Arizona Basketball: 3 keys to beating Houston in Sweet 16 matchup

All four No. 1 seeds were certainly tested in the second round and the last one to survive, Arizona Basketball had to go to overtime to be a resilient TCU squad 85-80. The Wildcats were led by Benedict Mauthrin and Christian Koloko who put the team on their backs and carried them into the Sweet 16, combing for 58 points and 21 rebounds.

Ironically, the game was sealed by Koloko’s offensive rebound and put back slam against the horned frogs who showed why they are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, snatching 20 against the lengthy Wildcats.

Arizona now moves on to San Antonio where the fifth-seeded Houston cougars await after putting on a defensive clinic in beating Illinois 68-53. This sets up a match-up between two teams that we could’ve easily seen facing off in New Orleans at the final four. Kelvin Sampson’s squad has been one of the best teams in the country over the past few seasons but gets overshadowed somewhat by the nightwear names.

Few teams have dealt with the adversity of losing two of their top scorers to season-ending injuries and bouncing back like Houston has since losing Tramon Mark and Marcus Sasser five games apart early this season.

This sets up one of the more anticipated matchups of the sweet 16 between two teams that match up well together.  The two teams enter the game with a combined record of 64-8 and both teams rank in the top 18 in both offensive and defensive efficiency on Kenpom, which means this should be a high-quality game at both ends of the floor. In order for Arizona to move on, they will have to play their best game of the tournament, which includes focusing on some key areas against the cougars.