Finally! Arizona blitzes Purdue in second half, reaches first Final Four since 2001
Arizona overcame a seven-point halftime deficit and took over in the second half to beat Purdue in Elite 8 and advance to the 2026 Final Four.
SAN JOSE, CA — Arizona’s drought is over. The No. 1 seeded Wildcats continued their March Madness run with a 79-64 comeback win over No.
2 seed Purdue in the Elite Eight, advancing to its first Final Four in 25 years. It was a back-and-forth opening to the game with both sides trading punches, but Purdue jumped ahead thanks to a run just before halftime to take a seven-point lead, the first time the Wildcats had trailed in the NCAA Tournament. While it sounded the alarms of the heavy Arizona presence and brought up trauma of March past, it wasn’t a position that scared these ‘Cats.
This season, they were 5-0 when trailing at halftime. Make it 6-0. Arizona came out with a sense of urgency out of the locker room, and Purdue couldn’t maintain its hot shooting.
A 16-3 run gave the Wildcats the lead back, which they held the rest of the way as they overwhelmed Purdue down the stretch. The Wildcats outscored the Boilermakers 48-26 in the final 20 minutes, shooting 51. 6% from the field in that time while Purdue had a 32.