COACH: Sean Miller, two years at Arizona, one year in NCAA tournament.
HOW THEY GOT IN: At-large bid.
GO-TO GUYS: Sophomore F Derrick Williams, the Pac-10 Player of the Year, has an amazing ability to draw fouls, shooting an average of 8.4 free throws in the regular season. He's clever and quick in the post and is a highlight-making dunker. Facing the basket, he effectively uses both hands with the dribble; if defenders back off, Williams will hit the 3-pointer. He's a matchup nightmare. Williams averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in the regular season, shooting 61.2 percent from the field and 60.4 percent from 3-point range (29 of 48). Arizona had six players average between 6.3 and 9.6 points. Sophomore PG MoMo Jones, who is more scorer than shooter, is fearless late in games. Junior G Kyle Fogg can heat up from behind the arc. Sophomore F Solomon Hill surged at the end of the regular season. Sophomore F Kevin Parrom is versatile and dynamic off the bench.
X FACTOR: Does Arizona have the point guard play to go far in the NCAAs? Jones made the transition this season to full-time point guard, and while his best ball came late in the year, he's not a classic distributor, averaging 2.5 assists in the regular season. In the half court, it's not as if the offense runs through him. Freshman backup Jordin Mayes has value as a shooter. Bad sign: Arizona had a game this season -- at USC on Feb. 24 -- when it had only two assists.
STRENGTHS: Arizona has a superstar player, but the team's hallmark is balance and depth, with Miller routinely using 10 players -- "interchangeable parts," he says. The key is getting four or five of those "others" to get hot and supplement the scoring and rebounding of Williams. This was the top shooting team in the Pac-10 in the regular season from all areas -- 47.3 percent from the field, 75.2 percent from the line and 39.7 percent from behind the arc. With all-the-time man defense, Arizona allowed teams to shoot only 28 percent from 3-point range.
WEAKNESSES: Arizona lacks size in the post, with Williams often having to try to check bigger players. At power forward, the Wildcats deploy Jesse Perry and Jamelle Horne, both 6-7. Arizona, which was chewed up in the Pac-10 by posts such as UCLA's Reeves Nelson, USC's Nikola Vucevic and Washington's Matthew Bryan-Amaning, does not want to see an opponent with quality and quantity up front. Can UA get useful minutes from backup big man Kyryl Natyazhko?
