2013 NCAA Tournament: Arizona Impresses With 81-64 Win Over Belmont

Mar 21, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Belmont Bruins guard/forward J.J. Mann (14), Arizona Wildcats forward Solomon Hill (44) and Bruins guard Ian Clark (21) position themselves for a rebound in the first half during the second round of the 2013 NCAA tournament at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

A lot of folks have picked the sixth-seeded Arizona Wildcats to go deep into this year’s NCAA Tournament. If you’re one of them, you have to feel good about what Zona did today. The size and strength of the Wildcats was on display in their 81-64 win over the Belmont Bruins in Salt Lake City, Utah. It should be fun to see how far they can go in the West Region.

Arizona did all of their dirty work inside, getting a lot of high-percentage buckets en route to shooting at a 57 percent clip. The Cats also held a staggering 44-18 margin on the boards and a 36-18 edge in points in the paint. Mark Lyons led four Wildcats in double-figures with 23 points on 8-15 shooting. Kerron Johnson posted 22 points for the Bruins, and Ian Clark added 21 in a losing effort.

Zona now advances to the round of 32 and will play next on Saturday. They’ll face the winner of New Mexico and Harvard, with that game set to get under way this evening at around 10:10 p.m. Eastern Time.