Category: Big-10

Arizona Heads to the Final Four in 25 Years, Beating Purdue, 79-64

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Arizona forward Koa Peat (10) dunks during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Purdue, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (Photo Credits to AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)

By Michael Villanueva

SAN JOSE – The Madness of March is over, as SAP Center welcomed 4 programs to the South Bay, but only saw only one of them would come out victorious. Between the No.1 Arizona Wildcats and the No.2 Purdue Boilermakers, which both are champions to their conference. It would be the Arizona Wildcats moving on to Indianapolis with a 15 point win, and these dangerous Wildcats have now won 13 games in a row.

Arizona Wildcats went with guards Jaden Bradley, Brayden Burries, forwards Koa Peat, Ivan Kharchenkov, and center Motiejus Krivas for their Elite Eight game. The Wildcats will be hoping to make it to the Final Four for the first time since 2001 and the fifth time in program history. This is their 12th Elite Eight appearance overall and their first since 2015.

Purdue Boilermakers sent out guards Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, forwards Trey Kaufman-Renn, Oscar Cluff, and center C.J. Cox on the teams Elite Eight run. Purdue has a 0-9 record against No. 1 seeds overall and is seeking its first victory over one. Purdue will be trying for its fourth Final Four overall and its second in the last three seasons.

After the first 7 minutes of play, Arizona was in the lead with 5 points, 17-12. Arizona went on a 8-2 scoring run for 3 minutes. The Wildcats saw a lot of their points in the paint which was giving them early control of the game. Arizona scored 12 points in the paint to their now, 19-12 lead. It should come as no surprise that Purdue is already having issues with Arizona’s size and agility. Oscar Cluff is holding his own so far, but if the Boilermakers don’t find extra help from the players down in the block, the Wildcats will dominate inside.

4 lead changes and 6 ties already happened 15 minutes into this game. Both teams are trying to send their school to the Final Four with the finishing line being just a couple of games away. With 3 minutes left of the 1st half the score was, 30-27, Purdue leads now. After a bad shooting performance in their Sweet 16 game, Purdue has shotten the ball better. Last game int he 1st half, Boilermakers only had 3 three-pointers in the 1st half, but tonight they had 6 three-pointers already. While Arizona is seeing some struggles as they only made 1 three-pointer so far out of 6 attempts.

Halftime, Purdue is leading Arizona by 7 points, 38-31. The Big-10 champions, Purdue, hit 7 three-pointers in the 1st half that got them feeling great heading into the lockers. While the Big-12 champions, Arizona, was struggling on the field. Only making 1 three-pointer would go a long way and a reason on why they’re down at halftime. While the Wildcats are struggling from deep as they only got 1 deep ball to go in.

The Boilermakers have gone on to lose after leading at the half just twice this season: Jan. 24 against Illinois and Feb. 26 against Michigan State. So with the start of the second half, the pressure for Purdue to win the game is on. Vice versa with Arizona as they started the final half playing catch up. Which Arizona really turned up the heat on Purdue and took it to them.

Wildcats were able to knock down 3 three-pointers in the second half, which was a lot better than the just the 1 three-pointer they made in the first half. The more this game goes on, the more the talent gap between Arizona and Purdue becomes clear. Arizona is more prepared to play in transition when the game breaks down, which has happened more often in the second half. The Wildcats are on the verge of making it to their first Final Four in 25 years.

In the second half, Arizona played with an entirely different feeling of urgency. At both ends of the floor, there are differences in physicality and intensity. However, the two crucial figures: Arizona had six turnovers in the first half but zero in the second. After a 7-14 first half, Purdue is now 0-4 3PT. By the 3 minute mark, Arizona had a 15 point lead on Purdue.

Ultimately, Arizona wrote their story to the Final Four in San Jose as they would win the game against the No.2 Purdue Boilermakers, 79-64. Arizona Wildcats will head to Indianapolis, and wait on the winner of the No.1 Michigan vs No.6 Tennessee. That game will be played on Saturday, April 4th, 2026.

PURDUE WINS ON PUTBACK, 79-77, Advances to Elite Eight over No.11 Texas Longhorns

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Purdue Boilermakersguard (#2) Fletcher Loyer shoots a 24-foot three-pointer jumper to start the 2nd half between the Texas Longhorns in the West Regional ‘Sweet 16’ matchup on March 26th, 2026, in SAP Center at San Jose, CA

By Michael Villanueva

SAN JOSE – The Longhorns and Boilermakers have had a long history between them since before tonight’s “Sweet 16” matchup in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. However, this game and performance from both schools will go down as another historical game in the all-time series. Purdue and Texas would go back and forth on Thursday afternoon, with 16 lead changes, tied 10 times, and with only one team having a large lead of just 7 points. However, Purdue Trey Kaufman-Renn’s tip-in with less than a second left lifts the No.2 Purdue to a 79-77 win over No.11 Texas.

No.2 Purdue started with guards Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, C.J. Cox, forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, and center Oscar Cluff. The Boilmakers hope this squad can send them to their third Elite Eight in the last seven years. Purdue and Texas are set to face each other for the seventh time in their series history, with the Longhorns currently holding a 4-2 lead. Their upcoming matchup will be their first meeting since Purdue’s 81-71 victory over Texas in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

No.11 Texas Longhorns started with guards Tramon Mark, Jordan Pope, forwards Dailyn Swain, Camden Heide, and center Matas Vokietaitis. Longhorns came into this game feeling really good with the turnaround theyb had this season. Texas Longhorns head coach Sean Miller is making his ninth Sweet 16 appearance in 21 seasons as a head coach. With a 25-13 record across 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, Miller ranks ninth among active Division I coaches for the most career NCAA Tournament wins.

Purdue came out at Texas right at tip-off, feeling the hype from the crowds in San Jose. Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer started the game off with back-to-back three pointers to get the Boilermakers on their feet and an early 6-0 lead. However, there’s a reason this Texas team has made it this far in the tournament. As Texas guard Tramon Mark gets going.

Texas guard Tramon Mark would get the Longhorns after Purdue’s hot shooting start. In fact, Tramon Mark locked in for Texas and took over as their main scorer in the rest of the 1st half. He is shooting efficiently, going 4-for-5 from the field, including two three-pointers, and leads all scorers with 10 points. The Longhorns hold a 21-18 lead with 10:48 remaining in the first half. Then, a minute later, Mark would eventually have half of Texas’ points.

The Boilermakers have been creating good scoring opportunities, especially in the paint with 18 points, largely thanks to Braden Smith, the NCAA’s newly crowned assist leader. Purdue is 2-of-7 from three-point range but has missed several open looks. Their two three-pointers came right at tip-off, and they struggled from deep afterward, missing nine straight attempts. After Fletcher Loyer made two early threes, the drought ended when he knocked down another late in the half. At the 1:03 mark, Loyer leads all scorers with 13 points, and Purdue holds a narrow 37-35 lead.

By halftime, Purdue would see themselves with a 4 point lead, 39-35. Purdue is able to withhold Texas hustle and athleticism by outrebounding them 18 to 13, and the Boilers shot 53.1 percent from the field were a big factor on how they’re holding the lead. However, Texas was able to knock down more three-pointers than Purdue since the Boilermakers three-pointers only came from guard Fletcher Loyer. The Longhorns ended the 1st half with 6-of-16 three-point shooting.

Texas guard Tramon Mark made his name and presence felt here in the first game of the Sweet 16 matchups. He picked up right where he left off from his 1st half performance, and knocked down some big shots. Mark reached the 2,000 career points milestone through his 19th point, spanning six seasons with Houston, Arkansas, and Texas. He finished the first half with 12 points, marking his highest-scoring first half in any NCAA tournament game. This tournament appearance is his 13th across his career at Texas and Houston. Texas leads 49-45 at the 15:37 mark.

Purdue was still able to see some success even though they still weren’t able to make any three-pointer in the 2nd half with 10 minutes left. Purdue’s defense locked in as Texas made 3 costly turnovers in the final minutes. Also, the Longhorns would also pick up some crucial fouls that gave Purdue trips to the line. By then, the Boilermakers were up by 1 point in the final minute of the game. There have been over 15 lead changes in this close game.

With just 11.9 seconds left in the game, Texas ties it up, 77-77, after Longhorn forward Dailyn Smith drives to the basket hard and makes his layup, with the foul, converting it to a three-point play. He would get sent to the line and tie it up from there. Then Purdue guard Braden Smith would drive it to the basket, miss his layup, but Purdue’s big man, Trey Kaufman-Renn, would tip it in and win the game for Purdue, 79-77.

Purdue Boilermakers now advance to the Elite Eight. They will take on the winner between of No.1 Arizona Wildcats and No.4 Arkansas Razorbacks. The Elite Eight game will be played right back in here at SAP Center in San Jose, CA, on March 28th, 2026.