SAN DIEGO—There’s no such thing as an bad postseason win.
Top-seeded Arizona had one of its most uneven offensive performances of the season yet never trailed in a 78-66 win over No. 9 Utah State on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats (34-2) advance to their third consecutive Sweet 16 and fourth in five seasons under Tommy Lloyd and will face No. 4 Arkansas (28-8) in the West Region semifinals on Thursday in San Jose, Calif.
Arizona shot just 39.3 percent, tied for
its 2nd-worst field goal percentage of the season, including 15 of 39 on 2-point shots with 13 missed layups. It also missed 12 foul shots but made 27, outscoring the Aggies (29-7) by 19 points at the line.
But the UA shot 52 percent in the second half, when Jaden Bradley had 12 of his game-high 18 points and Brayden Burries 11 of his 16. The Wildcats also dominated the boards, finishing plus-28 and collecting 22 offensive rebounds that resulted in 21 second-chance points.
Koa Peat added 14 points and 10 rebounds, the second UA freshman in as many games to record a postseason double-double, and Motiejus Krivas went for 11 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.
Utah State shot 39.1 percent, 25 percent from 3 and only took 11 free throws. Its equalizer was forcing 11 turnovers, eight after halftime when it cut an 18-point deficit to four on multiple occasions.
Arizona led 33-24 at halftime despite shooting only 29 percent, including 5 of 21 inside the arc. Utah State, which shot 56 percent on 2s but was 1 of 12 from 3 in the 1st, made three of its first five from outside to start the 2nd half.
But the Wildcats also made a couple 3s, including one from Burries at the top of the key after the under-16 timeout, part of a 9-0 run to build a 51-33 lead with 14:41 to go.
But then the UA offense began to sputter like much of the first half. It didn’t make a field goal for almost eight minutes, not even attempting a 2-point shot for more than six minutes at one point as Utah State used full court pressure to force four turnovers in a 3-minute stretch. The last giveaway led toPeat getting his fourth foul with 7:27 left and Adlan Elamin hitting two free throws to get the Aggies within 56-51.
That’s when Bradley flipped the switch into Player of the Year mode.
He ended the FG drought with a reverse layup with 6:55 remaining, then after Arizona nearly gave it up once more at the press but managed to break it Bradley drove to the rim, hitting the shot and getting fouled for a 3-point play. He hit another jumper and made 1 of 2 free throws on a separate possession to get the lead back to 66-59 with 4:07 to go.
Krivas made two free throws to extend it to 68-61 with 3:24 left, then altered a shot on defense and was fouled at the other end. He made two more foul shots and it was back to a 9-point game before MJ Collins drained a 3 for Utah State.
But then the dagger came when Burries swished a 3 at the end of the shot clock with 2:18 to go.
The UA jumped out to a 10-2 lead, a 3 byBradley forcing Utah State to call timeout. The Aggies then scored on two of their next three possessions while Arizona missed four of five shots.
Burries picked up his second foul just over six minutes in and had to sit, and in his absence USU got within 19-16 as Dell’Orso struggled on the defensive end. Burries returned with 8:24 remaining before halftime and Arizona scored eight in a row, keeping the Aggies scoreless for more than four minutes.
Arizona missed eight straight shots and 11 of 12, though, keeping it from stretching that margin. A 4-minute scoring drought was ended byPeat making a the first foul shot and then missing the second but the UA maintained possession and got a layup from Ivan Kharchenkov to go back up double digits.
