Arizona Wildcats Slip Into Pac-10 Semis: Tough One Vs. USC Later Today

By Paul Rubin Fri., Mar. 11 2011 at 9:20 AM

This edition of the Arizona Wildcats is unlikely to get too deep into the upcoming NCAA tournament--inexperience at the point guard position and other shortcomings surely will spell their doom, hopefully in the second weekend, not the first.

We like Derrick Williams, the Pac-10's best player.

But it's an interesting and very watchable team, with all manner of three-point shooters eager at all times to unleash. Those mad bombers include superstar Derrick Williams, an inside force who also hit five of six treys during last night's difficult 78-69 win over Oregon State.

n all, the Cats hit 11 of 21 three-pointers during the Staples Center battle in a quarterfinal match-up in the Pac-10 tourney to finally pull away from the scrappy Beavers.

Tonight, though, a far more rigorous task awaits the Tucson bunch, as they face the USC Trojans in the semis. USC beat Arizona down the street in Los Angeles just a few weeks ago, and seems to be playing its best ball of the season now--the right time.

The 7 p.m. game (to be televised on Channel 34, with a radio broadcast on 1100-AM) looms large for the Trojans and its Bubble-like hopes of getting into the Dance.

Look for Williams to shine tonight: USC held him to eight points in the last contest--his worst outing of the season--and totally shut him down. That is highly unlikely to happen again.

Related note: The late game between Washington and Washington State was a classic, with the Huskies coming out on top 87-85 in a slugfest that included a 43-point effort by the Cougars' Klay Thompson, a remarkable shooter

Thompson was coming off a one-game suspension after getting busted for marijuana possession. No matter--the dude was focused as a surgeon during the game, which kept us riveted to the tube until midnight.