BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - They are a basketball team defined by their failures, plagued by parenthetical statements that are inherently negative. And yet the success does not abate.
The Arizona Wildcats, who nearly lost NCAA Tournament games to 13th-seeded South Alabama and 12th-seeded College of Charleston, withstood a furious rally from the surging Providence Friars, 96-92 in overtime, and earned the championship of the Southeast Regional Sunday at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
The Wildcats, losers of three first-round NCAA Tournament games since 1991, reached the Final Four for the third time in the past 10 years.
''I think people need to get to the present,'' Arizona coach Lute Olson said. ''To my understanding now in the past four years, this is two Final Fours and a Sweet 16. So people need to get off that and look at what these guys have accomplished.''
Arizona, which held an 85-78 lead with 1:15 left, forced two quick shots and committed one turnover and went scoreless the remainder of regulation. But the Wildcats will travel to Indianapolis because their defense, following a timeout with 3.9 seconds left, shut down Providence small forward Derrick Brown and point guard God Shammgod.
That left open 5-foot-8 Corey Wright for a three-point shot. Wright is a 21 percent three-point shooter.
''I was trying to tell him to go to the hole,'' Shammgod said, ''but I guess he didn't know how much time was on the clock. It was a good shot. It was open. If it would have fallen, we wouldn't have been playing any more.''
In the overtime, Arizona attacked the basket and the Providence man-to-man defense for layups and short jumpers. Freshman point guard Mike Bibby opened with a 10-footer, the last two of his 17 points, and guard Miles Simon scored four of his game-high 30.
The Friars might have continued in the tournament had they been as composed in dealing with the Wildcats as they were in dealing with the deficit. Two technical fouls for striking Arizona players during dead-ball situations, both in the second half, cost Providence a combined six points.
''This was a very physical game from the beginning,'' said Friars star forward Austin Croshere, who fouled out with 9:16 left and 12 points. ''We got down a little bit and were a little frustrated. Emotion got the best of everybody.''
As had been the problem with Providence through much of the year, one of its supporting players decided this moment belonged to him and no one else.
In this case, it was small forward Jamel Thomas, who threw up a number of questionable attempts early and proceeded to shoot 9-of-29 from the field. He scored 23 points.
The stars of the first three games had been, in order, Croshere, Brown and Shammgod. Thomas played as though it were his turn. And for a moment, it was. His three-pointer from the left corner with 14 seconds left tied the game at 85. In overtime, though, Thomas was 1-of-5.
''We said, 'There are five minutes left in our season,' and it would be a case of who's strong and who would survive,'' said Arizona guard Jason Terry, who scored five of his 11 points in the extra period. ''We came out and executed and came out on top.''
In the beginning, Providence coach Pete Gillen quickly determined it would be difficult defending the Wildcats with a conventional man-to-man. Their dynamic quickness already had sent home No. 1 Kansas.
So Gillen set Providence in a 2-3 zone, with the players instructed to squeeze any player who caught the ball on the wing.
Gillen resisted committing to the zone but switched back in the latter part of the first half. Arizona went scoreless on its next seven trips and 11-of-14 heading into the break.
''We haven't made it easy all year, so I guess that continues,'' Olson said. ''We made some horrible decisions tonight that we can't afford to make again.''
Even in glory, there were concerns.
With Arizona, it could be no other way.
