Arizona thrash Arkansas to hand John Calipari heaviest tournament loss
Top-seeded Arizona delivered a dominant 109-88 victory over Arkansas in San Jose on Thursday to reach the NCAA tournament Elite Eight and hand coach John Calipari his heaviest post-season defeat.
Freshman Brayden Burries led the scoring with 23 points as Tommy Lloyd’s side finally cleared the Sweet 16 hurdle.
The Wildcats shot a blistering 64% from the field, becoming the first team in tournament history to have six players score at least 14 points in a single game.
They will now face second-seeded Purdue on Saturday night for a coveted spot in the Final Four.
Record-breaking night for Wildcats
The top seeds have won 12 consecutive games, tying a school record with 35 victories in a single season.
Fellow freshmen Koa Peat and Ivan Kharchenkov added 21 and 15 points respectively to overwhelm the Razorbacks’ defence.
The emphatic victory ends a frustrating run for the Arizona head coach, who had suffered three previous exits at this stage of the competition despite his stellar regular-season record.
Arkansas frustration boils over
The 21-point margin represents the worst tournament loss of Calipari’s illustrious 85-game post-season coaching career.
Despite a brilliant 28-point performance from highly-rated freshman Darius Acuff Jr, the fourth seeds simply lacked the depth to compete.
Tensions flared dramatically in the second half as the struggling team failed to contain the opposition’s relentless offence.
Calipari and Nick Pringle both received technical fouls, while Billy Richmond was ejected for a flagrant shove on Kharchenkov.
Final Four within reach
Watched by former player and current Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, the Tucson-based programme built an insurmountable 54-43 half-time advantage.
They maintained that suffocating pressure after the break, outscoring their tournament opponents by a combined 67 points across three double-digit victories so far.
Awaiting them are the Boilermakers, who narrowly defeated Texas in their respective regional semi-final.