Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Arizona overcomes slow start in win over Jackson State

SALT LAKE CITY-- National championships aren't won in the first round of the tournament, but sometimes the butterflies are just as great.

Arizona, the No. 1 seed in the West Region and the youngest team of the 64-team field, came out against Jackson State Thursday night timid and lethargic, but gradually got in gear as the game wore on.

"Yeah, I think it wasn't too good, but we won, and that's all that counts," freshman guard Jason Gardner said. "Hopefully, we'll have a better game next round."

Arizona will face Wisconsin (19-13) in the second round at approximately 4 p.m. Saturday at the John M. Huntsman Center following the 71-47 defeat of Jackson State. The eighth-seeded Badgers (19-13) defeated Fresno State, the No. 9 seed, 66-56.

"The thing we try to do is not make it larger than life," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "Probably the biggest problem is the time during the day where they watch those close games on TV. Regardless of what you try to do to get them ready, they're seeing the number of close games and feeling the pressure of the tournament."

Freshman guard Gilbert Arenas fell victim to those early nerves, recording two fouls in the first 4:20 of the game. "Usually when I get nervous, I start fouling a lot," Arenas said.

Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona center Loren Woods applauds his teammates as they near a 71-47 victory over Jackson State. Woods is not dressed because of an injury.

Arenas didn't get called for a foul the rest of the game and finished with 16 points and four rebounds.

"We just had to go through the first half, get the little jitterbugs out and just come out the second half like we usually do," Arenas said. "I was feeling it at the beginning." While Arizona didn't come out like its usual, confident self, Jackson State knew it couldn't afford to waste any time.

No No. 16 seed has ever beaten a No. 1 seed, so the Tigers had to make its 40 minutes count.

"They were doing anything they wanted to," Arenas said of Jackson State's start. "We were letting them."

After halftime, the chances of an upset were sent down the drain, as Arizona attacked Jackson State and took control.

"We knew we had to put it to them the first five minutes of the second half and establish ourselves," sophomore forward Michael Wright said. "Then we opened up the game."

Arizona shot 18-for-37 (48.6-percent) in the second half, compared to 8-for-26 (30.8-percent) in the first half.

The Wildcats also forced a poor-shooting Jackson State squad to take difficult shots. The Tigers shot 29.5-percent for the game.

"I thought the real difference in the game was they hit their shots, and we didn't," Jackson State head coach Andy Stoglin said.