Saturday night in Birmingham, against college basketball's No. 1 team, the Alabama Crimson Tide proved one thing. That 'thing' was that defense requires much more than blocking shots. Against the Wildcats, Alabama was outstanding at blocking shots. Alabama blocked 15 shots, and the Wildcats still scored 96 points.
There are several reasons why. The most glaring one is that Arizona dominated the offensive glass with 22 ORBs to 3 for the Crimson Tide. As a result of a 52-32 rebound advantage, along with 11 fewer turnovers for Arizona, the Wildcats took 28 more shots than Alabama. The Wildcats played some outstanding team defense, and they did it while blocking just one shot.