Arizona Beats Purdue to Reach Final Four as Fans Hype Wildcats as Unbeatable in March Madness
No. 1 seed Arizona overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 2 seed Purdue 79-64 on Saturday in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in San Jose.
Arizona forward Koa Peat had 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists for a Wildcats team going to its first Final Four since 2001. Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 points and eight boards, and guards Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries scored 14 points apiece.
The Wildcats used a 24-7 second half run to turn a 42-35 deficit into a 59-49 lead with 8:47 remaining and outscored Purdue 48-26 in the second half overall thanks to a phenomenal performance on both ends of the court.
Purdue stopped the run with a couple quick buckets to cut the Purdue lead to six, but Burries responded with a three-pointer after Motiejus Krivas' offensive rebound and assist.
That shot gave Arizona a 62-53 lead with 7:32 left and may as well have been the game's biggest bucket, as the Wildcats went on a quick 7-2 run and led by 11 or more points for the rest of the game.
Purdue looked great in the first half and jumped out to a 38-31 halftime lead thanks to making 7-of-14 three-pointers, including three from Braden Smith and two from Gicarri Harris off the bench. Meanwhile, Arizona only made 1-of-6 threes in the first half.
Purdue made a trio of three-pointers during a 13-4 run to close the first half. Smith led the Boilermakers with 11 points heading into the break en route to 13 overall alongside seven assists and five rebounds. Center Oscar Cluff added a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
However, the Wildcats quickly wiped away Purdue's progress and crushed the Boilermakers in the second half en route to victory.
Fans and analysts were understandably impressed by Arizona's dominant performance. Those have been a trend throughout the tournament, as the Wildcats have taken down No. 16 Long Island (92-58), No. 9 seed Utah State (78-66), No. 4 Arkansas (109-88) and now Purdue by a combined 82 points (20.5 per game).
The Wildcats are 35-2 overall after starting 23-0, losing a pair of close and tough games at Kansas and vs. Texas Tech and then winning 12 straight, including the Big 12 tournament championship vs. Houston.
Arizona features numerous talents who should be making their names in the NBA soon. Burries (No. 8 in the latest Bleacher Report 2026 mock draft), Peat (No. 12) and Krivas (No. 29) are listed as first-rounders. Bradley (No. 51) has been awfully impressive as well.
Of course, fans and analysts gave Arizona credit where it was due.
Arizona, the West region winner, will now advance to the Final Four, where the Wildcats will either play No. 1 seed Michigan or No. 6 seed Tennessee. The Wolverines and Volunteers will play Sunday at 2:15 p.m. ET in Chicago to determine the Midwest region winner. That team will then play Arizona in the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis
