West Regional: Arizona seeks an end to Southern California woes

Center Kaleb Tarczewski (35) and his Arizona teammates went down to the wire in a loss to Wisconsin in the West Regional final last year at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

March 25, 2015 4:46 PM PT

Arizona plays Xavier in the West Regional semifinals at Staples Center on Thursday, when the Wildcats look to end their Southern California curse in the NCAA tournament.

Coach Sean Miller waxed poetic about being in Los Angeles for the regional, calling it “the footprint of our conference.”

However, the Wildcats have stubbed their toes here before. Their NCAA tournament history in Southern California has been less than impressive.

Arizona has failed to advance the last five times it has come to Southern California for a regional. The Wildcats lost in overtime to Wisconsin at the regional final at Honda Center last season and were beaten by three by Ohio State at Staples two seasons ago.

“I just think it’s a weird anomaly,” center Kaleb Tarczewski said.

Guard Gabe York pointed out the level of competition and caliber of games.

“We’ve lost to some very, very good teams,” the reserve guard said. “We were there at the finish. It’s not like we we’re losing by 20-30 points.”