.
After UA’s Solomon Hill scored the first point on a free throw, Memphis went on a 10-0 run in a matter of minutes. The Wildcats responded to go on a 7-1 run to bring the score to 11-8 under the 15-minute mark.
Extending the lead back to nine at 17-8, Mayes drilled a 3-pointer on the right wing. But the Tigers kept forcing turnovers and the tempo, exactly what Miller feared in his pregame media sessions.
Despite eight first half turnovers, Arizona weathered a storm and its defense began to clamp down as the half grew older. Memphis also had eight give-aways at halftime.
A 3-pointer by UA forward Kevin Parrom brought the Memphis lead down to 26-23 with just more than six minutes remaining. His pass to Fogg a minute later gave the guard a lay-up in the paint, and on the next possession Williams scored on an offensive rebound with less than five minutes to play in the first half for Arizona’s first lead.
Fogg went to the foul line after an intentional foul was called on Memphis’ Tarik Black, and his two free throws game Arizona a 33-30 lead with 3:20 before halftime.
Parrom was called for an intentional foul after jockeying for position on the offensive end with 2:17 to go in the first. A Wesley Witherspoon 3-pointer reclaimed the brief lead for Memphis.
Check back later this evening for in-depth analysis and coverage from Tulsa, Okla.