West Region Second Round: Memphis Takes On Arizona in Tulsa

NCAA Tournament West Region Second Round
#5 Arizona Wildcats vs #12 Memphis Tigers
Bank of Oklahoma Center, Tulsa, OK
Friday, March 18, 2011, 2:45 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Opening Line: Arizona -6 1/2
Current Line: Arizona -5 1/2
Opening Total: 138 1/2
Current Total: 139
Money Line: Arizona -240 / Memphis +200

2011 Conference USA Tournament Betting Preview
The Memphis Tigers are a 5 1/2 point underdog versus Arizona in the west region second round in Tulsa.

Memphis head coach Josh Pastner is very familiar with his opponent in the NCAA having graduated form Arizona in 1998. After graduated he became a scout and assistant coach for the Wildcats. He stayed with the Wildcats until he was offered the head coaching position at Memphis 2 years ago. Now he leads his #12 seeded Memphis Tigers in Tulsa to take on the #5 seed Arizona Wildcats. Memphis is the youngest team in the tournament and 7th youngest team in all division 1 basketball. Memphis finished the regular season 25-9 and was the fourth place finisher in Conference USA with a 10-6 record. Memphis has won 4 straight games including a 67-66 comeback win at UTEP in the Conference USA Championship game. Te Miners were up by 9 at halftime before Memphis rallied. Arizona won the Pac-10 regular season title with a 27-7 overall record  and a 14-4 league record. They had won 4 straight games before losing in overtime to Washington 77-75 in the Pac-10 Championship last Saturday.

Memphis leads the overall series 4-3 but the two teams haven’t played since 2007. Memphis is 3-3 against teams that made the tournament this year. Arizona was 5-6 against tournament teams this year. Memphis is 22-37 ATS in all games the last 2 seasons, including 6-16 when the total is between 130 and 140, and 6-18 in non-conference games in the same span.

Memphis has no significant injuries right now.  The Tigers are very young with freshmen getting more than 60% of the minutes. Freshman Will Barton leads the team in scoring with 12.3 points a game. He also averages 5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 steals a game to also lead the team. Joe Jackson scores 9.9 points, and leads the team in assists with 3.1 a game. He also averages 2.1 rebounds and 1 steal a game. Forward Tarik Black averages 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks a game. He leads the team in rebounds and blocks. Junior guard/forward Wesley Witherspoon averages 9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1 assists, and 1.1 steals a game. He is shooting 39.4% from 3 point range, but doesn’t attempt that many 3 pointers.  Memphis is outscoring opponents 72-68 on the season. The Tigers shoot 45% from the field and 32.7% from 3-point range. Tiger opponents shoot 41.5% from the field. The Tigers make 67.9% of their free throws. They average 35.7 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +0.7. The Tigers average 14.6 assists and 15.3 turnovers a game. They force 14.9 turnovers a game on defense. Memphis averages 8.5 steals and 5.4 blocks a game.

Arizona has no significant injuries right now. Arizona sophomore forward Derrick Williams won the Pac-10 player of the year. He leads the Wildcats in almost every statistical category except assists. He is averaging 19.1 points a game, 8.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks a game. Though he doesn’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers he is shooting 60.3% from behind the arc. Guard Lamont Jones averages 9.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists a game. Guard Kyle Fogg is averaging 8.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists to lead the team and 0.9 steals a game to tie for the team lead. Forward Solomon Hill averages 7.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.8 steals a game.  Arizona is outscoring opponents 77-68 this season. The Wildcats are shooting 47.1% from the field and 39.9% from 3-point range. Arizona opponents are shooting  44.3%  from the field. The ‘Cats make 74.7% of their free throws. Arizona averages 34.6 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +3.9. Arizona averages 14.1 assists and 12.9 turnovers a game. They force 12.7 turnovers a game on defense. Arizona averages 2.6 blocks and 5.1 steals a game.

Though Memphis is the youngest team in the tournament, Arizona doesn’t have a lot of experience either. In fact, there are only 2 seniors combined on both teams. Neither team rebounds very well, but defends reasonably well. This should be a close game that will come down to the wire.

Our college basketball handicappers are red hot as the tournament is in full swing. Don’t miss out on any more winners from now until  the Championship game.

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