March Madness
Arizona Wildcats out of Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament after being eliminated by Cougars
The No. 5 seeded Houston eliminated Arizona in Sweet 16 to advance to NCAA tourney Elite Eight. Tommy Lloyd: "Tonight was just a little bit too much for us"
The No. 1 seed in the South Region and No. 2 team in the country, Arizona Wildcats, were eliminated in the Sweet 16 by the Houston Cougars, 72-60, in a match that was widely led by Houston.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd told reporters that Houston was just “a little too much” for the Wildcats, and he’s proud of his team.
“I think we really built some foundational pieces this year that are really going to serve us well moving forward,” said Lloyd postgame.
“Extremely proud of the guys. Extremely proud of the coaching staff,” Lloyd said. “We ran into a really good team tonight that was just a little bit too much for us.”
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The No. 5 seeded Houston came into the contest with a top three defense in the nation that held opponents under 60 points. Arizona, however, came in averaging 85 points per game with one of the nation’s best offenses.
Despite having guard Kerr Kriisa back in the game after being sidelined earlier in the Tournament due to an ankle injury, Arizona were held to 34% shooting.
Together with forward Azuolas Tubelis, Kriisa combined for five points on 1-of-15 from the field. Guard Dalen Terry led the Wildcats with 17 points, followed by Bennedict Mathurin with 15 and Christian Koloko with 10.
While Mathurin shot just 1-for-7 in the first half, the Wildcats were 7-for-25 overall and finished the match shooting 33.3 percent.
“They deserved to win,” Christian Koloko said.
“It was a tough game,” said Mathurin. “There’s a lot of things we could have done better to win the game. I don’t have a lot to say.”
The Houston Cougars were led by guards Jamal Shead and Kyler Edwards, combining for 40 points, with Edwards clutching more scores than anyone in Arizona, 19.
The Cougars proceed to the Elite 8 where they will face the No. 2 seed Villanova Wildcats.