Arizona Basketball: 3 keys to Wildcats beating TCU in Round of 32

Arizona Basketball Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

After an 87-70 win over Wright State, Arizona Basketball is poised for a second-round game against TCU on Sunday. After a first-round that saw top seeds tested and even upset, the Wildcats are likely to have a tougher test against Jamie Dixon’s Horned Frogs in this match-up. TCU got here by way of a 69-42 win over Seton Hall in the final game on Friday night.

In their win over Wright State, Arizona had a balanced attack with five players in double figures, led by Christian Koloko who had 20 points and 11 rebounds. But it wasn’t easy for the Wildcats, they only led by 11 at the half despite outrebounding the Raiders 25-13 and having six blocks, mostly because they committed 10 turnovers.

Early in the second half, Wright State cut the lead to as low as six before Arizona started running things through their big men and pulling away. Arizona has one of the tallest teams in the country, but there was a stretch in the second half where they seemed to forget that and began settling for jump shots, which allowed Wright State to get back in the game at the time.

That scare may help them as they prepare for the game against TCU, coach Tommy Lloyd will have some teaching moments to get them refocused. If the Wildcats want to continue to advance in the tournament, they are going to have to limit the type of lapses they had against Wright State and play to their strengths. There are a number of areas they can exploit against the Horned Frogs in hopes of moving on to the Sweet Sixteen.