No. 1 Arizona Survives No. 9 TCU's Upset Bid in OT, Will Face Houston in Sweet 16

The No. 1 seed Arizona Wildcats survived a scare from the No. 9 seed TCU Horned Frogs en route to an 85-80 overtime win in San Diego on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin scored a season-high 30 points, including a three-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 75.

That set up a chaotic final sequence in regulation.

TCU guard Mike Miles Jr. had trouble advancing the ball because of Arizona's defensive pressure. However, he appeared to get fouled as he lost the ball near half court by Wildcats guard Dalen Terry.

No call was made, and Terry picked up the loose ball and scampered to the hoop. He slammed the ball home as time expired, but he was a few tenths of a second too late.

In overtime, Mathurin and Wildcats big man Christian Koloko scored all 10 of Arizona's points.

Arizona found itself up just 81-80 with 1:44 left after a Miles Jr. three-point play.

On the next possession, Kerr Kriisa took a trio of three-point attempts but did not connect on any of them. 

Koloko came up with the offensive rebound after the first two to keep the possession alive, but Mathurin grabbed the third and put it home for an 83-80 lead.

TCU forward Chuck O'Bannon Jr. missed a three on the other end, but Mathurin responded with a missed triple of his own. Koloko, however, skied to grab Mathurin's miss and sealed this game with a put-back dunk.

Koloko had 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting, 12 rebounds and three blocks. O'Bannon Jr. (23 points), Miles Jr. (20) and center Eddie Lampkin Jr. (20) paced the TCU offense.

Arizona has now made the Sweet 16 for the 20th time in school history and first since 2017. The Wildcats improved to 33-3 with the win.

TCU, which hadn't made the second round of the NCAA tournament since 1987 before this year, ends the season at 21-13.

        

Notable Performances

Arizona G Bennedict Mathurin: 30 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals

Arizona C Christian Koloko: 28 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks

TCU F Chuck O'Bannon Jr.: 23 points, five rebounds, four steals

TCU G Mike Miles Jr.: 20 points, three assists

TCU C Eddie Lampkin Jr.: 20 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks

    

Mathurin, Koloko Lead Wildcats to Win

All Wildcats not named Mathurin or Koloko scored just 27 points on 11-of-36 shooting. It was an off-night for that crew, but Mathurin and Koloko were up to the task of leading this team to a gritty win over a tough TCU squad.

Mathurin starred all night, especially in the second half and overtime. He arguably delivered the dunk of the tournament to put Arizona up 54-52.

Meanwhile, Koloko was putting in work on offense, defense and the glass. He registered back-to-back blocks here to preserve a 59-56 edge.

It appeared Arizona was set to pull away after an 8-0 run to go up 67-58. Koloko hit a big shot during that span, putting in this layup plus the foul. That gave him a career high in points.

But TCU was relentless and stormed all the way back. The Horned Frogs even took a 70-67 lead, but Terry nailed a three to tie it back up at 70:

Mathurin and Koloko scored the rest of Arizona's points from there as the Wildcats outlasted the Horned Frogs in an instant classic.

It won't get any easier against a Houston team that just beat a stout Illinois squad 68-53, but the Mathurin-Koloko duo can keep the Wildcats in any game.

    

Tremendous Effort From TCU

It's easy to play the "What if?" game after this one following the uncalled foul near the end of regulation. Miles, a 77.3 percent career free-throw shooter, would have gone to the line for two shots with about three seconds left.

Far more likely than not, TCU would have won the game.

Alas, that did not happen. Still, TCU showed a lot of heart against a No. 1 seed largely considered the second- or third-best team remaining in the field.

O'Bannon Jr. punctuated a great start for the Horned Frogs, putting home this dunk for a 10-2 edge:

Lampkin Jr. made his home in the paint in a great battle with Koloko, slamming down this powerful dunk to tie it up at 29:

     

TCU didn't wilt in the second half, with O'Bannon Jr. hitting his fourth three-pointer of the game for a 43-41 lead:

Arizona jumped out to a 67-58 advantage, but TCU fired back with a 12-0 run. O'Bannon Jr. scored the first five points before Lampkin hit this baby hook to cut the deficit to two.

Terry's big three ended the Arizona drought, but Lampkin Jr. responded yet again with a layup for a 72-70 lead:

Lampkin Jr. scored TCU's last five points in regulation, including a free throw following an offensive rebound as well as a layup with 37 seconds remaining that gave TCU a 75-72 lead.

The rest of the game didn't go in TCU's favor, but credit to the Horned Frogs for a valiant effort. Head coach Jamie Dixon's crew has a lot to be proud of after a great tournament appearance that started with a resounding 69-42 win over Seton Hall.

     

What's Next?

Arizona will play No. 5 seed Houston in the South Regional semifinals on Thursday at San Antonio's AT&T Center. The game will occur after the conclusion of the other semifinal between No. 2 seed Villanova and No. 11 seed Michigan, which tips off at 7:15 p.m. ET.

The semifinal winners will play Saturday at a to-be-determined time in San Antonio.