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Williams comes up huge as Arizona holds off Memphis

Mar 18, 2011 - 10:47 PM Tulsa, OK (Sports Network) - Derrick Williams finished with a game-high 22 points and blocked a potential tying shot in the final moments as the Arizona Wildcats held off the Memphis Tigers, 77-75, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I just went up and tried to make a hard play on the ball like coach always tells us to do. And good thing it wasn't a foul," Williams said regarding the block.

Williams also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds while Lamont Jones scored 18 points for the Wildcats (28-7), seeded fifth in the West Region. They will next face No. 4 seed Texas in the round of 32.

Antonio Barton paced 12th-seeded Memphis (25-10) with 17 points. Will Barton added 12 while both Joe Jackson and Wesley Witherspoon scored 10 in the loss.

Jackson made the first of two from the line with five seconds remaining, getting the Tigers within two. Jackson intentionally missed the second free throw, but Witherspoon gathered a tipped ball under the bucket. However, Williams came up with the huge block and Arizona's Jamelle Horne was fouled with 0.4 seconds left. Horne missed both attempts, but Memphis never got off a desperation shot.

"I thought it was a terrific basketball game," Tigers coach Josh Pastner said. "We had some chances, obviously we missed some free throws. We missed some short shots, but that's the way the game goes."

Arizona took a 41-38 lead into the half, and widened it to 48-40 in the opening minutes of the second. A Williams jumper and free throw put the Wildcats up by that margin, but the Tigers quickly responded with an 13-0 run -- highlighted by three trifecta's -- to garner a lead.

Just as they did all game, the Wildcats responded, tying it at 53, and the contest remained close down the stretch with neither team about to create a margin more the five.

Two free throws by Horne with 23 ticks remaining put the Wildcats up 75-70, but Jackson was fouled on the next possession, making both, to make it a one- possession game.

Will Barton grabbed a steal on Arizona's Solomon Hill, and after Jackson connected on a putback layup, Jones made a pair from the line to set up the late game heroics.

"I don't necessarily think we played our best game," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "I credit Memphis. They played extremely hard. They have a lot of very good young players. Their future is bright."

The Tigers opened the game with a 10-1 run, capped by Antonio Barton's layup and conversion, and after a Witherspoon jumper and a pair from the line just around 12 minutes remaining their advantage was 21-11.

Williams connected on a layup and foul shot on the Wildcats' next possession and after two Jones baskets -- surrounding Antonio Barton's three -- Memphis' lead was down to 24-18.

Williams then added a pair from the line to cut the Arizona deficit to four, and after a pair from Jackson, Kevin Parrom's three and Kyle Fogg's bucket made it a 26-25 game with 5:32 remaining.

The Wildcats finally took a lead with another Williams basket with 4:57 remaining and their edge reached 35-30 with a Parrom layup at the 3:06 mark.

Williams scored 12 points and Jones added 10 in the first half as the Wildcats shot 48 percent from the field and made 11-of-12 from the line.

Game Notes

Memphis is now 32-23 in the NCAAs; Arizona improves to 44-25...The all-time series between these schools is now locked at 4-4...Memphis head coach Pastner played for Arizona from 1996-2000, winning the tournament in 1997, and was an assistant coach with the Wildcats from 2002-2008...Coleman finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Memphis ...Parrom and Horne both supplied nine points for the victors.