No. 2 Arizona can add a No. 1 seed to its impressive resume.
The Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion Wildcats are the No. 1 seed in the West Region — second overall behind Duke — and will open the NCAA Tournament against Long Island University on Friday in San Diego.
The West also includes No. 2 seed Purdue, Gonzaga, Arkansas and Wisconsin in a region that goes through San Jose, California, on the way to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
The
Wildcats haven't been to the Final Four since 2001, but have the type of team that could end that streak.
Arizona (32-2) has a big, balanced roster that's had seven different leading scorers and a defense that's as physical as any in the country. The Wildcats opened the season by knocking off reigning national champion Florida and kept taking down ranked opponents all season.
Arizona beat 15 teams that were ranked at the time — that's 46% of its wins — and rolls into the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game winning streak since its only two losses of the season. The Wildcats took down No. 7 Iowa State on Jaden Bradley's buzzer beater in the Big 12 semifinals and outlasted No. 5 Houston 79-74 in the title game to sweep the Big 12 championships their second season in the league.
“They’re just resilient, you know? And they just have this unbreakable spirit," Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after cutting down the nets in Kansas City. “These guys do an amazing job of figuring it out in tough moments.”
Long Island beat Mercyhurst 79-70 to win the NEC title and face the daunting task of playing Arizona.
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