Arizona powers past Purdue to reach first Final Four since 2001

SAN JOSE — After trading runs, No. 1 Arizona pulled away in the second half to beat No. 2 Purdue, 79-64, to reach its first Final Four since 2001 on Saturday night.

The Wildcats overcame their first deficit of the NCAA Tournament by sticking to their identity in the second half — getting to the rim, winning the rebounding margin and getting to the foul line.

Arizona scored 22 points in the paint in the second half, out-rebounded Purdue, 22-16, and shot 22 free throws to Purdue’s 16. The Wildcats also did not commit a turnover in the second half.

Arizona trailed by seven at the break and had only trailed at the half in five previous games this season — the Wildcats won all of them.

While Purdue was the more experienced team, which starts four seniors, it was Arizona, which starts three freshmen, that looked more composed in the second half.

Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso said coach Tommy Lloyd likes to quickly watch film with the team at halftime and give a few pointers before having the coaching staff leave the locker room for the players to figure it out.

“They all leave the room, we all talk about it and we’re always positive and we’re always just saying, ‘Let’s go. Let’s figure it out. We’re good. We’re gonna win this game,'” Dell’Orso said.

One of those freshman in Koa Peat put on a sensational performance, finishing with a game-high 20 points, the most by a freshman in an Elite Eight game in school history. Peat was awarded Most Outstanding Player in the West Regional.

“Just our leaders leading us, honestly. (Jaden Bradley), Tobe (Awaka), Ivan (Kharchenkov), Mo (Krivas), they all talked to us and just told us to keep going,” Peat said of the tenor at halftime.

“We’ve been through adversity this season. Can’t get too high or too low. Just stay even keeled. And we went out there and played our game and came out victorious. I’m just proud of the guys. We stayed together.”

Freshmen Brayden Burries and Kharchenkov added 18 and 14 points, respectively, with 23 of them coming in the second half.

“Get back to us (and) do the things that we do best. Rebounding,” Kharchenkov said was Lloyd’s half-time message. “We were down five rebounds at halftime. We just had to figure out how to rebound better.

“Because the only way they were scoring in the first half was off of offensive rebounds, so we had to stop that. Stop the bleeding.”

Nicknamed “The Closer,” Bradley scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, continuing his impressive run in the second half during postseason play.

Peat kept Arizona in the contest with his 10 first-half points, and Arizona repeatedly went to him when it needed a bucket. The five-star demonstrated an ability to get downhill, as Purdue did not have the personnel to defend the 6-foot-8 freshman.

Much like the rest of the tournament, Arizona got off to another hot start and connected on 8 of its first 13 shots, as it got to the paint with ease. The Wildcats went on a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead during a stretch midway through the first half when Purdue went more than three minutes without a field goal.

However, from that point, Purdue ended the first half on a 26-12 run by controlling the offensive boards and with uncharacteristically hot 3-point shooting.

Arizona had only been out-rebounded twice this season entering Saturday and Purdue entered 144th in the country in 3-point attempts per game.

“We got off to a good start. Then we didn’t play great, but I thought Purdue played really well the second part of that first half,” Lloyd said.

The Boilermakers shot 7 of 14 (50%) from 3 in the first half, while Arizona was just 1 of 6 (16.7%). Arizona left Braden Smith in drop coverage, which saw the guard make the most of his open looks and register 11 first-half points.

Purdue went on a 13-2 run in the first half as the Wildcats went nearly six minutes without a field goal. During that stretch, Lloyd grew irate over a blown travel call and chased the official down the court.

After Arizona briefly took back the lead, Purdue went on an ensuing 8-0 run to take a 33-27 lead late in the first half, the culmination of another scoring drought of more than two minutes for the Wildcats.

The officials were letting both teams play, which played into Purdue’s favor. Arizona shot just eight free throws in the first half but finished with 22.

Smith turned his ankle in the opening two minutes of the second half, and stayed in the game but looked like a shell of himself in a second half where he scored just two more points.

“He’s a great guard,” Bradley said of Smith. “Great leader for them. He had it going in the first half doing anything he wanted. He still got to his spot in the second half, he just wasn’t hitting all the shots.”

The Wildcats came out the aggressors after the half, as Arizona went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 42 with just more than 15 minutes left. Purdue got off to a 3 of 11 (27.2%) start from the field in the second half, and Arizona stepped up its defensive intensity it lacked in the first half.

The Wildcats retook the lead with 14:34 remaining, its first lead since 4:28 remained in the first half, and did not surrender it the rest of the game.

The Arizona fans at SAP Center erupted when Dell’Orso hit a 3-pointer with 12:09 to play, putting Arizona up 51-45, its first bit of separation since the early stages.

D3LLY! CATS!pic.twitter.com/rFpm9Zhium

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 29, 2026

“Just staying ready. I was waiting on the bench just holding on,” Dell’Orso said. “Staying in tune with the game watching what they were doing, watching (what) the defense was like.

“Teammates were obviously as confident as ever in me and (the) ball found me, and I was able to hit a big shot, and the guys were able to carry that through to win.”

After the Dell’Orso 3-pointer, the Wildcats ended the game on a 28-19 run.

“I was literally a spectator like you were in that second half,” Lloyd said. “That’s what it felt like. So proud of these guys for what they did, for our program and obviously our community.”

Next up, Arizona will play the winner of No. 1 Michigan and No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday in Indianapolis.

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