By
Ryan Finley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
NBA's Kerr excited for predicted UA-Duke Championship Game
SAN ANTONIO - Don't be surprised if former Wildcat and current San Antonio Spurs guard Steve Kerr shows up to practice this week in Arizona gear.
The former UA sharpshooter said Arizona's run to the Final Four has given him something to talk about at practice, especially when facing off against forward Danny Ferry, a Duke graduate and Spurs teammate.
The Blue Devils will take on Maryland Saturday, while the Wildcats will face Michigan State. The winners will meet each other in the NCAA Tournament National Championship game Monday.
"We're talking major trash tomorrow," Kerr said shortly after Sunday's win against Illinois at the Alamodome. "Ferry is the only one left in the tournament."
Kerr, one of just two Wildcats to have his number retired - his teammate, forward Sean Elliott, is the other - even predicted an Arizona-Duke final.
"I'm hoping to really stick it to Ferry Monday night," he said. "But that's a few games away."
It took two of Arizona's reserves, Justin Wessel and Eugene Edgerson, to help wear down Illinois en route to Sunday's 87-81 victory against the Fighting Illini at the Alamodome.
Both senior forwards combined for seven points and six rebounds in a combined 31 minutes of play.
The amount of playing time came as a surprise to Edgerson, who had averaged 12.5 minutes per game in the Wildcats' three previous NCAA Tournament wins.
"I was very surprised that I played 18 minutes or so," he said. "My job was to go out there and do a good job defensively. I got the job done."
Wessel, who didn't play in any of UA's three previous victories while suffering from strep throat, said his play - and that of Edgerson - was a testament to the depth of the team.
"We're a physical team, we're a physical program," he said. "We proved that we can play a big, tough team (against Illinois)."
If there's a team that knows the Wildcats' tendencies, it's Illinois.
Yet, it appears that the Illini coaching staff didn't do its homework on UA senior center Loren Woods.
Having already faced him once this season (Woods was suspended for the Maui Invitational), the Illini should have known not to foul Woods.
In the Illini's 78-71 defeat of Arizona in December, the 7-foot-1 team captain hit 9-of-10 free throws. But UI stuck with the same game plan, sending Woods to the line 13 times Sunday.
Woods, who was named to the All Midwestern Regional team shortly following Sunday's game, hit 12-of-13 from the charity stripe. He finished the weekend 20-for-21 from the free throw line.
"We work on free throws all the time," he said. "Many times, the game comes down to free throws in the last few minutes. We were able to make most of ours."
Spurned by critics at different points in the season, Woods earned rave reviews from Illinois following the Elite Eight game.
"He made the plays he needed to make coming down the stretch," senior forward Robert Archibald said. "He used his length to get some balls that we knew we needed to come up with."
UI head coach Bill Self said that designing a blueprint to stop Woods caused him headaches Sunday.
"We were in man-to-man (defense) and made a mental mistake," Self said about his team's inability to cover Woods in the press. "We didn't play very sound defense."
Garbage Time Points:
Wilbur the Wildcat, Arizona's mascot, was the only non-player or coach to cut the nets down following Sunday's game ... One of Arizona's most explosive plays of the season took place just following tip-off.
Junior forward Richard Jefferson elevated over two Illinois players for a tomahawk dunk, only to miss it off the back of the rim ... The last time UA advanced to the Final Four was 1997, when they knocked off Kansas before defeating North Carolina and Kentucky to win the NCAA Title ... Kerr and Elliott ambushed Olson at his post-game press conference Sunday, telling him to stop rambling about the game. "Talk in small sound bites, coach," Elliott said. Olson responded by letting the media know that, "after all these years, Sean's still telling me what to do." Elliott is UA's all-time leading scorer ... Illinois junior Lucas Johnson said Arizona is going to have trouble with Michigan State Saturday. "No one is Michigan State on the boards," he said. "They're going to have their hands full." UI defeated MSU on Feb. 6, 77-66 ...
