No. 13 Buffalo dropped a beating on No. 3 Arizona, controlling Deande Ayton and Sean Miller’s PAC-12 champion squad in a game that really never looked close.
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It may take a while for that all to sink in. Not only is Buffalo going to win – the Bulls are going to win in a rout.
That may be true, but … wasn’t Arizona ranked preseason No. 3?
Buffalo picked up the program’s biggest win with its best game of the season.
“It kind of felt weird”, UA freshman guard Brandon Randolph said. “We knew we could play with these guys and came out and played hard”. Over the past few months we’ve monitored the progress of the various candidates, looking at each of them from a variety of angles, but it’s time to settle on a recommendation.
The Bulls (27-8) ran away from the Wildcats with a blistering second half to setup a showdown with Kentucky in the next round.
Battle’s 3-pointer would be the last field goal of the game for the Orange. The Bulls are yielding 75.9 points per game against the opponents. “If they’re off a little bit, it puts all the pressure back on our defense”.
“I was disappointed”, senior forward Maria Jespersen said.
No. 4 seed UA, which was a trendy pick to advance to this year’s Final Four, was blown out 89-68 by No. 13 seed Buffalo in Boise, Idaho on Thursday night. UCLA and Arizona State lost in the play-in round of the tournament earlier this week.
He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year as well as Freshman of the Year, also earning a spot on the conference’s All-Defensive team.
Deandre Ayton: In what was most likely his last game for the Wildcats, Ayton posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. It was an unceremonious crashing and burning for an Arizona team that had high hopes this spring and is facing an uncertain future, but it was all over on Thursday night as Buffalo went 15 of 30 from behind the arc and blew a 9-point favorite out. I will say this though: “You usually win in the NCAA Tournament with guards”, Oats said at Santoras Pizza Pub & Grill after learning their draw. “I mean, what am I supposed to expect?” They are also embroiled in an Federal Bureau of Investigation scandal that has been the No. 1 talking point all season in Tucson. They’re not gonna do that. That finished his career with a total of 24 double-doubles, a UA season record, but it was, of course, a hollow statistic. It’s getting to often bigger venues and then taking everything in while going through light practices that are open to the public.
Ford said the team is ready for the challenge.
Still, for a half, Buffalo had one of the best Kentucky teams ever on its heels.
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Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim called timeout to give his overworked players a breather and to try to dream up some form of an offense. Alkins’ professional prospects are dubious at the moment, but his attachment to NCAA basketball always seemed as tenuous as his grip on that one rebound.
