Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round) on March 10, 2026 , Loss , 66, to, 73
Final Score
Men's Basketball
66
vs No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round)
73
The University of Utah Athletics
Woods' Absence Changes Game For Arizona
3/16/2000 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2000
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - No Loren Woods, not much worry for Arizona.
As they have so many times this season, the Wildcats have to make do yet again without one of their key players.
They learned Wednesday the 7-foot-1 center who blocked a school record 102 shots will miss the NCAA tournament with a back injury that also kept him out of the final six regular-season games.
Woods' absence leaves the top-seeded Wildcats (26-6) with seven scholarship players against No. 16 seed Jackson State (17-15) in today's first round.
"With Loren out, we're a completely different team," said Richard Jefferson, who returned four games ago after missing 13 with a broken foot. "We're a lot faster, quicker and perimeter-oriented. If we can beat a one seed without Loren, we can beat anybody in the country."
The Wildcats defeated Stanford, the top seed in the South, twice during the Pac-10 Conference season.
In today's other first-round games, No. 5 Texas (23-8) plays No. 12 Indiana State (22-9), No. 4 LSU (26-5) takes on No. 13 Southeast Missouri State (24-6), and No. 8 Wisconsin (18-13) faces No. 9 Fresno State (24-9).
Arizona isn't panicking because the Wildcats were 4-2 without Woods, including the second win over Stanford. They've used a seven-man rotation much of the season due to injuries, defections and other setbacks.
"We rely on everyone a lot more," Jefferson said. "The burden is not on one person's shoulders."
Jackson State coach Andy Stoglin would rather see Woods in the game.
"We matched up better with them with Woods," he said. "If Woods was there, Luke Walton wouldn't be on the floor as much, and he's a very dangerous player because he's such a smart player."
Walton, a freshman whose father is former NBA player Bill, has led the Wildcats in assists in eight of the last 10 games. He had 15 points and 12 assists in the second win against Stanford.
"I was really impressed with Walton because of the way he passed," Stoglin said. "When you've got a player like Walton that makes other people better, that's the ultimate."
The Tigers have an impressive player in 6-11 senior Vincent Jones, who led the Southwestern Athletic Conference in blocked shots with 88.
"He reminds me a little bit of Loren Woods," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "The guy goes after everything that's up there. He has a nice shooting touch and runs the court like a guard. That will be an obvious concern for us."
Tonight's second game between Fresno State and Wisconsin pits teams that are familiar with each other's playing style.
Wisconsin has used its halfcourt offense and clog-the-lane defense to beat Fresno State twice in the last two seasons. The Badgers are holding opponents to 55.8 points per game, while the Bulldogs average 83.1.
"I don't think we necessarily have to have a low-scoring game, although we would like it to be. We don't want to get out in a running game with them," Wisconsin guard Mike Kelley said.
The Badgers showed they can run up the score with an 87-65 win over the Bulldogs in 1998.
"I just remember getting beat very badly in Wisconsin," said Courtney Alexander, who leads the nation in scoring with 25.3 points a game.
Fresno State is back in the tournament for the first time since 1984. Jerry Tarkanian is coaching his first NCAA game since his UNLV team lost to Duke in the 1991 championship.
"I've been here before, but it's still nice for me," he said. "Now it's important that we play well here."
Tarkanian said tonight's game will not be a run-and-gun affair. Instead, it'll come down to half-court offense.
"It's really important that we shoot the ball well because we're not a real big team and we're not a real deep team. We won't get a lot of offensive rebounds," he said. "If we're hitting our shots, I think it's going to be a great ballgame."
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