Arizona’s sizzling shooting overpowers Arkansas
SAN JOSE -- Brayden Burries scored 23 points and fellow freshman Koa Peat added 21 as top-seeded rolled to a 109-88 win over No. 4 Arkansas in the West Region semifinals on Thursday night.
The Wildcats (35-2) matched their school record for wins by shooting 63.8% from the field and advanced to their first Elite Eight since 2015. They'll take on No. 2 seed Purdue, a 79-77 win over No. 11 seed Texas earlier Thursday, in Sunday's West Region final.
Burries was 7 of 11 from the field, while Peat made 8 of 11 shots. They were two of six Wildcats in double figures, the first time they had done that in an NCAA Tournament game since the Elite Eight in 1997. Arizona won its lone national title that year.
Arkansas (28-9) got 28 points from freshman Darius Acuff Jr., who scored 88 in three tourney games. Meleek Thomas had 17 and Billy Richmond III added 13 for the Razorbacks, who were called for two flagrant fouls and two technicals, one on coach John Calipari. Richmond III was ejected for a flagrant 2 with 7:14 left.
Arizona shot 64.3% in the first half to lead 54-43, then made its first five shots of the second half to build an 18-point lead. A 3-pointer by Burries made it 74-55 with 14:34 to go.
The Wildcats led by 21 before going nearly three minutes without points, but Arkansas couldn't get closer than 16, and an 8-0 Arizona run put the team up 89-65 with 8:52 remaining.
Arizona made 11 of its first 14 shots, building an 11-point lead less than nine minutes in. A putback by Motiejus Krivas extended the margin to 34-22 with 7:57 left in the first half.
Arkansas couldn't string a run together, finally getting four straight points to get within 46-35 with 3:05 remaining before halftime.