’Zona’s Derrick Williams comes home to play Duke

Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif.

The last time Derrick Williams came home to play basketball, things didn’t go well for Arizona.

The Wildcats arrived in Los Angeles with a two-game lead in the Pac-10 standings and got swept by Southern California and UCLA. Williams scored a season-low eight points against the Trojans before rebounding with 15 points against the Bruins.

The Wildcats hung on in their final two games to win the league’s regular season title and Williams was named Pac-10 player of the year.

Now, the sophomore from La Mirada is close to home again, this time for the biggest game of his college career.

The fifth-seeded Wildcats (29-7) play the top-seeded Blue Devils (32-4) in the NCAA West Regional tonight at the Honda Center.

The Wildcats practiced Wednesday at Williams’ old high school in La Mirada, 15 minutes from the Orange County arena.

“Going back to my high school brought back a lot of memories,” he said. “My senior season we won the league championship. That was the best thing my school has had basketball-wise, first time since ’82 that we had a league championship.”

Another Arizona starter, Kyle Fogg, grew up 10 minutes away in Brea, while reserve Alex Jacobson is from nearby Santa Ana. Jordin Mayes and starter Solomon Hill are both from Los Angeles.

“It’s good to be home, but we’re here for business right now,” Fogg said.

And Arizona’s goal is to knock off the defending national champions, whose .762 winning percentage in the NCAA tournament is the best ever.

“It’s never to your advantage going against them in this tournament,” second-year Arizona coach Sean Miller said.

He should know. As a Xavier assistant in 2004, Miller saw the Blue Devils beat the Musketeers by three points to earn a spot in the Final Four.

“Can we match their intensity and effort level, not for part of the game or not after the first four minutes when we get used to them, but from start to finish?” Miller said. “That’s our only chance.”

The Wildcats’ tourney winning percentage of .643 is eighth-best, although their run of 25 consecutive appearances ended last year.

Giving the Blue Devils a postseason boost is Kyrie Irving, who returned at the start of the tournament after missing 26 games with an injured right toe. He averaged 12.5 points in their first two wins, a blowout of Hampton and a two-pointer against Michigan.

The freshman point guard won’t start, although coach Mike Krzyzewski said he will play several minutes.

“He played significant minutes last week when I thought he was going to play limited minutes, so I mentioned that he will play significant minutes tomorrow,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t know what the hell that means. It means he’s going to play great minutes hopefully.”

UConn-San Diego State

ANAHEIM, Calif.

Connecticut flew clear across the continent for the next round of the NCAA tournament. San Diego State hopped in a bus and drove 90 minutes up the interstate.

Huskies coach Jim Calhoun and Aztecs coach Steve Fisher have been doing this long enough to realize miles don’t matter at this point in the West regional — not compared to the distance both teams traveled all season to reach this stage.

Two surprisingly successful squads with much-respected leaders meet tonight at Honda Center, with the winner moving to the brink of the Final Four.

Calhoun acknowledges he has been thrilled by his freshman-laden lineup’s maturity at UConn (28-9), one of just two Big East teams left.

San Diego State (34-2) has never been this far.

FLORIDA-BYU

NEW ORLEANS

Just like everyone else in college basketball, Florida is quite familiar with Jimmer-mania.

Jimmer Fredette’s production — 28.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game — is impossible to ignore. If anything, BYU’s senior guard is getting stronger, scoring at least 30 points in six of his last seven games.

But second-seeded Florida doesn’t buy that third-seeded BYU will be a one-man team when they meet in the NCAA regional semifinals tonight.

The Gators know from experience.

BYU beat Florida 99-92 in double overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. Fredette scored 37 points, yet what really hurt was a career game from reserve guard Michael Loyd Jr., who poured in 26 points.