WATCH: Bennedict Mathurin puts Eddie Lampkin on a poster
Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin is one of the most electrifying players in all of college basketball. He’s carried his Wildcats all season long to a No. 1 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Tonight, his Wildcats were in a real dogfight with the TCU Horned Frogs and Mathurin had one of the biggest dunks of this year’s tournament.
Check it out as he cocked the ball back in mid-air and put TCU’s Eddie Lampkin, Jr. on a poster.
Highlight plays like that are exactly why so many people across America picked the Wildcats to win the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The game was a fierce battle all night long and luckily for Mathurin and Arizona, they were able to outlast the Horned Frogs in overtime, 85-80.
The Wildcats had some clutch plays down the stretch from two of their stars, 2022 Pac-12 Player of the Year Bennedict Mathurin and their center, Christian Koloko. Mathurin and Koloko scored 58 of their team’s 85 points in the game. Mathurin proved why he won so many accolades this season, making clutch plays at several critical moments. He drilled 11-of-13 free throws and his team proved to need nearly every single one of those. Mathurin also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
He was able to propel his team to a heart-stopping victory and saved much of America’s brackets in the process. Mathurin showed that he had freon pumping through his veins when he drilled a deep three-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 75-75.
Christian Koloko also scored 28 points, corralled 12 rebounds, and had three blocks. He also had the final bucket in overtime, after Mathurin missed a three-pointer with 14 seconds left. Koloko soared above everyone and dunked the ball with authority, eliciting a roar from the Arizona faithful in attendance. His dunk made the score 85-80 with 11 seconds left in overtime and that’s how it would end after TCU missed a few final shots.
Arizona will need to play much better if they wish to get past Houston in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats only shot 18.5 percent from three on Sunday night against TCU, but still survived. The Cougars have some incredible athletes on their roster and they looked ferocious on defense and on the glass in their win against the Illinois Fighting Illini.