SAN DIEGO — It wasn't easy, but Arizona is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017.
The top-seeded Wildcats found themselves in a battle with No. 9 seed TCU right out of the gate Sunday at Viejas Arena in San Diego. UA head coach Tommy Lloyd said ahead of the game that he expected a fight, and his squad was taken to the brink of elimination in its second round matchup.
Eventually, Arizona's two best players took over and delivered the final blow in an 85-80 overtime win with Benn Mathurin and Christian Koloko combining for 58 points in the victory.
The Horned Frogs used their physicality to control most of the game Sunday while the Wildcats worked the speed up the pace throughout the night. Eventually both teams dealt blows in what was a back-and-forth matchup.
As much as there were big scoring performances throughout the game, the end of regulation came down to a strong defensive play from the Wildcats. Lloyd had the Wildcats utilize a trap at midcourt with Koloko and Dalen Terry converging on TCU guard Mike Miles leading to a turnover.
Terry picked up the loose ball and threw down a dunk as the buzzer sounded. The play was reviewed and basket called off sending the game into overtime.
In the overtime period, Koloko and Mathurin asserted themselves to account for all 10 of Arizona's points in the five-minute span securing the victory and UA's spot in the Sweet 16.
"Incredible battle," Lloyd said. "I knew this was going to be a hard game. I try to tell our guys, TCU obviously plays in the Big 12 and they're battle tested and they're great defensively, and just so hard to keep off the glass. We weren't having a crazy problem getting them to miss the first shot. It was just trying to get defensive rebounds. And so they get a ton of credit. They're really hard to play against.
"These two guys (Koloko and Mathurin) were obviously special today. And they pulled us through in moments when it didn't look good. But I know this, I believed the whole time, and I think they did too, the way they were communicating in the huddles, I knew we just needed to hang in there, make a play or two, and we would get this thing over the top."
Mathurin is Arizona's top NBA prospect, but he struggled in the early portion of the game and was quiet on the scoring end in particular. The sophomore flipped the switch in the second half and came up with numerous game-changing plays throughout the rest of the game.
He hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 13 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 75 that eventually pushed the game into overtime. Mathurin scored six points in overtime to guide UA to the win.
"Benn's not afraid of the moment," Lloyd said. "And he's a special player who has an ability to rise it up another level when needed. And he has that clutch gene. I mean, I honestly felt really good when he had the ball in his hands there because I knew he was going to shoot a 3. And I want him. I've seen him make that -- the ball in his left hand enough times. Right when he snapped the 3 off to tie it, it was pretty impressive."
Mathurin had the play of the night on a monster dunk over TCU big man Eddie Lampkin that sent the crowd of mostly Arizona fans into a frenzy.
"I said to the media earlier, we came all the way from Tucson to San Diego for a reason. We came here to win. So I just want to say that when we come here, we know we have the fans cheering for us and giving us energy just to win the game in general."
Koloko nearly single-handedly kept the Wildcats in the game in the early going as the Horned Frogs leaned on their physicality to slow down the uptempo Arizona offense. TCU had no answer for the UA center on the interior, and he continually made his presence felt throughout the first half.
He finished the first 20 minutes with 18 points and went on to add 10 points the rest of the night to finish with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
"It's simple. It was win or go home. Win or go home," Koloko said. "We knew we had to battle through adversity. That's not the first time we were down. We knew we've got to keep playing our game.
"Coach, he trusts us. And he told us we've got to hang in there. I think that's what we did. We didn't panic. We played our game and we came back. Just gotta give credit to my teammates and coaching staff. We have a good plan and we won. So that's amazing."
What would have likely usually been the top story only became part of the story Sunday night as point guard Kerr Kriisa made his return to the floor in the game against TCU after missing several contests because of an ankle injury.
Kriisa sparked the team with his energy off the bench, and he ultimately played 27 minutes in the UA victory. He only scored three points and made just one of his shots from the field, but Kriisa's intensity helped lead to several Arizona scoring runs.
"Our trainer, Justin Kokoskie, did an amazing job getting him available to play," Lloyd said. "That was a real sprained ankle. That was no tweak. The crazy thing is Kerr goes 1-for-10 from three. I thought he was going to make one of those last two. I think everybody did.
"We've seen him do it before. But to have 26 minutes recovering from a sprained ankle, and to have a plus/minus of 24, I think that tells you what he means to our team."
UA will now make the trip to San Antonio where it will face No. 5 seed Houston in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. Tip off is set for 6:59 p.m. MST.
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