Exposition: This 12-13 seed match-up comes compliments of #4 Wake Forest’s climactic collapse after a 16-0 start and Arizona’s not so unexpected win against #5 Utah in the Midwest Region.
Plot: Who has more to prove: the team nobody wanted to get in or the little school that could? #12 Arizona continues on a mission to prove that they are supposed to be here. Bracket pundits want the Wildcats to fall to prove their unworthiness. #13 Cleveland State fit right into the glass slipper as they remain the highest seed left.
Though undersized, Cleveland State, led by Coach Gary Waters, takes pride in their defense. They caused 18 turnovers off of 9 steals against a young Demon Deacon team despite being outrebounded and shooting a lower percentage from the field. Waters and company did well in jumping all over the youth-laden Deacons, but how will his Vikings do against an experienced junior Wildcat core?
Protagonist: Cleveland State
Little doubt who the nation views as the hero in this storyline.
CSU will look to counter the Wildcat height with speed. Norris Cole led his team with 22 points in the first round.
J’Nathan Bullock will have his hands full down low. The 6’5″ 240 pound forward plays bigger than he is, averaging 7 rebounds a game.
Cedric Jackson realizes the importance of being an all-around player for his squad. The 6’3″ senior guard averages 11 points, close to 6 assists, nearly 6 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Antagonist: Arizona
Most would like to see this pseudo 12 seed to exit stage left.
Arizona do-it-all 6’7″ forward Chase Budinger, who shoots 40% from the arc, has been cold as of late. He’s only made 1-11 in the last two games. No worries – his 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals in the first round shows that he can do whatever his team needs.
Jordan Hill will prove quite the problem for the smaller Vikings. At 6’10” and with a game many NBA scouts are lauding, he may be the best this defensive CSU team has had to face all year.
Sub Plot: Will either bench be a factor? Cleveland State has played without sophomore guard D’Aundray Brown quite a bit this season. He’s sat out for a fractured rib and most recently hyper extended his knee in the Horizon League tournament. Without him the Vikings are still 9-3; however, he could add some much needed depth to an already thin bench. Against Wake Forest in the first round, the CSU bench only provided 7 points and a single rebound.
Arizona’s bench did far worse against Utah scoring only 3 points. It didn’t seem to be an issue as their three-headed junior core of Budinger, Wise, and Hill combined for 66 of the Wildcat’s 81 points. This was capped off by Nic Wise’s 21 point second half performance.
Flashback: The Horizon League champion Vikings did not fare well in their only meeting with a PAC-10 foe this season. Washington defeated the Vikings 78-63 on November 18 in Seattle. Cleveland State’s frontcourt could not handle the Huskies’ 6’7″ senior forward, Jon Brockman, who went for 23 points and 13 rebounds. If this is a bit of foreshadowing, Arizona’s Jordan Hill might be looking at his best tournament opportunity yet.
Arizona has done well in the past against Horizon League opponents in the NCAA tournament. They defeated Valparaiso in 1996 and stopped an upset-minded Butler team in 2001 in the second round.
Conflict: Cedric Jackson of Cleveland State v. Nic Wise of Arizona
The Vikings’ 6’3″ guard knows how to rebound; he had a team high 7 rebounds in the first round. This could be troublesome for Arizona’s smaller guard, 5’10” Wise. Cleveland State demonstrated they’re able to play as quick as any other team in their first round upset. Jeff Teague was challenged all night long by Viking guards and if there is a weakness for Arizona, it might be their ball handling.
Denouement: Winner will get #1 seed Louisville assuming they defeat #9 Siena. Expect Arizona to slow the game down and exploit Cleveland State’s size disadvantage down low. They’ll control and protect the ball in half court and will not be as hasty as Wake Forest in transition. Arizona should prove that the committee was not picking solely off of past merit.
Appreciation to the following:
Rey – this is a great piece of work.
If Arizona slows the game down, I will be impressed. Too often in games like this teams like Arizona wanna prove that they are better athletes and want to beat the opponent up and down the floor.
Can you edit those links? I wanna read them. 🙂
Is this the appropriate spot to begin discussing the demise of Wake Forest? What the heck happened? Are they victims of the cliche ‘peaking too early?’
Father, I was searching diligently and couldn’t find a tale of the tape for any of Xavier’s NCAA games? I hope this was an honest mistake.
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