March Madness 2022: Bennedict Mathurin, top-seeded Arizona survive TCU upset bid in OT

Bennedict Mathurin has come by loads in clutch conditions for Arizona. It is no shock he made his greatest performs of the season when the Wildcats wanted him probably the most.

The sophomore capturing guard made a 3-pointer to drive additional time after which scored six extra factors within the additional session because the top-seeded Arizona outlasted ninth-seeded TCU 85-80 on Sunday evening within the second spherical of the NCAA Match.

Mathurin, the Pac-12 Participant of the Yr and a second-team AP All-American choice, completed with 30 factors. After Kerr Kriisa missed a 3, Mathurin was in a position to wrestle the ball away from TCU’s Emanuel Miller within the paint and put it in to present the Wildcats an 83-80 lead with 1:11 remaining.

After getting the rebound and making the basket, Mathurin did a pair fist pumps close to the baseline.

“My coaches have been getting on me for not getting sufficient rebounds. I used to be fairly completely satisfied about getting the offensive rebound,” mentioned Mathurin, who’s the sixth Arizona participant to attain a minimum of 30 factors in an NCAA Match recreation. “So I simply went on the market and bought the rebound, made it. And I used to be emotional.”

Christian Koloko added 28 factors and 12 rebounds, together with a putback dunk that slammed the door on the Horned Frogs with 9 seconds left in OT.

Koloko was 12 of 13 from the sphere, together with 5 dunks, however the remainder of the Wildcats have been 19 of 55, together with 5 of 27 on 3-pointers.

Mathurin even bought off to a sluggish begin. He was 2 of 9 earlier than making six of his final 10.

“Ben’s not afraid of the second. He’s a particular participant who has a capability to stand up one other stage when wanted. He has that clutch gene,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd mentioned. “I actually felt actually good when he had the ball in arms there. I knew he was going to shoot a 3. Proper when he snapped that 3 off to tie it, it was fairly spectacular.”

Mathurin and Koloko did sufficient although for the Wildcats (33-3) to keep away from turning into the second No. 1 seed to fall in the course of the second spherical. They superior to Thursday’s South Area semifinals in San Antonio, Texas, the place they may face fifth-seeded Houston.

“I imply, it was easy, it was win or go dwelling,” Koloko mentioned. “That’s not the primary time we have been down. We knew we needed to hold enjoying our recreation. Coach trusted us and instructed us, you’ve bought to hold in there. That’s what we did. We didn’t panic. We performed our recreation and we got here again.”

Chuck O’Bannon Jr. had a career-high 23 factors for TCU (21-13) whereas Mike Miles Jr. and Eddie Lampkin Jr. had 20 apiece. The Horned Frogs have been seeking to get to the Candy 16 for the primary time.

“This season was the whole lot for us as a result of we weren’t even anticipated to be right here. And for us to win our first recreation and be that shut with the No. 1 seed simply reveals that we have now a bunch of men with a variety of grit,” O’Bannon mentioned.

TCU nonetheless had an opportunity to win in regulation after Mathurin’s large shot, however Miles misplaced the ball close to midcourt. Dalen Terry tried for a game-ending dunk however he did not get the shot off earlier than time expired.

TCU trailed by eight factors with lower than eight minutes remaining and had missed 12 straight photographs earlier than scoring 12 straight factors to go up 69-67 with 3:39 remaining. O’Bannon scored the primary 5 factors and Miles had the final 4.

The Horned Frogs held Arizona scoreless for five:09 earlier than Terry’s 3 from the precise nook tied it at 70.

“I’m so happy with them. TCU basketball, I instructed them I feel they made hundreds of thousands of followers by watching this recreation,” Dixon mentioned.

KRIISA RETURNS

Kriisa had three factors in 27 minutes off the bench after lacking the previous three video games.

The sophomore level guard’s season seemed to be over after he suffered a sprained ankle when he collided with Koloko within the closing minute of a Pac-12 Match quarterfinal matchup towards Stanford on March 10.

He missed his first 5 photographs earlier than hitting a 3-pointer from the left nook that started a spurt of 9 straight Arizona factors to present it a 67-58 benefit.

“For him to present us 26 minutes — our coach, Justin Kokoskie, did a tremendous job getting him accessible to play. That was an actual sprained ankle. That was no tweak,” Lloyd mentioned.

BIG PICTURE

Arizona: The Wildcats are 6-1 as a high seed within the second spherical since 1985. The one loss was to Wisconsin in 2000.

TCU: The Horned Frogs bought their first NCAA Match victory in 35 years on Friday evening, however Jamie Dixon’s dream of a deep run for his alma mater must wait a minimum of one other 12 months.

UP NEXT

Arizona will face Houston for the primary time since 2009. Will probably be the groups’ first assembly within the NCAA Match.