Aware of program's Elite Eight pain, Arizona Wildcats remain cool and confident

SAN JOSE — Nobody on the entire Arizona men’s basketball roster was even born the last time the Wildcats went to a Final Four.

Even senior Jaden Bradley wasn’t yet alive when Jason Gardner missed a couple of last-minute 3-pointers that allowed Kansas to hang on to its 2003 Elite Eight win to end a season the Wildcats had mostly dominated.

A few were infants when the Wildcats lost a 15-point lead with four minutes to go against Illinois in the 2005 Elite Eight. Some were probably just getting started in the game when UConn’s Kemba Walker put an end to the Wildcats’ surprising Elite Eight run in 2011.

They were mostly young children, still, when Wisconsin shattered the Wildcats’ hearts in 2014 and 2015 Elite Eight games. And, besides, nearly half of them grew up in countries where March is just like any other month.

But they do have ears. It's impossible not to learn the program's history when you wear the Arizona uniform, when you live in a school and city absorbed in the culture.

Still, after beating No. 4 seeded-Arkansas 109-88 on Thursday in the Sweet 16, they gave off a confident vibe, suggesting they do not fear that history.

They know they are 35-2 and seeded No. 1 in the West Region going into an Elite Eight game with Purdue on Saturday, for a chance to go to the Final Four for the first time since 2001. 

"Of course, we hear that, and we see the banner in McKale hanging,” freshman forward Ivan Kharchenkov said, referring to 2001. “But it’s in the past. Like, it has no control over us. There’s no curse or anything.

“It’s just that we have a good team, and we want to go as far as possible. We’re trying to be the best version of ourselves right now.”

Center/forward Tobe Awaka also said the Wildcats are mostly focused on how they can improve, and that it can get distracting looking elsewhere.

Their win over the Razorbacks had already broken through a barrier of sorts, the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, where three of Tommy Lloyd's previous three UA teams ended their season and where no UA team has won since 2015.

It's history, but maybe not more than that.

“I don't feel the pressure that everyone in the outside feels of finally passing the Sweet 16,” said senior wing Anthony Dell’Orso, who transferred from Campbell to Arizona in 2024. “I wasn't here long enough to kind of experience that, but it feels great to be able to have a chance at something that we talked about six months ago. It is truly special, and we’ve got a great team.”

That was mostly the emotion the Wildcats expressed in their NCAA-mandated open locker room media session Saturday: Confidence and steadiness.

They showed it on the court, too, steering clear of a major foul in a game when the increasingly desperate Razorbacks picked up four of them.

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In their 21-point win Thursday, the Wildcats shot 63.8% from the field and received double-figure scoring from six players. They built on an 11-point halftime lead in the second half, while Arkansas was called for two technical fouls, a Flagrant 1 and a Flagrant 2 that resulted in the ejection of Razorback wing Billy Richmond.

"We knew the game had potential to get like that," Lloyd said. "We want to play championship basketball. To play championship basketball, you've got to just stand up and walk away from the action. This isn't the playground, you know what I mean? You can't just throw down. These guys have high character and they're winners, but they're competitors, and it's always a fine line for both teams."

The Wildcats were aggressive and efficient from the beginning. They built a 12-6 lead in just over five minutes after 3s from Bradley and freshman Brayden Burries, and were up by double digits after less than nine minutes.

Arizona took a 54-43 lead at halftime and kept up a similar pace early in the second half, leading by 18 three minutes into the second half after Burries converted a three-point play, and by 20 after seven minutes before Arkansas picked up its first major foul.

With 11 minutes left, Arkansas' Trevon Brazile was called for a flagrant foul when he swatted for a ball and instead hit Awaka in the face. While Awaka missed both ensuing free throws, the Wildcats took an 89-65 lead about two minutes later when the Razorbacks picked up a technical foul: Arkansas’ Nick Pringle fouled UA center Motiejus Krivas — and then slammed the ball, forcing it to bounce 20 feet above the floor and result in a technical foul.

"Maybe when you're down 20, you're trying to do some stuff," Krivas said. "I don't know."

The Razorbacks’ frustration boiled over further as the minutes wore down. With seven minutes left, Richmond was ejected after extending his arm to knock Kharchenkov to the floor.

"Obviously, throughout the frustration they tried everything and nothing could work," Kharchenkov said.

Then, with 5:38 left, Arkansas coach John Calipari jumped in, picking up a technical foul that allowed Burries to take a pair of free throws, the second of which he made.

That gave Arizona a 98-75 lead, and Koa Peat dunked a minute later to put the Wildcats comfortably up for good at 102-77.

The Wildcats were cool, and collected. Now they'll have to stay that way Saturday against a veteran Purdue team, with more pressure from the outside than they may have ever known.

“We'll go out, play our basketball and just do it for the fans, for Tucson,” Krivas said. “I know how much they want us to win and how much they want us to get to the Final Four. So we'll try to do anything for them.”