Arizona and Illinois to Final Four
Arizona rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Purdue and reach its first Final Four since 2001, while Illinois knocked off Iowa to make the Final Four for the first time since 2005 — both advanced from the Elite Eight on Saturday. The remaining spots will be decided in today’s matchups: Michigan vs Tennessee and Duke vs UConn. (espn.com) (nytimes.com)
Arizona outscored Purdue 48-26 in the second half en route to a 79-64 win in the West Regional final. (espn.com) Freshman forward Koa Peat led Arizona with 20 points and seven rebounds while Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 points and eight rebounds; Motiejus Krivas pulled down a team-high 12 boards. (sports.yahoo.com) The Wildcats improved to 36-2 on the season and entered the regional final as the tournament’s No. 1 seed; the Elite Eight game drew 15,854 fans at the SAP Center in San Jose. (espn.com) Illinois closed the South Regional with a 71-59 victory over Iowa, shooting 47% from the field, 86% from the free-throw line and finishing with 38 rebounds to Iowa’s 21. (espn.com) Freshman guard Keaton Wagler led Illinois with 25 points and was named the South Region’s Most Outstanding Player, and teammate Andrej Stojakovic also made a key scoring contribution with 17 points. (usatoday.com) The 2026 men’s Final Four is scheduled for April 4 in Indianapolis with the national championship set for April 6, where Arizona and Illinois will now be among the teams competing. (ncaa.com)
