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Arizona Basketball to Battle 7th Seeded St. Mary’s in Round of 32

By Eric Townsend

Feb 25, 2017; Moraga, CA, USA; St. Mary's Gaels players huddle before a free throw against the Santa Clara Broncos during the first half at McKeon Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2017; Moraga, CA, USA; St. Mary's Gaels players huddle before a free throw against the Santa Clara Broncos during the first half at McKeon Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Survive and advance is the name of the game this time of year, and on Saturday, the Arizona Basketball team will meet their next foe in the NCAA Tournament.

After putting on an offensive display on Thursday night in their opening round game against North Dakota, the Arizona Basketball team advances. On Saturday, they will face the seventh-seeded St. Mary’s Gaels in Salt Lake City, UT.

A match-up that may likely be of epic proportions, the Gaels enter this one a worthy foe to our Wildcats. Pay no mind to their record, or how they fared against similar opponents. That sort of hyperbole can be thrown by the wayside this time of year.

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Let’s be clear, this is a very good team Arizona will face, and the Wildcats will certainly be tested this Saturday.

At 29-4 (16-2), St. Mary’s enters this contest after a second-place finish in the West Coast Conference and a solid win against Virginia Commonwealth in their opening NCAA Tournament game.

The Gaels, are a well-coached team. While the offensive production was great on Thursday night, we don’t expect this one to be another shootout.

Saint Mary’s ranks 2nd in the NCAA in scoring defense at 56.5 points per game (not including Thursday’s numbers). Offensively, they do tend to slow it down a bit, but are still averaging 72 points per game (again not including their Thursday performance).

They’re an efficient team that certainly plays to their strengths, mainly dishing to their 6-foot-11, junior big man, Jock Landale. Landale is currently averaging nearly 17 points per game and is a double-double machine (double figure points and rebounds).

March 16, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Rawle Alkins (1) plays for the ball against North Dakota Fighting Hawks forward Drick Bernstine (43) during the second half in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
March 16, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Rawle Alkins (1) plays for the ball against North Dakota Fighting Hawks forward Drick Bernstine (43) during the second half in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

In addition to Landale, they have a number of solid players including; Calvin Hermanson, Emmet Naar and former Boston College teammate to Ryan Anderson, Joe Rahon.

As we said, they slow the ball down, averaging roughly 62 offensive possessions per game. That also ranks them last in that respective category for the entire NCAA, according to teamrankings.com. Adversely, Arizona is averaging 68.9 possessions per game. Just to put it into perspective, the Wildcats rank 288th, out of 351 NCAA teams.

In addition to the Gaels’ unique and effective style, they are a very good shooting team. Currently, the Gaels rank 8th, connecting on 49.6 percent of their attempts, and are shooting a very impressive 39.9 percent from three.

Keys to an Arizona Victory:

Defend – Arizona got a little sloppy versus a very fast-paced offensive team in North Dakota, but the effort has to be there. Defense wins championships, or so the saying goes. Miller has adopted that sort of notion regarding his teams, but if Arizona hopes to have a strong run this March, the defensive effort has to be there consistently.

Focus – When or go home. That’s what this tournament is all about. Anybody can seemingly beat anybody. Every game has to be treated like it could be the last, and with the Wildcats being one of the early favorites, the target is squarely on Arizona. Arizona will have to defend the 3 much better against this team.

That means, in no uncertain terms, that opposing teams will give us all they’ve got to give, and the Wildcats have to be ready to respond.

Stay Loose, Do What you Do – Trust the process, honor the process. The stress builds this time of year to stay alive in the NCAA tournament. It’s certainly hard to stay calm and stick to the game plan, but you have to do your best just to trust what you’re doing, and not play too tight.

If Arizona can just relax a little, and do what they do best like freshman Rawle Alkins shooting 100 percent from everywhere, they should be fine in this one.

Game Information:

Game Date: Saturday, March 18th

Game Time: About 4:45 PM (Tucson Time)

Television/ Radio: CBS & TuneIN Radio/ IMG

Location: Vivint Smart Home Arena (Salt Lake City, UT)

Capacity: 19,911

KenPom’s odds: St. Mary’s has a 54% chance of winning tomorrow

ESPN’s BPI: St. Mary has a 65% chance of winning tomorrow

ESPN Odds: -4.5 Arizona

TeamRankings updated odds for Arizona: 

Sweet 1666.9%
Elite 844.9%
Final 422.7%
Championship11.5%

Must Read: More on Arizona Basketball

At Zona Zealots, we’re excited about the next game. It’s ‘win big or go home’ at this point of the season. If Arizona hopes to make a Final Four, they’ve got to continue to get it done. Bear Down, Arizona

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