The San Jose Regional has come to an end as the Arizona Wildcats have beaten the Purdue Boilermakers. Arizona is going to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years.
At the beginning of the first half, it felt as if the hoop was bigger than standard as both teams were hitting shots. Arizona had the first run of the game that gave them a seven-point lead. However, basketball is a game of runs and Purdue had their run, led by Braden Smith.
Purdue entered the second half with a 7-point lead. This lead was because they were out-rebounding Arizona and taking advantage of second-chance points.
“We put ourselves in a position to win the game obviously at halftime, and that’s what hurts the most because sometimes when you get against those great teams, you don’t even get in position. You got to get yourself in position,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter.
On the other end, Arizona was struggling at the three-point line. Some of the shots they were taking were incredibly contested. Purdue was inside the paint defensively and that was causing trouble for the offense.
“I said, guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now. You guys got a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves and kind of figure this deal out, and let’s go kick their ass in the second half.” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd
Arizona started off the second half so quickly that they tied the game. It seemed as if the halftime worked in the Wildcat’s favor.
Unfortunately, because Arizona took over the game was as good as done pretty quickly. The Boilermakers were held to just 26 points in the second-half while Arizona scored a whopping 48 points.
“Congrats to Arizona. I thought they played a great second half,” said Painter.
For Purdue, that ends the era of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn.
“They got the most wins in school history. They got the most tournament wins in school history. They got two Big Ten Championships. They got two Big Ten Tournament titles. You know, they showed up every day and worked,” said Painter.
On the other hand, the magical run that Arizona is on continues. They will play either Michigan or Tennessee in Indianapolis. The Final Four begins on April 4 and the National Championship is on April 6.
