UA cruises past Nicholls State

Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat UA sophomore guard Mike Bibby (10) battles for a loose ball with Nicholls State guard Russell McCutcheon yesterday in the first half of their NCAA West Regional game at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

Then, the game started.

After that, the only thing running was Arizona's score as the Wildcats streaked to a 99-60 victory in front of 15,284 at Arco Arena.

"We got good pressure on them and played hard," UA point guard Mike Bibby said. "We got a good lead, then finished them off."

The 39-point win was the third largest margin of victory in the history of the West Region. In fact, of the five biggest victory margins, Arizona owns three of them.

It was a total team effort as all five Arizona starters went for double figures. Senior guard Miles Simon - last year's Final Four MVP - led all scorers with 24 points. Bibby, his backcourt mate, added 19. Forwards Michael Dickerson and Bennett Davison tallied 17 and 12 points respectively. Center A.J. Bramlett had 16.

"We needed to come out and play the way we needed to play," Bramlett said.

And that way is with tenacious defense and explosive scoring. It's something the Wildcats have been missing consistently for weeks. Despite all of Arizona's near-misses over the last four weeks, some were wondering if the Wildcats (28-4) were upset that they didn't get a more competitive game out of the 16th-seeded Colonels.

"No, I'm not disappointed at all," Simon said. "We've had enough close games."

The Wildcats forced the Colonels (19-10) into 25 turnovers and held them to just five second-chance shots in the first half.

"The key was that we made it difficult for them to get anything," UA head coach Lute Olson said.

Simon, Davison and Jason Terry each had four steals and the Wildcats grabbed 35 defensive rebounds.

The Colonels stayed close for all of about two minutes and 10 seconds. At that point, they were down 8-7. Then, the wheels fell off. Over the course of the next 5:54, Arizona put on a 21-5 run that at one point included eight unanswered points from Simon.

"We didn't force anything tonight," Simon said.

UA did have a season-high 83 shots and four starters - Davison being the exception at 5 for 12 - hit over 50 percent.

Terry, on the other hand, had a miserable night shooting. He missed all nine shot attempts. But on a night when Simon, Dickerson and Bibby combined to score as many points (60) as the opposing team, it didn't matter much.

Perhaps the most telling statistic of the ball game was this: Nicholls State managed back-to-back baskets just twice. Simon and Dickerson each did it twice and Bibby and Eugene Edgerson, who finished with eight points and five rebounds, each did it once.

Nicholls State shot just 37 percent for the game. They were led by Russell McCutcheon's 21 points.

"Arizona's got a great basketball team, no question about it," Nicholls State coach Rickey Broussard said. "There's no tape that you can watch that gives them justice."

With the win, the Wildcats advance to play No. 9 seed Illinois State, an 82-81 winner over Tennessee here last night.

The Redbirds, who bring a much more athletic game, may still be riding the emotion of yesterday's overtime, last-second win when they meet UA.

The Wildcats, however, insist last night's game - despite its lack of any real drama beyond Arizona covering the 25-point spread - will give them a push, too.

"We haven't had a momentum builder in a while," Simon said.

The winners of the Arizona-Illinois State and Maryland-Illinois games will face off in a Sweet Sixteen game Thursday at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, Calif.

No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 9 Illinois State

(28-4, 17-1 Pac-10) (25-5, 16-2 Missouri Valley)

When: Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Where: Arco Arena, Sacramento, Calif.

TV/Radio: The game will be televised on CBS and broadcast live by KNST (AM 790)

What: The Wildcats moved on to the second round with an easy 99-60 victory over Nicholls State- Illinois State advanced to meet Arizona in the second round after upsetting Tennessee 82-81 on Dan Muller's layup with 1.8 seconds left in overtime-Miles Simon scored 24 points and Mike Bibby had 19 for the Wildcats, who had all five starters in double figures by early in the second half