March Madness

No. 1 Arizona Escapes No. 9 TCU in Overtime, Advances to Sweet 16

Arizona ended a wild weekend of college basketball with an overtime victory

USA TODAY Sports

The opening weekend of March Madness concluded with one last thriller.

No. 1 Arizona survived with an 85-80 overtime victory against No. 9 TCU Sunday night in San Diego, sending the program to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017.

The Wildcats nearly became the second No. 1 seed to lose in the second round. Baylor nearly pulled off a historic comeback against No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday, but the Tar Heels escaped with an overtime victory. Instead, Bennedict Mathurin and Co. came through to keep Arizona’s season alive.

Arizona held a 67-58 lead with 7:52 left to play, but the offense was nowhere to be found for the next five minutes. TCU went on a 12-0 run that ended with a Dalen Terry 3-pointer that tied the game at 70 with 2:45 left on the clock.

Terry Lampkin put TCU ahead 75-72 with 37 seconds left after a second-effort lay-in. Benedict Mathurin proceeded to drill a deep 3-pointer to tie the game with just 14 seconds remaining.

Disaster almost struck for the Horned Frogs at the end of regulation despite them having possession with a chance to win the game. Dalen Terry scooped up a Mike Miles turnover and drove to the basket in the waning seconds, but his dunk came mere milliseconds after the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.

Overtime belonged to the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Mathurin scored six of his season-high 30 points over the game’s final five minutes. Two of his buckets came off offensive rebounds that he gathered and converted into second-chance points. 

Mathurin nearly hit the dagger with a 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime. The shot missed, but Christian Koloko put an exclamation point on the game – and weekend as a whole.

The Wildcats advance to face No. 5 Houston in the Sweet 16. That matchup will take place in San Antonio with a 9:59 p.m. ET tipoff on Friday.

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