UA Wildcats crush Akron in NCAA Tournament 1st-round game in Seattle

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Bruce Pascoe
 |  Arizona Daily Star

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UA was established in 1885, and its main campus is in Tucson. The Wildcats once had a live bobcat named Rufus as a mascot.

The Republic

SEATTLE — Throughout all their inconsistencies this season, the Arizona Wildcats always had a formula for drubbing mid-major opponents: Dominate with size, share the ball and defend capability on the perimeter.

Their first-round NCAA Tournament game with 13th-seeded Akron was no exception. In their 93-65 win over 13th-seeded Akron on Friday at Climate Pledge Arena, the fourth-seeded Wildcats crushed the Zips inside and held their normally efficient 3-point shooting to under 30% while five Arizona players scored in double figures.

The win moved fourth-seeded Arizona to 23-12 and into a second-round game Sunday against the winner of Friday’s late first-round game between fifth-seeded Oregon and 12 seed Liberty.

Akron, winners of the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles, finished the season at 28-7.

Guard Jaden Bradley led the Wildcats with 19 points and hit 3 of 5 3-pointers while also collecting six rebounds and three assists, while Trey Townsend had 16 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Carter Bryant added 12 points and five rebounds.

Inside, center Tobe Awaka had four points and eight rebounds while Henri Veesaar had eight points and seven rebounds.

Together, the Wildcats outrebounded Akron 53-26 and outscored them 48-20 in the paint. Arizona also shot 56% while holding Akron to 33% and keeping the Zips to just 7 of 25 3-point shooting.

Leading by 10 at halftime, Arizona jumped to a 50-33 lead after a 3 from Jaden Bradley less than four minutes into the second half. Continuing to dominate the glass and shoot over 50% early in the second half, the Wildcats first went up by 20 with 15:17 left on a 3 from KJ Lewis and later scored seven straight to go ahead 73-50 with 8:36 left.

Love hit a 3-pointer with 5:32 left to put the…

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Source link : https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/ua/2025/03/21/arizona-wildcats-crush-akron-ncaa-tournament-1st-round-game-seattle/82605174007/

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Publish date : 2025-03-22 02:20:00

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