Buffalo gets first big upset
Torrid outside shooting sends 13th-seeded Bulls past Pac-12 foe Arizona
BOISE, Idaho — Buffalo left no doubt.
The 13th-seeded Bulls routed Arizona at Taco Bell Arena on Thursday, knocking off the heavily-favored Wildcats 89-68 for the largest upset on the opening day of the NCAA Tournament.
Buffalo shot a blistering 54.8 percent (34 for 62), including 50 percent (15 for 30) from 3-point range, to win the its first NCAA Tournament game in program history.
“I felt like we had a shot,” Buffalo coach Nate Oats said. “I didn’t think we were going to win like that.”
Buffalo entered the second half with a 40-38 lead then slowly pulled away, stretching the lead to 25 points before emptying the bench with 1:11 left.
The Bulls were incredibly accurate from 3-point range in the second half, sinking 9 of 14 (64.3 percent).
Wes Clark scored 25 points and Jeremy Harris 23 for the Bulls who advance to face another team called the Wildcats, Kentucky, the fifth seed in the South Region.
Clark said perhaps being a member of the Mid-american Conference meant Arizona overlooked his Bulls.
“With us being a MAC, it’s easy to look at us as a team that can’t compete with a high-major, a team that has four NBA
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prospects,” Clark said. “We know deep down from looking at the film and getting our confidence right that we could play with those guys. We came and played hard.”
The smaller Bulls (27-8) used their quickness to zip around the Wildcats (27-8), scoring at the rim and on kickout 3-pointers.
Defensively, Buffalo neutralized Arizona’s size inside by collapsing, forcing the Wildcats to shoot from the perimeter. Arizona went 2-for-18 from 3-point range.
Dusan Ristic had 16 points, and Deandre Ayton finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Arizona.
Off the court, Arizona has played through one of the most difficult seasons in program history. The Wildcats were twice entangled in a federal investigation
into nefarious recruiting practices and lost one of their best players twice to injury. Allonzo Trier, who played at Findlay Prep, missed two games after testing positive for the same banned substance that cost him 19 games a year ago.
Arizona won the Pac-12 regular-season title and routed Southern California in the tournament title game, becoming the second team in conference history to sweep both in consecutive seasons.