SAN ANTONIO — If you think Arizona's close call against TCU shook the team's confidence, you thought wrong.
“We all know what we can do, and we are all pretty confident,” Arizona guard Dalen Terry said. “Our perspective of the game doesn’t change no matter the stage. We are just trying to win the game.”
It was the biggest game of the season for the Arizona Wildcats, but the team pulled out a gutsy 85-80 win in overtime. Now the #1 seed is set to face #5 Houston Thursday night with a trip to the Elite 8 on the line.
Although it's a game with major implications, the Wildcats don’t view it as such.
“Right now it's win or go home. So, there is no pressure,” center Christian Koloko said. “Everybody is confident they can win. So, we just have to play our game and follow the instructions the coaches have. We have to follow the game plan and believe in ourselves.”
The Wildcats are also the least experienced team remaining in the Sweet 16 and are facing a Houston team that is coming off a Final Four run from a season ago.
Despite the difference in experience on the two rosters, Coach Tommy Lloyd doesn’t see any cause for concern.
“I feel like our coaching staff has a lot of that experience,” Lloyd said. “What we had to do to win the Pac-12 Tournament, we had three hard games in three consecutive days and we had to dig deep. We got big-game players.”
One big-game player is Bennedict Mathurin, who is fresh off a season-high 30 point performance in the Round of 32.
The combination of Mathurin and the surrounding pieces on this Arizona roster makes it hard to believe a team like this will be beaten before the Final Four.
Luke's prediction:
The Wildcats will beat Houston in a close affair, 82-78, and will advance to the Elite 8 where they will face the winner of the Michigan-Villanova matchup.
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