NCAA Tournament: Perfect storm of flaws ends Arizona’s season in Sweet 16 loss to Houston
Written by sidhanta
Written by sidhanta
Arizona had slow starts throughout the season. It also had problems with turnovers and struggled keeping teams off the offensive glass. Rarely all at the same time, though.
Having all those flaws resurface during the Sweet 16 spelled doom for the Wildcats, who never led in a 72-60 loss to Houston on Thursday night at AT&T Center.
Their completely unexpected run this season, from unranked to a No. 1 seed, ended with a 33-4 record.
Arizona committed 14 turnovers, which fifth-seeded Houston (32-5) turned into 24 points, while it only managed six points off 12 Cougars miscues (with four of those points coming in the final minutes.
Houston also converted 12 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points, and the 10-point lead they built early in the first half was never relinquished.
The UA shot 33.3 percent as a team, its third-lowest rate of the season and tied for the fourth-worst in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.
Its 60 points were tied for the seventh-fewest in an NCAA game and only one above its season-low in scoring.
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