NCAA Tournament: Top-seeded Arizona takes on No. 2 Purdue with long-coveted spot in Final Four on line
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 22: Koa Peat #10 and Brayden Burries #5 of the Arizona Wildcats celebrate a 78-66 victory against the Utah State Aggies after the game in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena at San Diego State University on March 22, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) | Getty Images SAN JOSE—Arizona spent nine weeks this season at No.
1 in the Associated Press poll, the longest streak in school history. But it wasn’t the first time the Wildcats had been the top-ranked team in the country under Tommy Lloyd . That was in December 2023, when it took a perfect record to Indianapolis to play a glorified road game against Purdue, which had been No.
1 before the UA. The Boilermakers would win that game, 92-84, but that’s not what Lloyd recalls most about that matchup. “What I remember about that game two years ago was that … every bar in that city of Indianapolis must have been full for hours, because those fans came in there lit,” Lloyd said.
“And in a good way, it was a lot of fun, and it was so loud in that place. Other than playing an Allen Fieldhouse, it’s probably one of the loudest venues I’ve ever been a part in. And saying something, when you’re in an NBA arena.
” That Purdue team went on to reach the NCAA title game, wiping out a 44-year absence from the Final Four. Now it’s Arizona’s turn to end its 25-year drought, and at the expense of the Boilermakers. Top-seeded Arizona (35-2) takes a 12-game win streak into the West Region finals at the SAP Center against second-seeded Purdue (30-8).
Continue to the original source for the full article.