No. 1 Arizona grinds out win vs. No. 9 Utah State to book spot in Sweet 16

SAN DIEGO — Arizona battled foul trouble and won the hard way to take down Utah State, 78-66, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The Wildcats (34-2) are advancing to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in five years under coach Tommy Lloyd, and Brayden Burries and Koa Peat showed just how important they are to this Wildcats team.

Burries finished with 16 points and Peat added 14, but the pair of freshmen found themselves in foul trouble, which turned into loads of frustration for the Wildcats.

With the five-star freshmen in foul trouble, Jaden Bradley, nicknamed “The Closer,” had a strong second half and finished with a game-high 18 points after being unable to find his shot in the first half.

Twelve of Bradley’s points came after the break, and the senior shot 5 of 7 (71.4%) in the second half after a 1-of-9 (11.1%) clip in the first half.

“Just trusting in my work,” Bradley said of his play down the stretch. “And I know my teammates believe in me. I got great bigs that can get me open with ball screens and duck-ins and all that stuff.

“And my teammates give me great space. Just trusting in my work and trying to get to my spots and make plays.”

Burries was also huge down the stretch, hitting a 26-foot dagger with 2:18 left to put the Wildcats back up by nine, before adding a free throw with 1:13 left to give Arizona its first double-digit lead since the 10-minute mark.

“I mean that’s my dog. I’ve seen him do it since eighth grade,” Peat said about Burries’ late 3-pointer. He’s a baller, for sure.”

HUGE SHOT FROM BRAYDEN BURRIES 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/zDqM3s10hw

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026

“Yeah, obviously, Burries’ 3 was a dagger. I thought we guarded that possession really well,” Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “It was a six-point game (if) they missed that. We come down, make a shot — a couple of the fouls out front were big calls.

“There’s a lot of plays throughout a 40-minute game that could impact it. And I thought that 3 by him was just a big-time shot in a big moment. And that really kind of carried Arizona to the win.”

Burries played only seven minutes in the first half, and Peat picked up his fourth foul with 7:27 remaining in the game and was forced to take a seat in what became a nervy win for the Wildcats. Arizona’s once 18-point lead was cut to four with Peat on the bench with 6:34 left.

“I think my teammates definitely picked me up. I gotta stay out of foul trouble, especially in these tight games like that,” Peat said. “We knew Utah State’s a really good team, and they were going to make some runs. Just trying to stay composed. We made our free throws down the stretch.

“We didn’t get too high or low, just stayed even keeled.”

Arizona got off to another hot start and started the game on a 10-2 run, as Burries continued his fine shooting form, making his first 3-point attempt.

Burries had five of the Wildcats’ first 12 points, but the game’s composition changed when he picked up his second foul with 13:47 left in the first half and checked out of the game. Lloyd was forced to enter Anthony Dell’Orso who struggled defensively, and Arizona’s offense struggled mightily without Burries.

Arizona went on a scoring drought of nearly three minutes before Burries checked back into the game, as Utah State cut Arizona’s lead to three.

Immediately upon checking back in, Burries found Dwayne Aristode for an open 3-pointer to put Arizona back up by six.

Ready to shoot 🎯pic.twitter.com/M8lYXr83Cd

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 23, 2026

Yet Burries checked out less than a minute later with 7:17 remaining in the first, still having the two fouls, and shortly after, Arizona went on another scoring drought.

The Aristode 3 was the only Arizona field goal in a span of almost 10 minutes, a stretch where Arizona shot 1 of 13 (7.7%) from the field.

Burries only played seven minutes in the first half, and the Wildcats shot 9 of 31 (29%) from the field and 5 of 21 (23.8%) from inside the arc.

“He’s a normal 19-year-old guy. He’s had moments where he’s had to learn,” Lloyd said of Burries being in foul trouble and the decision to sit him. “And even today, I had to kind of explain to him after the game, he picked up two unfortunate fouls. I probably maybe should have subbed him. He hit a 3 right away.

“And I’m thinking, ‘Okay, I’ve seen this act from Brayden, and he can get hot pretty quick.’ And we were kind of managing like a 10-point lead and for most of the second part of the first half. So I thought his foul was more valuable to keep him on the bench and save for three fouls for the second half if we had a lead.

“And I knew he was tough enough to me kind of taking his rhythm away from him. Because I just wanted to win the game. And I know he wanted to play, and I’m sure he could convince me that he could play without fouling. But crazy things happen in these games and my worst nightmare was he picks up his third and then early in the second half he picks up his fourth. Now it really hurts us. So I was kind of making a decision for the long run, trying to win the game. And I appreciate him hanging with it.”

Peat led the way with 11 points and six rebounds in the first half but his running mates struggled offensively.

In addition to Bradley, Motiejus Krivas was 0 of 5 (0%) and Ivan Kharchenkov shot 1 of 6 (16.7%) in the early going.

Utah State started the second half 3 of 3 from 3 after going 1 of 12 (8.3%) in the first half.

Burries scored four quick points in the second half, and a 9-0 run put the Wildcats up by 18, their largest lead. But Utah State hung around, and shortly thereafter, Burries and Peat picked up their third fouls seconds apart with 11:39 left and Burries and Peat were forced to exit again.

Arizona’s lead was then cut to eight, and the pair was forced to re-enter as Arizona went more than fives minutes without a field goal, a sloppy stretch that extended to more than seven minutes, which also included five Arizona turnovers.

Peat then picked up his fourth foul with 7:27 left, as Utah State later pulled within four.

“That shows his maturity. You can’t control what the refs call,” Bradley said about Peat’s attitude once he was in foul trouble. “The refs did a great job, I feel like, all game calling it fair. He just happened to get some unfortunate calls, and he handled it maturely.

“(He) sat down, cheered for his teammates, and he got back in and (he was) able to just pick right back up where he left off and make great plays.”

Peat checked back in with 4:49 left, and Arizona ended the game on a 15-7 run.

The other No. 1 seed who played on Sunday, Florida, was tested even more and became the ninth 1-seed ever to fall to a 9-seed, Arizona avoiding becoming the 10th. The Gators fell to No. 9 Iowa, 73-72.

Next up, Arizona will face No. 4 Arkansas in the Sweet 16 on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. in San Jose. The winner of that matchup will play the winner of No. 2 Purdue and No. 11 Texas in the Elite Eight on Saturday.

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