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Necessary step Arizona's scare hardly unusual when it comes to title teamsPosted: Sunday March 23, 2003 1:07 AM
What, you didn’t think this would be a cakewalk, did you? You didn’t think your favorite team, as high a seed as it is, would waltz past one undermatched foe after another until suddenly they’d done it six times and could cut down the nets? In the NCAA tournament, everyone gets a scare at some point. And the ones who survive will wind up in New Orleans. Arizona got theirs Saturday, in a heart-stopping, nerve-wracking thriller against Gonzaga that will undoubtedly go down as one of the all-time classics. You know the going’s tough when Luke Walton hits a wild, last-second double-clutch jumper -- just to send the game to double-overtime. If this were some meaningless game in January, you'd look at the box score, you’d look at Arizona’s ranking (No. 1 seed) and you'd look at Gonzaga (No. 9) and you’d say, "Geez, what’s wrong with the Wildcats?"
Instead, since this is the tourney, you look at all those clutch shots by Walton, Jason Gardner and Salim Stoudamire, you look at the many, many moments where things could have fallen apart, that Gonzaga’s hardly a pushover and that they’re still moving on to the Sweet 16. And you think, "Man -- they could do this." After all, it can’t get much tougher. In the tournament, there’s no correlation from one game to the next. Prior performances have no bearing on future results. How else to explain Notre Dame pummeling Illinois just two days after barely surviving Wisconsin-Milwaukee? Or Kansas struggling to fend off Utah State on Thursday, dominating Arizona State on Saturday? The Irish and Jayhawks, along with Arizona, joined several high seeds that have been dealt serious scares in the tourney’s opening weekend. Defending national champ Maryland needed a miracle Drew Nicholas 3-pointer to survive UNC-Wilmington. In theory, that wouldn’t bode well for its showdown Sunday with third-seeded Xavier, which handled Troy State with ease. Or, it could be just the spark the Terps need for another deep tourney run. They didn’t exactly roll over 16th seed Siena in their first round game last year before going on to win the national championship. Marquette, a three seed, has already endured two scares. First it was Holy Cross pulling within two in the final minute, then Missouri rallying to send the Golden Eagles to overtime. But like Arizona, the Golden Eagles made big shot after big shot, first Travis Diener, then Dwyane Wade, then the unlikely Steve Novak. Their chances of making it past either Pittsburgh or Kentucky in the next couple rounds may at first seem slim, but after that performance, who'd want to pick against them? Finally, there's Wisconsin, which couldn’t have cut things any closer against Tulsa, trailing by 13 in the final four minutes before rallying to win on Freddie Owens' buzzer-beater. You’d probably be tempted to rule out the fifth-seeded Badgers from here, until you remember that national runner-up Indiana was the same seed last year. There are still plenty of scares to come. East top seed Oklahoma cruised through its first two games in the friendly confines of Oklahoma City, but with Hollis Price ailing, it will get much harder for the Sooners real soon. South top seed Texas sleepwalked through its opener against UNC-Asheville. Better not do the same Sunday against Purdue. And finally, yes, even mighty Kentucky isn’t immune to the tourney scare. The last time the Wildcats won it all, in 1998, that moment came in the form of an Elite Eight rally from 20 points down against Duke. And besides, if things go according to plan, they’re going to run into a team that’s already gotten the scare out of it. Arizona. Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com. Got a comment, question or scoop for Stewart? Click here.
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