Arionza earns bid to Final Four, defeats Purdue in Elite Eight

Saturday saw the Elite Eight game between the Arizona Wildcats and Purdue Boilermakers as the more anticipated matchup. The top two seeds of the West Region, most thought a thrilling game would take place. Thankfully, those people were right. After a great first half from Purdue, Arizona fought back and put together its best 20 minutes of the season.

Now, the Wildcats are heading East to play in the Final Four. It’s the first time head coach Tommy Lloyd has been there. Lucas Oil Stadium will play host, being in a city Arizona fans are all too familiar with. The program’s lone national championship came in Indianapolis, occurring in 1997.

“Personally, I feel good,” Lloyd said postgame with Turner’s Allie LaForce. “Who I’m most happy for is these Arizona fans. You guys deserve this.”

There was a ton of things for Arizona to be proud of in this one. Playing to their style of basketball certainly is one of them.

Lloyd knows exactly how he wants his team to work offensively. Arizona does not take too many three-point attempts. Saturday night was another great example, only putting 15 of them up. Five of them turned into buckets, four of which were made by Brayden Burries.

Points come via the paint and free-throw line. Arizona shot just over 51% inside the arc and attempted 22 shots from the charity stripe. Just how they drew it up in Tucson.

“We like paint points, we like free throws,” Lloyd said. “We’ll take threes here and there. But we know this — we’re gritty. And if we’re not gritty, we’re the word that rhymes with gritty.”

Arizona heading to Indianapolis after run through West Regional

Arizona’s NCAA Tournament journey began the way many do for a one-seed — taking care of business over the 16. LIU fell quite short of competing with UofA, losing by 34 points. The momentum then carries over into the second round for the Wildcats, defeating Utah State.

We then saw Arizona match up with Arkansas, a game filled with freshman stars. Similar to what happened in the Elite Eight game vs. Purdue, a second-half run turned out to be too much for the Razorbacks to handle.

Next up is a plane ride to Indianapolis for the Final Four. The exact opponent is not yet known, still needing Sunday’s action to take place. But you have to imagine Arizona will not care, feeling as if they can cut down the nets on Monday night.