Down goes another 1: Houston sends Arizona packing from NCAA tournament
Arizona threatened a rally Thursday.
But No. 5 seed Houston stood its ground before pulling away late to secure a 72-60 Sweet 16 upset of the No. 1 seed Wildcats in the men's NCAA tournament. While Arizona was the higher seed, Houston was the better team from the opening tip.
Houston never trailed while riding hot 3-point shooting and stifling defense to victory. Arizona cut its 34-28 halftime deficit to 42-40 with 13:33 left. Houston responded to extend its lead to 12 points at 61-49. A Kyler Edwards 3-pointer with 1:25 left fended off another Arizona rally to ensure Houston's spot in the Elite Eight.
KYLER EDWARDS pic.twitter.com/qCWoO7UZdn
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 25, 2022
The Cougars will face No. 2 seed Villanova on Saturday after the Wildcats beat Michigan earlier Thursday.
With the loss, Arizona becomes the third No. 1 seed to fall so far in the NCAA tournament. Baylor lost to No. 8 seed North Carolina in the second round, and Gonzaga fell to No. 4 seed Arkansas earlier Thursday. Only Kansas remains in the Midwest region. The Jayhawks face No. 4 seed Providence on Friday.
Houston entered Thursday's game as one of only two teams to rank in the top 10 in Ken Pom's adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ratings. It showed Thursday as Houston was strong on both sides of the ball — and better than its No. 5 seed suggests.
The Cougars finished shooting 9-of-20 (45%) from 3-point distance. Edwards, a senior All-AAC guard, paced the effort while hitting 5 of his 9 attempts from behind the arc en route to 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. Fellow All-AAC guard Jamal Shead led the scoring effort with 21 points to go with six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Houston shot 46% from the field as a team.
'That's what we do'
On the other side, nothing came easy for Arizona. The Wildcats ended the first half with just seven made field goals. They hit 18 of 54 attempts (33.3%) for the game while turning the ball over 14 times. All Pac-12 forward Azuolas Tubelis found nothing inside in a two-point effort while shooting 0-of-8 from the field.
Head coach Kelvin Sampson talked about the effort after the game.
"I watched Arizona play," Sampson said. "I watched them play UCLA. I watched them play Colorado. I watched the way those teams guarded them. And I knew we weren’t going to guard them like those teams did.
"Those teams just switched them. They let ‘em be comfortable. I knew were were gonna make them uncomfortable. That’s what we do."
Arizona looked little like the team that rolled to the Pac-12 championship with an 18-2 conference record and entered Thursday's game 33-3. The Wildcats were pegged behind Gonzaga as the second likeliest to win the NCAA championship. But they were lucky to advance past TCU in overtime in the second round just to get to their matchup with Houston. Now they're heading home alongside Gonzaga in a dwindling NCAA tournament field that's wide open.
