The No. 1 seed University of Arizona men’s basketball team (35-2) looks toward its Elite Eight matchup with No. 2 seed Purdue University (30-8) on Saturday, March 28 at 5:49 p.m. in the SAP Center.
Arizona is coming off of a win against University of Arkansas and Purdue winning against University of Texas. The Texas-Purdue game was a nail-biter where either team could have taken the victory, but Purdue pulled through in the end.
History vs. Purdue
Purdue and Arizona’s history dates back to the 1934 season. They met in Indiana where the Boilermakers took the victory 34-23. Since then, the teams have met 13 times, most recently in 2023 where Purdue took the home victory 92-84.
Purdue this season
Purdue took a close victory 79-77 against the Texas Longhorns on Thursday night after an intense battle with former Arizona head coach Sean Miller who now coaches the Longhorns. It was back and forth scoring the entire game. Trey Kaufman-Renn tipped in a missed layup with just 0.7 seconds remaining giving the Boilermakers the victory.
The Boilermakers have effective offense and a strong veteran team, which will be interesting to watch their dynamic with Arizona’s freshmen players.
Arizona this season
Arizona’s victory against Arkansas just showed yet again how dominant this team is. They took the victory 109-88 while all five of their starters reached double figures. The Wildcats grabbed hold of the game early on, and Arkansas struggled to get control back.
This is the first time in 11 years that Arizona advances to the Elite Eight. They have made seven previous runs in the tournament and four where they went to the Sweet 16, but have not made it past that since the 2014-15 season where they were lead by current Texas coach Miller. This is the first time under head coach Tommy Lloyd.
The Wildcats are hoping to earn that Final Four spot in Indianapolis, but they have to get through the Boilermakers before they can do so.
