No. 1 Arizona books first Final Four appearance in 25 years with 79-64 Elite 8 win over No. 2 Purdue
The Wildcats had made 12 Sweet 16 and five Elite Eights since it last made the Final Four.
Arizona is heading to the Final Four for the first time since 2001. The No. 1 Wildcats used a second-half blitz to put away No.
2 Purdue 79-64 and win its first Elite Eight game in six tries since making the national title game 25 years ago. Arizona took over midway through the second half after Purdue led by seven at halftime. The Wildcats had the game tied less than five minutes into the second half and started pulling away after that.
After tying the game at 42-42, Arizona outscored the Boilermakers 24-11 to build a 13-point lead with six minutes to go. The flurry came as Purdue went ice cold from the field and Big 12 player of the year Jaden Bradley was making shots like this. Jaden Bradley oh my 😳 #MarchMadness @ArizonaMBB pic.
twitter. com/kVlgvvJUPT — NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026 Overall, Arizona outscored Purdue 48-26 in the second half. Star freshman forward Koa Peat had 20 points, while Ivan Kharchenkov scored 18 as he also took on the task of guarding Purdue’s Braden Smith.