After 53 years, the NCAA Tournament will makes its long-awaited return to Madison Square Garden in March.
But, the Madness couldn't wait.
No. 4 Arizona escaped the first semifinal of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Wednesday night with a 66-62 win over Drexel, coming back from a 19-point first-half deficit to keep alive the hopes of a title game matchup with No. 6 Duke, who played Alabama in Wednesday night's other semifinal.
Arizona freshman Aaron Gordon was underwhelming in his Garden debut, scoring 10 points on 2-of-6 shooting, but the Wildcats got great guard play from upperclassmen T.J. McConnell and Nick Johnson, who led the team with 20 points.
Drexel guard Chris Fouch, a sixth-year senior from The Bronx, scored a game-high 29 points.
After being held to 20 points in the first half, Arizona (6-0) came out running after the break, taking its first lead at 33-31 with a 13-2 run sparked McConnell. Drexel looked ready to collapse, continually forcing shots after seeing so many unlikely attempts land in the first half, but the Dragons bounced back, trading multiple leads throughout the second half.
Drexel suffered its biggest blow when second-leading scorer Damion Lee limped off the court with a leg injury midway through the second half with the Dragons leading 51-48. Lee was one of three Drexel players to score through the first 27 minutes.
Arizona's interior advantage only amplified, with 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Gordon added 13 boards.
On Tuesday, Gordon acknowledged pundits don't know where to place him among the elite newcomers in the nation, noting he is seen as on the border of belonging alongside freshmen sensations Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle.
Against Drexel, Gordon hardly looked worthy of being mentioned in the same conversation, getting consistently out-muscled on the offensive end and blocked on several shot attempts.
Drexel (3-2) jumped out to a 9-0 lead and took their biggest lead at 27-8 with under seven minutes left in the first half, after Fouch drilled a deep 3-pointer with the shot click winding down. Fouch, who missed all of last season with an ankle injury, scored 16 points in the first half, combining with Frantz Massenat to score 25 of the team's 29 first-half points.
Even if it was too early to panic, it was early enough for confusion, as Arizona looked overwhelmed and committed 10 turnovers in the first half, while making only six field goals.
Despite superior size and speed, Arizona looked like it wanted to hide, while the Dragons embraced every second of its rare moment in a spotlight game.
Eventually, Drexel went cold, missing 11 straight shots while Arizona went on an 11-0 run in the final minutes to cut the deficit to 29-20 at halftime.
And then, Arizona reminded everyone of its ranking.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Arizona storms back from first-half deficit in NIT semis
Dengan url
http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2013/11/arizona-storms-back-from-first-half.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Arizona storms back from first-half deficit in NIT semis
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Arizona storms back from first-half deficit in NIT semis
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar