NCAA Tournament Game Preview
No. 1 Arizona (30-4) vs. No. 16 Weber State (19-11)
Viejas Arena (12,414), San Diego, Calif.
Friday, March 21, 11:10 a.m. Pacific, TNT
Records: Weber State brings a 19-11 record to the tournament. The Wildcats went 14-6 in Big Sky play, winning the regular-season title. WSU beat Northern Colorado and North Dakota en route to the Big Sky Championship. The Wildcats are 8-4 in their last 12 games...Arizona earned at at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and bring a 30-4 mark into Friday’s game. Arizona won the Pac-12 regular-season title with a 15-3 record. Arizona lost to UCLA in the Pac-12 championship game. The Wildcats are 9-3 in their last 12 games.
Coaches: Weber State’s Randy Rahe is 169-86 in his eighth season. He is 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament. Rahe was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the fourth time this season. He is the only men’s basketball coach to win the honor four times. Rahe was an assistant at Utah, Utah State and Colorado State prior to taking over at Weber State...Arizona’s Sean Miller is 126-47 in his fifth season at Arizona. He was 120-47 in five seasons as the head coach at Xavier from 2004-09. Miller has Arizona in the tournament for the third time. Miller has an overall tournament record of 11-6 in six previous appearances. Miller was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Series History: Weber State is 0-4 all-time against Arizona. The teams last met in 2008-09 when Arizona beat Weber State 71-65.
What’s Next: The winner will play on Sunday against the winner of the Gonzaga-Oklahoma State second-round game.
NCAA Tournament History: Weber State is making its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats are 6-15 all-time. Arizona is making its 31st NCAA appearance. The Wildcats have made 15 Sweet 16 trips, nine Elite Eight runs and, and four Final Four appearances. Arizona won the 1997 national championship.
Common Opponents: Both teams played Northern Arizona and UCLA. Weber State lost to UCLA 83-60 on Dec. 22. WSU went 1-1 against Northern NAU. Arizona beat NAU 77-44 on Dec. 23. Arizona went 2-1 vs. UCLA.
Notes: Arizona is fifth in the nation in scoring defense and seventh in field-goal percentage defense. Arizona’s junior guard Nick Johnson was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Forward Aaron Gordon was named the Freshman of the Year. Both were named First-Team All-Conference...Weber State’s Davion Berry has scored in double figures in 21 straight games...None of Weber State’s players have played in the NCAA Tournament...WSU senior guard Kyle Richardson will play in his 131st career game, the most in Big Sky history. Senior center Kyle Tresnak will play in his 130th game...The Big Sky went 0-12 against Pac-12 members during the regular season. Weber State has three players on its team from Arizona - Tresnak, Richaud Gittens, and Byron Fulton...This will be Weber State’s first neutral-court game this season...Weber State is the first Big Sky 16 seed since Portland State in 2008...Sean Miller coached Xavier to a win over Portland State of the Big Sky Conference in the first round of the 2009 tournament, just weeks before taking the Arizona job...Arizona is fourth in the AP poll and fifth in the Coaches’ Poll. WSU is 24th in the Mid-Major Top 25.