Arizona NCAA Tournament Resumption
Disk: 20-7
NCAA Overall Schedule Strength (SOS): 52nd nationally
SOS NCAA out of conference: 142nd
NET rating: 19th
AP poll: 20th
USA Today/WBCA Coaches poll: 20th
Best home win: February 4 against Oregon (63-48)
Best Road Victory: Jan. 13 at Oregon State (55-53)
Victory for the best neutral site: November 12 against Louisville (61-59 in overtime) at Sanford Pentagon
Worst home loss: February 24 vs. UCLA (64-46)
Worst route loss: Jan. 15 at Oregon (68-66 in OT)
Worst Neutral Site Loss: March 3 against Colorado (45-43 at the Pac-12 tournament)
Screenings
ESPN bracketology: No. 4 seed in the Greensboro (NC) area – and host of the first two rounds.
To note: Going 3-4 in recent weeks and losing in the quarterfinals to Colorado could hurt Arizona’s case for hosting the first two rounds of the tournament. However, the Wildcats have been without Cate Reese, their league leading scorer (16 ppg) and an All-Pac-12 player, for much of that time and are adjusting to playing without her. The positives may outweigh Arizona’s recent crisis: UA has the highest-rated scoring defense in the Pac-12, holding teams under 57 points per game; Shaina Pellington has two buzzer shots; Sam Thomas is hitting 43% of 3-pointers, has a 2.56 turnover rate, and is on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team; Helena Pueyo has a ratio of 3.13 assists per game.
