SAN DIEGO β The Phoenix kid who ran around in Arizona basketball practice gear at age 8 or 9, right around the time the Wildcats were returning to the nationβs elite, took a look around before his first NCAA Tournament game to reflect briefly.
Maybe there were other young fans doing the same thing Friday as Dalen Terry once did, before top-seeded Arizona beat Wright State 87-70 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to reach a second-round game with TCU on Sunday.
βBefore they announced the starting lineup, I felt a little bit of chills,β Terry said Saturday, during official pregame podium interviews outside Viejas Arena. βI was like, dang, this is what Iβve been waiting for all my life. Iβve been watching March Madness since I was in grade school, since I can remember.
βIt was just a good feeling to be out there and being part of it, knowing that thereβs a little kid that was in my spot before watching me now.β
Terry added to the moment by collecting 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists against the Raiders while helping the Wildcats get by again without injured point guard Kerr Kriisa. It was all good for Terry and the Wildcats.
But there is a lot more urgency and significance now.
Regardless of Kriisaβs status β UA coach Tommy Lloyd said again Saturday only that his starting point guard is βday to dayβ with a sprained ankle he suffered on March 10 β Terry is expected again to take some of the ballhandling duties and provide confidence against a team that is programmed to destroy exactly those things.
Ninth-seeded TCU, which improved to 21-12 after bouncing Seton Hall 69-42 in a first-round tournament game later Friday, allowed the Pirates to shoot just 28.8% and turned 13 turnovers into 15 points.
βWeβve been preaching what we could become and what we have been defensively at times,β TCU coach Jamie Dixon said after Fridayβs game. βI think today you saw it for 40 minutes. I thought it was a special effort, a special performance. Thatβs the team we can become.β
Basically, TCU is of those almost stereotypical Big 12 defensive smash-mouth teams, doing so with an aggressive, help-oriented style known as βno middleβ that is designed to keep the ball on the perimeter.
The Horned Frogs rank No. 15 in defensive efficiency as a result.
βTheyβre great defensively,β Lloyd said. βSeems like that whole Big 12 β and Tennessee β have tilted towards that no-middle, try-to-keep-you-on-the-side defense. And theyβre good at it. And on top of that theyβre extremely physical. Theyβre a great rebounding team. Thatβs always been a trademark of Jamieβs teams.β
UA associate head coach Jack Murphy said Stanford probably compares most to TCU defensively but both he and Lloyd noted that nobody really ran the same scheme in the Pac-12.
Tennessee, meanwhile, jumped on UA to take a 13-point halftime lead on Dec. 22 and prompted the Wildcats to take nearly half of their field goals from 3-point range in what became a 77-73 loss for UA.
Arizona also had 17 turnovers in that game that turned into 16 points for the Volunteers.
βNo oneβs playing as committed to the no-middle stuff in the Pac-12 as these guys are,β Lloyd said of TCU. βThe first thing youβve got to be strong with the ball. Youβve got to play with a thrust, play with our normal pace and movement. Then youβve got to trust your fundamentals. Youβve got to lock in, play with your feet on the ground, mix in some back cuts, pass fake. I tell our guys, play good basketball. Thatβs what weβve got to do.β
Thatβs where Terry comes in. All of those things he can do well, potentially giving the Wildcats the sort of aggression Lloyd has been asking for all week, instead of being the tentative favorite that gets into trouble trying not to lose.
Whatever happens, Terry pledged to keep staying aggressive.
βWe definitely have to be in attack mode,β he said. βIt doesnβt really matter what team weβre (playing), Tommy was making that a point across the board that weβve just got to be in attack mode. This is a tournament game. This is March. Anybody β itβs March. Anything happens. I mean, weβve got to come out throwing punches.β
Honored as a βglue guyβ entering the Pac-12 tournament last week, by analytic and media alike, Terry has since averaged 14.3 points and 4.3 assists in the three games that Kriisa has been sidelined, sharing the point guard role with senior Justin Kier.
βHeβs really come a long way as a player this year,β Lloyd said. βHeβs really developed. With Kerr not having played, maybe we need a little bit more of a scoring punch out of him and heβs been opportunistic.β
βDalen is a good, developing shooter. If teams are going to play off him, Iβm comfortable with him taking those wide-open 3s. And he steps up and makes them in critical times. Theyβve been a catalyst for us these last couple of games.β
If TCUβs defense is successful in keeping the Wildcats out of the middle, Terry may have to be shooting more often from the perimeter, too. So might Kier, Bennedict Mathurin and sophomore guard Pelle Larsson.
Maybe thatβs a good thing for the Wildcats. TCUβs style means there will be no time for pause or reflection. The Wildcats have to attack.
If they want to keep playing, that is.
βItβs a great thing,β Lloyd said about the physical battle ahead. βThatβs what youβre going to have to do to keep advancing in this tournament. Thatβs what weβve been building for all year. Iβm excited to see how it looks tomorrow.β