ANAHEIM, Calif. — The consensus here at the West Regional is, yes, those connected with the soon-to-be Pac-12 Conference have taken note of Colorado’s sudden success in men’s basketball.
“Colorado has done a great job this season,” said Bill Frieder, the former Michigan and Arizona State coach who now is a basketball analyst on radio doing primarily games in the West.
“People have noticed. They will be a good addition to the Pac-10. They could very well win the NIT. They keep improving, no question about it. They’re going in the right direction.”
Frieder said Pac-10 basketball as a whole is on the rise.
“The Pac-10 had a two-year period where they lost 21 players to the pros,” Frieder said. “There was also some coaching turnover. The league had a hard time recovering from that.
“But you can see what Arizona is doing, UCLA is back, Washington is always good, Mike Montgomery is going to do a good job at Cal. . . . It’s going to be a great conference for basketball.”
Arizona’s ouster of defending national champion Duke here Thursday night was huge for the entire conference, said Los Angeles Times sports writer Chris Du- fresne, who has covered the Pac-10 for decades.
“It’s going to help everybody in recruiting,” Dufresne said. “The Pac-10 had been largely the forgotten conference. But last year Washington surprised everybody by reaching the Sweet 16, and now we see what Arizona is doing.
“I think Colorado and Utah are coming in at the right time. College basketball is on an upswing around here.”
The Irving factor.
I’m not sure the Denver Nuggets wouldn’t have had some trouble with Arizona, with the way the Wildcats mauled Duke 55-33 in the second half Thursday.
But there’s little doubt that Duke would have been a prohibitive favorite to defend its championship if freshman point guard Kyrie Irving hadn’t missed almost the entire regular season with a toe injury.
Having just returned to action for the NCAA Tournament, Irving had to still feel a bit rusty. Timing, they say, is always the first thing to go. But all Irving did in the loss to Arizona was contribute 28 points, going 9-of-15 from the field and 8-of-9 from the foul line, as he tried to carry an otherwise veteran team. How good would Irving have been if he had been playing all season? How good would Duke have been?
Here’s a clue: Before the season, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said during a speaking engagement in New York City: “We’ll change our whole offense, the way we play with Kyrie. We’ll run a lot more, and we’ll press.”
For a defending national champion to change its style of play reminds me of Tiger Woods overhauling his golf swing immediately after he had won the 1997 Masters — because Woods, then 22, knew it would be best for the long term.
Bad luck charm.
I might not be invited back to an Anaheim regional.
Not if a defending national champion is among the four teams and has a say in the matter. I seem to be a jinx. I was here in 1998, the last time a reigning champ came to Anaheim for regional semifinals. Sure enough, 13 years ago a Rick Majerus-coached Utah team schooled defending national champ Arizona 76-51 to earn a trip to the Final Four.
The Utes ousted North Carolina in the Final Four semifinals but couldn’t hang with Kentucky, losing 78-69 to the Wildcats.
SOUTHEAST REGIONAL FINAL
No. 8 Butler (26-9) vs. No. 2 Florida (29-7)
2:30 p.m., KCNC-4: Florida has a bigger frontline and a more talented backcourt. But, as Gators coach Billy Donovan said Friday about Butler, “One thing they do very well that allows them to play against (bigger) teams is they’re the most physical team in the country.”
Butler relies heavily on postman Matt Howard, guard Shelvin Mack and a disciplined defense that wears teams down. Florida has a balanced offensive attack, and any of its five returning starters — guards Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, forwards Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons and center Vernon Macklin — can come through with a big game.
In a battle of styles, Butler will look to play at a much more methodical pace and keep the game in the 60s in its bid to return to the Final Four.
Mike Klis, The Denver Post
WEST REGIONAL FINAL
No. 3 Connecticut (29-9) vs. No. 5 Arizona (30-7)
5:05 p.m., KCNC-4: The teams’ respective superstars, Connecticut junior guard Kemba Walker and Arizona sophomore forward Derrick Williams, are sure to put up big point totals today. The key will be which All-American gets the most support.
Both got more than enough help in Thursday’s semifinals.
Walker took 25 shots and scored 36 points in the 74-67 victory over San Diego State. And 6-foot-5 freshman swingman Jeremy Lamb, playing off all the attention given Walker, tied his career high with 24 points.
Williams controlled the paint with 32 points and 13 rebounds in the runaway 93-77 drubbing of defending national champion Duke. And guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones (16 points, six assists) and forward Solomon Hill (13 points, five rebounds) provided balance.
Rarely can a team be a one-man show at in the Elite Eight. Both teams know it.
“You can’t just focus on one player,” Arizona’s Williams said. “That’s the good thing about our team.”
Look for UConn to try to make an early statement by forcing the ball inside. And expect Arizona to move the ball around the perimeter to take pressure off Williams.
Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
Zeller likes Carolina’s zeal
Zeller has 27.
Tyler Zeller, right, had 27 points and 12 rebounds in North Carolina’s win over Marquette. “If we can play like that, we’ll be all right,” said Zeller, who shot 10-for-19 and had three of Carolina’s 11 steals.
This Wildcat is OK.
Kentucky senior center Josh Harrellson held his own against Ohio State super freshman Jared Sullinger, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Sullinger had 21 points and 16 rebounds.
Breezing along.
Kansas is yet to be tested, winning its three games by an average of nearly 18 points.
The Associated Press; Frank Franklin II, Associated Press photo
A well-heeled run
Golden Eagles clipped.
While holding a 10-8 lead with 12:43 to go in the first half, Marquette sat by and watched North Carolina go on a 19-0 run in its 81-63 loss to the Tar Heels in an East Regional semifinal.
No long distance.
The Golden Eagles finished 2-of-16 from beyond the 3-point arc and turned the ball over 18 times while handing out only eight assists.
Disappearing act.
In the first tournament game between teams seeded 10 and 11, lower-seeded VCU blew a nine-point lead by scoring only three points in the final 7:37 of regulation. The Associated Press
