Craig Degel

Thursday Preview

Miles Simon may need to call Ghostbusters in on this one.

You see, the last two weeks have all been about exercising some demons from his past.

Last week, at ARCO Arena, Simon and the rest of the Arizona men's basketball team won the first two games of the NCAA Tournament. It was at ARCO, in Sacramento, Calif., where Simon lost the state title game in his sophomore year of high school.

The victories, however, earned him a chance to exercise the ghosts at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, where his high school career ended in defeat -- again in a state title game.

Add to the fact that the Pond is five miles from the Santa Ana, Calif., native's home, and this should be a heck of a week for last's year's Final Four MVP.

Arizona and Maryland tip off in the Sweet 16 Thursday night, 30 minutes following the completion of the West Virginia-Utah game.

"I can't wait to go back, that place is like three minutes from my house," said Simon, who is always excited about playing in Los Angeles.

His last trip was a rollercoaster with the down of scoring just one field goal in a 91-90 loss to Southern Cal, to the high of scoring 20 points in a 91-87 come-from-behind win at UCLA -- his first win at Pauley Pavillion.

The Wildcats won the first to game of the tournament over Nicholls State and Illinois State by an average of 35 points. Maryland, however, should prove to be much stiffer -- and bigger competition.

"It's going to be a big challenge," Arizona center A.J. Bramlett said. "We can't be intimidated."

The Terrapins come with a big team and an impressive resume that included wins over Kansas and then-No. 1 North Carolina. Their front court is led by 6-foot-10, 260-pounder Obinna Ekezie. Forward Rodney Elliott is also having a big Tournament. He had 21 points against Utah State in the opening round. The Terrapins may be bigger, Bramlett said, but UA is quicker.

"You can't hit what you can't catch," Bramlett said.

With a win, the Wildcats would be one game from the Final Four in San Antonio.

All that would be standing in the way is the winner of the West Virginia-Utah tilt. Utah got into the Sweet 16 by virtue of some non-descript wins over San Fransisco and Arkansas.

West Virginia, however, is a different story.

While the Wildcats and Utes are each making their third-straight Sweet 16 appearance, the 10th-seeded Mountaineers haven't been here since 1963.

And there are here thanks to a miracle three-pointer by Jarrod West that eliminated No. 2-seed Cincinnati. Just to get to that game, the Mountaineers had to solve No. 7 Temple's matchup zone -- which they did nicely in a 30-point win.

Simon doesn't care who the Wildcats play if they win Thursday. He does know one thing. Somebody will probably pick Arizona to lose.

"Let's see, West Virginia beat Cincinnati and everybody was picking them to come out of the west so I guess that makes them the favorite," Simon said. "So I guess whoever wins the West Virginia-Utah game becomes the favorite."

No ones picking Arizona, which is fine by them. They know what they can do, if given the chance. And they are supremely confident.

At the post game press conference, Arizona head coach Lute Olson pointed out to Simon that a lost of western teams, like Utah, still remained in the Tournament. Also, do not forget that for the second-straight year, the Pacific 10 Conference has four teams in the Sweet 16.

Simon's reply?

"Not for long," he said.

With confidence like that, who needs the Ghostbusters?

Craig Degel is a journalism senior and covers men's basketball for the Arizona Daily Wildcat.

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