Texas freshman post player Tristan Thompson makes one of his seven blocked shots, this one against Oakland's Keith Benson, an NBA prospect, in Texas' 88-84 win in the NCAA tournament Friday (US PRESSWIRE PHOTO -- Mark D. Smith)

A few minutes after Arizona survived Friday with a 77-75 escape over Memphis, assistant coach James Whitford concluded his radio interview with Brian Jeffries by saying the words that should make the Wildcats and their fans cringe:

“Texas is the polar opposite of Memphis. Memphis is more guard-oriented. Texas is more power ball, getting the ball to their 3 (wing), 4 (power forward) and 5 (center). It will be like playing UCLA.”

Gulp.

UCLA’s Reeves Nelson and Josh Smith combined to shoot 30 of 45 from the field (66.7 percent) against the Wildcats in two games this season. Tyler Honeycutt, who made only 1 of 8 shots in UCLA’s 85-74 loss at McKale Center on Jan. 27, scored 15 on 6-of-12 shooting from the field in the Bruins’ 71-49 rout of the Cats at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 26.

Smith, Nelson and Honeycutt accounted for 59 of UCLA’s 71 points in Arizona’s worst showing of the year at Pauley.

And Texas (28-7 overall) is like UCLA?

“We have to play Texas like we played UCLA at our place, not like we did at their place,” Whitford said with a laugh.

Laughs will be few and far between from when UA coach Sean Miller and his staff departed the BOK Center to the time they finally fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning after watching film of Texas.

The Texas starting frontcourt looks this way:

Freshman post player Tristan Thompson (6-8, 225) — Tallied seven blocked shots in the Longhorns’ 85-81 win over Oakland in the earlier first-round matchup. He averages 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. He has 82 blocked shots compared to Derrick Williams‘ 25. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds against Oakland center Keith Benson, a future NBA player.

Sophomore wing player Jordan Hamilton (6-7, 220) — He has numbers similar to Williams, averaging 18.7 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds against Oakland.

Senior power forward Gary Johnson (6-6, 235) — He had only eight points and two boards against Oakland, but he’s averaging 11.4 points and 6.8 rebounds a game.

Thompson, Hamilton and Johnson combine to average 43.5 points and 22.4 rebounds a game. By contrast, Arizona’s starting frontcourt players Williams (6-8, 241), Jesse Perry (6-7, 210) and Solomon Hill (6-6, 226) average 33.1 points and 16.9 rebounds a game.

Gulp.

So Arizona (28-7) does not stand a chance right? This is another nightmare in store, similar to how Arizona could not defend (or provide help defense) against the Pac-10 best interior scorers and rebounders? Nikola Vucevic, Alex Stepheson, Markhuri Sanders-Frison, Harper Kamp, Nelson and Smith all over again?

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Derrick Williams may be in the forefront at Arizona as the Pac-10 Player of the Year but he stands behind teammates such as Jesse Perry (33), Lamont Jones (12) and Kyle Fogg (21) (US Presswire photo/Chris Morrison)

Never before has a Pac-10 Player of the Year from Arizona been the only Wildcat recognized on the all-conference team.

Derrick Williams was the only UA player selected among the Pac-10′s elite this week by league coaches. That differs from when Sean Elliott, Chris Mills, Damon Stoudamire, Mike Bibby and Jason Terry earned the conference’s player of the year honor.

Elliott was joined on the all-Pac-10 team in 1987-88 by Steve Kerr and Anthony Cook. A year later, Cook again joined Elliott as an all-conference pick.

Stoudamire and Mills were part of the 1992-93 all-Pac-10 team. Two years later, when Stoudamire was the league’s co-player of the year with UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon, UA forward Ray Owes was also part of the all-conference team.

Bibby in 1997-98 was on the all-Pac-10 team with Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon — one of the best perimeter groups in conference history. Terry was accompanied by A.J. Bramlett and Michael Wright in 1998-99.

At least Lamont “MoMo” Jones was an honorable mention choice this year.

Williams’ lone representation of the Wildcats among the Pac-10′s elite only adds fuel to the general misconception of the national media that the Wildcats are a one-man band. As far as perception goes, it does Arizona no good that Williams is scoring 18.8 points a game, more than the next two players are averaging combined. Jones and Kyle Fogg average 18.4 points.

The balance underneath Williams, however, does Arizona a lot of good.

Note to the national media who form their opinion by looking at statistics: Arizona should be looked at more as a team with multiple components. How talented and effective those components are on a game-by-game basis is up for debate. But truth be known: Arizona is not Derrick Williams and the 12 Dwarfs.

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A look at what to expect late afternoon Saturday as Arizona faces a tough USC team while trying to keep pace with Washington in the Pac-10 (more info to come at our partner site, WILDABOUTAZCATS.COM):

Matchups (Tipoff 5:30 p.m., Tucson time)

PERIMETER

USC guard Jio Fontan, a transfer from Fordham, has made the Trojans competitive in every game he's played (US Presswire photo/Gary A. Vasquez)

SOUTHERN CAL

What’s going right: After sitting out nearly a season and a half following his transfer to USC from Fordham, guard Jio Fontan is averaging 11.4 points and 3.5 assists in his first 11 games. In that span, he leads the team in assists (38), second in points (125), third in three-pointers made (10), fourth in minutes (338) and second in steals (10). USC has gone 6-5 in those games with all five losses by six points or less. Freshman point guard Maurice Jones, 5-7 and 155 pounds, all Pac-10 players by averaging 36.8 minutes per game and is second in steals and fourth in assists. In his last 13 games, Jones has 47 assists and 25 turnovers, while making 33 steals.
What’s going wrong: Following the abrupt decision of freshman guard Bryce Jones to transfer, Kevin O’Neill‘s backcourt (already lacking depth) became very thin. The Trojans’ roster goes about seven deep, so if Fontan, Maurice Jones and/or wing player Marcus Simmons get in foul trouble, O’Neill may have to check if he has any eligibility left.

ARIZONA

What’s going right: Lamont “MoMo” Jones and Kyle Fogg, maligned for most of the season, are starting to find their groove. They outplayed the UCLA backcourt of Lazeric Jones and Malcolm Lee and it was not close. MoMo Jones and Fogg combined for 31 points (which included a 16-for-18 performance from the free-throw line). Their combined seven rebounds is a telling stat because it shows how both were extremely active, which was not the case earlier this season. MoMo Jones now also has a team-leading seven steals in conference play after a lack of steals was discussed in this space a couple of weeks ago.
What’s going wrong: Arizona had 17 turnovers against UCLA and the ball-handling starts with the guards. MoMo Jones and Fogg still not at a 2:1 ratio of assists to turnovers in Pac-10 games (42 assists and 28 turnovers).

Who has the edge? Arizona. Fontan and Maurice Jones are very promising talents and will provide the UA a difficult challenge. Fogg looked like a different player against UCLA, assertive from start to finish. Also in terms of Solomon Hill vs. Simmons on the wing, the nod goes to Hill who is all business on the court these days, resembling the characteristics of his coach (Sean Miller).

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