Mathurin, top-seeded Arizona survive TCU upset bid in OT
AP
Mar 21, 2022
SAN DIEGO (AP) Bennedict Mathurin has come through plenty in clutch situations for Arizona Wildcats. It's no surprise he made his biggest plays of the season when the Wildcats needed him the most.
The sophomore shooting guard made a 3-pointer to force overtime and then scored six more points in the extra session as the top-seeded Arizona outlasted ninth-seeded TCU Horned Frogs 85-80 on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Mathurin, the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a second-team AP All-American selection, finished with 30 points. After Kerr Kriisa missed a 3, Mathurin was able to wrestle the ball away from TCU's Emanuel Miller in the paint and put it in to give the Wildcats an 83-80 lead with 1:11 remaining.
After getting the rebound and making the basket, Mathurin did a couple fist pumps near the baseline.
''My coaches were getting on me for not getting enough rebounds. I was pretty happy about getting the offensive rebound,'' said Mathurin, who is the sixth Arizona player to score at least 30 points in an NCAA Tournament game. ''So I just went out there and got the rebound, made it. And I was emotional.''
Christian Koloko added 28 points and 12 rebounds, including a putback dunk that slammed the door on the Horned Frogs with 9 seconds left in OT.
Koloko was 12 of 13 from the field, including five dunks, but the rest of the Wildcats were 19 of 55, including 5 of 27 on 3-pointers.
Mathurin even got off to a slow start. He was 2 of 9 before making six of his last 10.
''Ben's not afraid of the moment. He's a special player who has an ability to rise up another level when needed. He has that clutch gene,'' Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. ''I honestly felt really good when he had the ball in hands there. I knew he was going to shoot a 3. Right when he snapped that 3 off to tie it, it was pretty impressive.''
Mathurin and Koloko did enough though for the Wildcats (33-3) to avoid becoming the second No. 1 seed to fall during the second round. They advanced to Thursday's South Region semifinals in San Antonio, Texas, where they will face fifth-seeded Houston.
''I mean, it was simple, it was win or go home,'' Koloko said. ''That's not the first time we were down. We knew we had to keep playing our game. Coach trusted us and told us, you've got to hang in there. That's what we did. We didn't panic. We played our game and we came back.''
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. had a career-high 23 points for TCU (21-13) while Mike Miles Jr. and Eddie Lampkin Jr. had 20 apiece. The Horned Frogs were looking to get to the Sweet 16 for the first time.
''This season was everything for us because we weren't even expected to be here. And for us to win our first game and be that close with the No. 1 seed just shows that we have a bunch of guys with a lot of grit,'' O'Bannon said.
TCU still had a chance to win in regulation after Mathurin's big shot, but Miles lost the ball near midcourt. Dalen Terry tried for a game-ending dunk but he didn't get the shot off before time expired.
TCU trailed by eight points with less than eight minutes remaining and had missed 12 straight shots before scoring 12 straight points to go up 69-67 with 3:39 remaining. O'Bannon scored the first five points and Miles had the last four.
The Horned Frogs held Arizona scoreless for 5:09 before Terry's 3 from the right corner tied it at 70.
''I'm so proud of them. TCU basketball, I told them I think they made millions of fans by watching this game,'' Dixon said.
KRIISA RETURNS
Kriisa had three points in 27 minutes off the bench after missing the past three games.
The sophomore point guard's season looked to be over after he suffered a sprained ankle when he collided with Koloko in the final minute of a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal matchup against Stanford on March 10.
He missed his first five shots before hitting a 3-pointer from the left corner that began a spurt of nine straight Arizona points to give it a 67-58 advantage.
''For him to give us 26 minutes - our trainer, Justin Kokoskie, did an amazing job getting him available to play. That was a real sprained ankle. That was no tweak,'' Lloyd said.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona: The Wildcats are 6-1 as a top seed in the second round since 1985. The only loss was to Wisconsin in 2000.
TCU: The Horned Frogs got their first NCAA Tournament victory in 35 years on Friday night, but Jamie Dixon's dream of a deep run for his alma mater will have to wait at least another year.
UP NEXT
Arizona will face Houston for the first time since 2009. It will be the teams' first meeting in the NCAA Tournament.
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1st Half
TCU
Horned Frogs
36
ARIZ
Wildcats
39
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
Eddie Lampkin Jr. vs. Christian Koloko (Wildcats gains possession)
19:44
Eddie Lampkin Jr. blocks Azuolas Tubelis's two point layup
19:42
Eddie Lampkin Jr. defensive rebound
19:32
+3
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. makes three point jump shot
3-0
19:13
Azuolas Tubelis misses two point jump shot
19:11
Damion Baugh defensive rebound
19:04
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. misses three point jump shot
19:02
Justin Kier defensive rebound
18:46
Bennedict Mathurin misses three point jump shot
18:44
Eddie Lampkin Jr. defensive rebound
18:25
Justin Kier shooting foul (Mike Miles draws the foul)
18:25
+1
Mike Miles makes regular free throw 1 of 3
4-0
18:25
+1
Mike Miles makes regular free throw 2 of 3
5-0
18:25
+1
Mike Miles makes regular free throw 3 of 3
6-0
18:15
Emanuel Miller personal foul (Azuolas Tubelis draws the foul)
18:06
Azuolas Tubelis misses two point jump shot
18:04
Emanuel Miller defensive rebound
17:55
+2
Damion Baugh makes two point layup
8-0
17:37
Eddie Lampkin Jr. blocks Bennedict Mathurin's two point layup
17:35
Azuolas Tubelis offensive rebound
17:27
Azuolas Tubelis misses two point jump shot
17:25
Christian Koloko offensive rebound
17:21
+2
Christian Koloko makes two point layup
8-2
17:15
Emanuel Miller misses three point jump shot
17:13
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. offensive rebound
17:09
+2
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. makes two point putback dunk
10-2
16:56
+2
Justin Kier makes two point layup (Dalen Terry assists)
10-4
16:38
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. misses three point jump shot
16:36
Wildcats defensive rebound
16:10
+2
Justin Kier makes two point layup
10-6
15:55
+2
Mike Miles makes two point jump shot (Xavier Cork assists)
12-6
15:36
Bennedict Mathurin offensive foul (Damion Baugh draws the foul)
15:36
Bennedict Mathurin turnover
15:36
TV timeout
15:13
Damion Baugh misses three point jump shot
15:11
Azuolas Tubelis defensive rebound
15:02
Azuolas Tubelis turnover (lost ball) (JaKobe Coles steals)
14:58
Mike Miles offensive foul (Kerr Kriisa draws the foul)
14:58
Mike Miles turnover
14:48
Pelle Larsson misses three point jump shot
14:46
Kerr Kriisa offensive rebound
14:29
+2
Christian Koloko makes two point jump shot
12-8
14:09
+2
Eddie Lampkin Jr. makes two point jump shot
14-8
13:59
+2
Christian Koloko makes two point jump shot (Azuolas Tubelis assists)
14-10
13:59
Eddie Lampkin Jr. shooting foul (Christian Koloko draws the foul)
13:59
+1
Christian Koloko makes regular free throw 1 of 1
14-11
13:49
Mike Miles misses two point jump shot
13:47
Oumar Ballo defensive rebound
13:38
+2
Christian Koloko makes two point dunk (Oumar Ballo assists)
14-13
13:15
Micah Peavy turnover (bad pass)
13:03
Kerr Kriisa misses three point jump shot
13:01
Christian Koloko offensive rebound
12:55
Dalen Terry misses three point jump shot
12:53
Francisco Farabello defensive rebound
12:34
+3
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. makes three point jump shot (Damion Baugh assists)
17-13
12:12
+2
Christian Koloko makes two point layup
17-15
11:53
Eddie Lampkin Jr. turnover (bad pass) (Dalen Terry steals)
11:34
Dalen Terry misses two point layup
11:32
Christian Koloko offensive rebound
11:32
+2
Christian Koloko makes two point layup
17-17
11:32
Emanuel Miller shooting foul (Christian Koloko draws the foul)
11:32
TV timeout
11:32
+1
Christian Koloko makes regular free throw 1 of 1
17-18
11:15
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. misses three point jump shot
11:13
Eddie Lampkin Jr. offensive rebound
11:11
Oumar Ballo shooting foul (Eddie Lampkin Jr. draws the foul)
11:11
Eddie Lampkin Jr. misses regular free throw 1 of 2
11:11
+1
Eddie Lampkin Jr. makes regular free throw 2 of 2
18-18
11:01
+2
Azuolas Tubelis makes two point dunk (Bennedict Mathurin assists)
18-20
10:42
Mike Miles misses two point jump shot
10:40
Oumar Ballo defensive rebound
10:22
Azuolas Tubelis turnover (lost ball) (Chuck O'Bannon Jr. steals)
10:01
Damion Baugh misses two point jump shot
9:59
Eddie Lampkin Jr. offensive rebound
9:54
+2
Eddie Lampkin Jr. makes two point layup
20-20
9:48
Pelle Larsson misses three point jump shot
9:46
Micah Peavy defensive rebound
9:26
Mike Miles turnover (bad pass) (Bennedict Mathurin steals)
9:20
Micah Peavy shooting foul (Bennedict Mathurin draws the foul)
9:20
+1
Bennedict Mathurin makes regular free throw 1 of 2
20-21
9:20
+1
Bennedict Mathurin makes regular free throw 2 of 2
20-22
9:02
+2
Chuck O'Bannon Jr. makes two point dunk (Damion Baugh assists)