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ARIZONA WILDCATS BASKETBALL

NCAA Tournament: No. 4 Arizona to face No. 13 Akron in Round of 64

The Arizona Wildcats earned the No. 4-seed and will play No. 13-seed Akron in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

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The Arizona Wildcats earned the No. 4 seed and will play No. 13-seed Akron in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Tommy Lloyd’s squad will begin its run in the East Region in Seattle.

The winner of Arizona vs. Akron will face the winner of No. 5 Oregon and No. 12 Liberty on Sunday.

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The Duke Blue Devils earned the No. 1 seed in the region, who will face the winner of the 16-seed play-in game between American and Mount Saint Mary’s.

The winner of No. 8 Mississippi State and No. 9 Baylor will face the winner of the Duke vs. No. 16-seed game.

Time and TV channel for Arizona vs. Akron in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament

The tip-off time for Arizona against Akron is on Friday at 4:35 p.m. MST on TruTV.


Arizona lost in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament on Saturday after falling to No. 1-seed Houston, 72-64. Houston earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region.

Lloyd and the Wildcats look to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in the past four years. Arizona has not advanced past the Sweet 16 since its 2015 Elite Eight run. Arizona was upset by No. 6-seed Clemson in the 2024 NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed.

Fifth-year guard Caleb Love was named First Team All-Big 12 in a season where he has averaged 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and shot 32.3% from beyond the arc.

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Redshirt sophomore center Henri Veesaar, who had an increased role with fellow 7-footer Motiejus Krivas injured, joined Arizona newcomer and junior Tobe Awaka as Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selections.

Arizona reached its fourth consecutive conference title game, winning the two Pac-12 Tournaments in 2022 and 2023.

Akron earned the automatic bid by winning the MAC Tournament as the league’s top-overall seed, 76-74, over Miami (Ohio). Akron finished 28-6 and had notable wins over fellow tournament team and Summit League champ Omaha.

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Comments

2 Comments

Sean Davis
Sean Davis 1 year ago

Agreed. Before they got Tommy, I wanted the UA to pull Dana to Tucson. He recruits, develops and can coach X/O. His teams are always on the upswing by the end of the year.

S
Sol Diablo 1 year ago

Too bad they picked this ime for this game. #2 ASU takes on Denver before this game gets over. Will have to check out replays for this bball game.

A
ascc 1 year ago

I'm guessing the team down south will get by the Zips, but that Oregon game could be a tough one, as Dana Altman is good at mixing-up defenses, and have faced them many times in the Pac-12 . . . They showed in the Big XII Tournament that they can play with anyone, so it ought to be one heck of ride . . . IF it lasts.