One game at a time for Arizona and coach Sean Miller. Photo by Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
SALT LAKE CITY — The Arizona Wildcats will play in their second Sweet 16 in three seasons, using a fast start to successfully bury Harvard 74-51 on Saturday in an NCAA Tournament game at EnergySolutions Arena.
Arizona advances to play the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 10 seed Iowa State. The Sweet 16 matchup will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Harvard missed its first 13 shots and Arizona eventually took a 30-9 lead. The Crimson played much better after that, cutting the lead to 14 early in the second half but the damage was done and Mark Lyons always had an offensive answer for the Cats.
He matched his career high with 27 points.
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With 1:38 to go, Max Wiepking and Quinton Crawford, senior walk-ons, get in the game.
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Under four minutes to go. The Wildcats just don’t want to see another player hit the floor. Arizona up 70-49.
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Yep. A Gabe York sighting. He comes in with 4:23 to play for Jordin Mayes, who has been very good again. He has eight points and isn’t just settling for 3-point shots. He took the ball hard to the rim twice for points, including an and-one play.
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Arizona is going to try to run out the clock. The Cats are up 61-44 with 6:47 to go and have just five players available from their eight-man rotation. Angelo Chol, whose minutes have been limited lately, is next in line. A Gabe York sighting?
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And now Brandon Ashley fouls out with 9:12 to go. Kevin Parrom has fouled out. Grant Jerrett is nursing an elbow injury. First time I think we’ve this lineup: Lyons, Mayes, Johnson, Hill, Tarczewski.
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Mark Lyons ties his Arizona high with 25 points on a 3-point shot with more than 10 minutes to play. His career high is 27 points, set while he was with Xavier in January 2012 vs. Saint Louis.
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Mark Lyons is back in for the Wildcats and resumes scoring. Arizona has lobbed to him at least three times; after the last one, he comes down with the ball near the baseline, spins toward the basket and puts in a reverse layup. Arizona 56-34 with 11:12 to go.
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Hadn’t even been paying attention to the foul situation, but Kevin Parrom just fouled out with 12:48 to play. Cats still lead big, 51-33.
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Brandon Ashley has four fouls with 14:37 to play. And Grant Jerrett isn’t coming back today.
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Now, it’s Mark Lyons taking a hard tumble on a drive to the basket and he gets up clutching his stomach. He plays through a possession on defense, apparently in pain, but he feels no pain with the ball in his hands as he comes down and launches a 3-pointer. And makes it. He’ll come out of the game, though, in favor of Jordin Mayes.
Arizona leads 49-30 with 15:51 to go. Lyons has 18 points.
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SOURCE: Harvard offered at halftime to do Arizona’s homework for the rest of the semester if they’d go easy on them in the 2nd half
— NOTSportsCenter (@NOTSportsCenter) March 23, 2013
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A 3-point by Christian Webster cuts the lead to 42-27 with 18:39 to go. So this isn’t over yet.
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Harvard point guard Siyani Chambers is out of the game with 19:03 to go after getting hit in the mouth by Kevin Parrom’s elbow. No foul … looks like Chambers just ran into the elbow and lost part of a tooth in the process. Officials look at the replay, but nothing is called. Parrom might have been cut; trainers tape up his right elbow.
And Chambers comes right back in after the next stop in the action.
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Grant Jerrett could return from a bruised right elbow, but it hardly seems necessary with Arizona’s frontcourt depth.
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That’s what I like to see from my Cats!! Domination. Defense will take them a long way in this tourney. #beatemdown
— A.J. Bramlett (@AJBRAMLETT) March 23, 2013
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Arizona, dominant from the start, leads 40-22 at halftime. Solomon Hill leads all scorers with 12 points. Cats led 30-9 at one points, so the Crimson actually out-scored UA 13-10 down the stretch. Hey, Sean Miller has to talk about something at halftime.
Harvard started 0 of 13 from the field and finished the half 7 of 28 but with only one made 3-pointer.
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Nice work if you’re good enough to get it: Sean Miller will rake in $75,000 if Arizona advances to the Sweet 16.
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Anyone making plans for Los Angeles next week?
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Arizona leads 36-15 with 3:24 to go before halftime. Mark Lyons has 11 points, including his most recent two on a lob by Jordin Mayes. Lyons is going to, well, roar into the Sweet 16 next week. He’ll be a big topic of conversation.
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You could quibble with Arizona turnovers; it has six with 4:26 to play in the half. But the Wildcats are doing what they supposed to do against a smaller team: Pressuring the ball and choking off second-chance points for Harvard. No easy buckets, for sure.
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Solomon Hill hits a 3-pointer from the corner and then, on UA’s next possession, storms down the line for a two-handed dunk and a SportsCenter moment. This one is all Arizona — 30-9 with 7:33 to go in the half. Harvard is 2 of 21 from the field (9.5 percent); meanwhile, the Cats are 5 of 7 from 3-pont range.
Derrick Williams tweets “Yea Sala !!” I guess, he meant Solo.
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Grant Jerrett is back on the Arizona bench after being treated in the locker room. The problem was his right elbow, not his head. Has ice on it.
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Angelo Chol makes his NCAA Tournament debut with 11:47 left. Grant Jerrett still in locker room.
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Harvard missed its first 13 shots from the field before Siyani Chambers hit a 3-pointer with 12:15 to go to make the Crimson 1 of 14. Harvard players could figure out that percentage in their head. UA up 17-5 with 11:47 to go in the half.
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Grant Jerrett shaken up with 14:37 to go in the half. He got undercut as he want up for a layup and looks like he hit his head on the court. Arizona trainers have taken him to the locker room.
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Harvard can’t toss it in. The Crimson is 0 of 7 from the field, despite shooting ace Laurent Rivard having two open looks from beyond the arc. Arizona up 10-2 with 15:24 to go; Mark Lyons with five points. Harvard can’t win unless it shoots lights out; so far, so good for UA.
Belmont started 1 of 11 from the field on Thursday night, so Arizona doing a nice job of throwing the first punch.
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It’s Mark Lyons starting defensively on point guard Siyani Chambers. Harvard misses its first four shots, although one of those was a good look from the corner by Laurent Rivard — exactly the kind of defensive lapse the Cats didn’t want to have. Cats up early, though, 5-0, on a fadeaway by Solomon Hill and a 3-pointer by Kevin Parrom.
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Harvard scores almost one-fourth of its points from the free throw line. The Crimson spread out defenses with 3-point shooters, creating driving lanes.
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Pitt coach Jamie Dixon re-upped with Pittsburgh today, receiving a contract extension. That ends talk of him going to USC, and, ergo, eliminates any talk of Sean Miller returning to coach his alma mater.
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Nate Silver, known for his election analysis at his blog on the New York Times website, gives Arizona an 85.3 percent to win today, a 37.1 percent to reach the Elite Eight, an 18.9 percent to get to the Final Four, a 4.6 percent chance to make the title game and a 1.2 percent chance to win it all.
Here are his odds for every team.
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SALT LAKE CITY — Getting ready for the Arizona-Harvard tip from EnergySolutions Arena. The Wildcats will be trying to reach their second Sweet 16 in three seasons and their third in five years.
Here are some pregame notes, and keep checking back before and during the game for news and updates…
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Arizona is 6-0 against the Ivy League, including a 2-0 mark against Harvard, although the last meeting was way back on Dec. 17, 1978, as Robbie Dosty scored a team-high 15 points to lead UA to an 83-60 victory. As Javier Morales notes:
“That was so long ago that, on the same day, it was reported that NAU assistant football coach Mike Shanahan left his post as offensive backfield coach to become the offensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois. Shanahan, now the Washington Redskins head coach, won two Super Bowls as head coach of the Denver Broncos.” Read more of Morales’ pregame notes at WildAboutAZCats.com.
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Coach Sean Miller on Harvard’s win over New Mexico: “We know we’re in for a fight, especially the confidence that they have. When you win a game like that it doesn’t just all of the sudden leave you, many times it carries through for the rest of the weekend. For us, it’s not about being consumed with Harvard, as much as it is about being consumed with ourselves, making sure that we’re ready to go.”
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Arizona guard Kevin Parrom on Harvard: “They’re a great team. Some people overlook that. Some people think that because it’s Harvard, they’re not a great team, they shouldn’t be here. They’re here for a reason. They beat New Mexico for a reason because (the Lobos) slept on them, I think. You can’t sleep on guys like Harvard. They have great shooters.”
True, but the Cats’s 3-point defense has been much better of late, holding opponents to 32.5 percent (27 of 83) in the past five games.
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Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star has a robust notebook/scouting report from Salt Lake City.
Ryan Fagan of the Sporting News has a game preview, focusing on Arizona’s size advantage.
The Boston Herald has five keys to a Harvard upset.
Here is my “Getting to know Harvard” story, with lots of great quotes from UA assistant Book Richardson and a big-picture look at Arizona’s opportunities opening wide in the West.
And here is my prediction for the final score.