They await the winner between Georgia State and Xavier; Sean Miller's old school.
That'll do it! Arizona defeats Ohio State by a final score of 73-58 and advances to the sweet sixteen which will be in Los Angeles!
2nd Half (:58.4) Thompson gets one more bucket and finishes the three point play.
2nd Half (1:17) Hollis-Jefferson misses three, McConnell gets offensive rebound and makes short jumper.
2nd Half (2:02) Thompson with another made basket. Arizona uses its a timeout.
2nd Half (2:17) Ohio State applied pressure on the inbounds, but Pitts gets fouled and proceeds to make both free throws.
2nd Half (2:20) Thompson takes some contact from Johnson and finishes his shot. Hits his free throw too.
2nd Half (2:34) At the line, Johnson makes both free throws
2nd Half (2:58) Hollis-Jefferson fights for a loss ball and as he was leaning over into backcourt, he draws a foul. Makes both shots.
2nd Half (3:20) York hits 2/2 from the stripe.
2nd Half (3:20) Gabe with another drive to the basket and gets fouled again going up to the basket.
2nd Half (3:48) Tate with a beautiful move to the rack and finishes with a soft lay-up.
2nd Half (4:06) York driving hard to the rack, goes up for the dunk, and Russell fouls him hard. He makes both free throws.
2nd Half (4:20) McConnell gets fouled and will head to the line for a one-and-one. Makes both his shots.
2nd Half (5:03) Loving gets fouled as he finished his layup. Makes his free throw. Lead down to 11.
2nd Half (5:33) Ashley picks up his fifth foul and is out for the rest of the game. Tate makes just one free throw.
2nd Half (6:33) Hollis-Jefferson from down low, goes up, finishes his layup, and draws the foul. Misses his free throw.
2nd Half (7:02) Russell swats away a layup, but Hollis-Jefferson is there for the dunk.
2nd Half (7:26) Now Pitts drains a three.
2nd Half (7:45) Loving hits a big three for Ohio State as he hit in transtion.
2nd Half (8:51) Russell with some nifty moves and hits the jumper with McConnell draped over him.
2nd Half (9:53) Gabe York hits another three from the wing.
2nd Half (10:24) McConnell hits another floater and he's hot on offense. Now 15 points and 5 assists.
2nd Half (10:38) D'Angelo Russell makes his first two free throws of the day.
2nd Half (10:51) Hollis-Jefferson is heading to the line to shot two free throws. He makes only one.
2nd Half (11:11) Scott makes his second free throw.
2nd Half (11:11) Scott was going up in transtion and Ashley fouled him, picking up his fourth.
2nd Half (11:49) York hits his fourth three and the lead is ten now.
2nd Half (12:09) McDonald looses the ball out of bounds for his schools tenth turnover.
2nd Half (14:08) Tarczewski with a dunk after a lapse in defensive awareness from Ohio State.
2nd Half (14:28) Scott makes an incredibly tough shot there to stop a run.
2nd Half (15:26) Johnson misses at the rim on a breakaway, but Hollis-Jefferson is there for the dunk. Forcing OSU to call a timeout.
2nd Half (15:50) Another three from York extends the lead.
2nd Half (16:12) Russell finds Thompson for a jump shot from beyond the arc.
2nd Half (16:44) York hits a long three pointer.
2nd Half (17:17) McConnell drives the lane and lays it in with ease.
2nd Half (18:11) Williams attacks the basket, gets fouled by Ashley (his third), doesn't convert the dunk though. Will head to the line. Makes both.
2nd Half (18:27) Tarczewski makes both shots from the stripe.
2nd Half (18:44) Scott stops, pulls up and hits a jumper.
2nd Half (19:32) TJ McConnell drills a three pointer.
2nd Half (20:00) The second half is underway.
STAT: The Wildcats always put an emphasis on rebounding and are currently leading the Buckeyes 21-14 in that category with Tarczewski grabbing six and Johnson hauling down four.
At the half, Arizona has a one point lead over Ohio State in a very methodical first half. It'll be interesting to see if Thad Matta sticks with the zone in the second half as the Wildcats were starting to figure out how to break it down.
1st Half (:20.3) Tarczewski gets a block on Russell with 4 seconds left on the shot clock.
1st Half (:52) McConnell drives to the rack and finds Tarczewski who gets fouled going for the dunk. He makes both, gives Arizona the lead.
1st Half (1:31) Ashely will head to the line as he tries to tie the game up at 25. He makes just one and it's 25-24 Ohio State.
1st Half (1:58) Hollis-Jefferson with a behind the back pass, finds Ashley and finishes the move with a lay-up.
1st Half (3:10) Another great pass from Russell finds Tate with a laser beam pass.
1st Half (3:54) Russell forces up a deep three and comes up way short with Hollis-Jefferson guarding him as the shot clock was winding down.
1st Half (4:27) Hollis-Jefferson finds Ashley this time and Arizona cuts the lead two.
1st Half (5:04) Now Tarczewski gets in on the action and gets his first points with a dunk down the other end.
1st Half (5:21) Beautiful pass from Russell to WIlliams who dunks it.
1st Half (5:40) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will head to the line as he gets fouled going up for a lay-up. He makes both free throws.
1st Half (6:25) Russell the drive and the layup.
1st Half (6:53) Another tie-up as Williams is in on the action and OSU gets the ball back.
1st Half (7:38) Elliott Pitts tries to get a rebound off of an Ashley missed jumper from the baseline, but he goes over the back and picks up the foul.
1st Half (8:07) Hollis-Jefferson too strong with the shot, gets the rebound, but the ball rolls off and goes out of bounds.
1st Half (8:43) McDonald follows Russell's miss for the tip in.
1st Half (9:08) TJ McConnell hits a jumper to cut the deficit to two.
1st Half (9:31) Russell hits his first three of the game.
1st Half (9:53) McConnell with another steal, waits and lays it up easily.
1st (10:16) Arizona misses three chances near the rim, Johnson throws the ball off of an OSU player, and regains possession.
1st Half (10:31) Now Thompson cuts towards the basket and gets fouled by Johnson going up for the layup. He makes both.
1st Half (11:00) Thompson with an emphatic dunk with an assist from Russell.
1st Half (11:41) Ashley kept the ball alive and the tip in somehow falls through the hoop.
1st Half (12:17) Thompson hits a three and retakes the lead for Ohio State
1st Half (13:13) Loving hits a jumper after the timeout as OSU cuts the lead to two.
Arizona currently on a 5-0 run after Sean Miller used his first timeout and 7-0 run overall.
1st Half (13:28) A tie-up underneath and it'll be Ohio State's ball after the media timeout.
1st Half (14:06) McConnell with the steal and the lay in with an acrobitc finish going coast to coast.
1st Half (14:41) York hits a three with his first shot and Arizona lead.
1st Half (14:51) A timeout has been called as OSU is up 5-4 over Arizona early.
1st Half (15:27) McConnell with the put back.
1st Half (15:58) Tate gets an easy lay in after Arizona looses the ball.
1st Half (16:58) Now Johnson throws the ball away.
1st Half (17:21) Scott steps out of bounds and turns the ball over.
1st Half (17:42) McConnell hits the trailer in Johnson and he lays it in for two.
1st Half (19:26) Scott knocks one in from outside to open the scoring.
1st Half (20:00) Aaaaaaaaaand we're off! Arizona controls the tip.
10 minutes left until tip!
Just 15 minutes to go now and I'm getting anxious for this one!
Alright, let's just end this game already! Kentucky up by 13 with 4 minutes left.
Pretty good game for the most part over in Louisville, but it looks like Kentucky is starting to pull away from Cincinnati despite a valiant effort from the Bearcats.
What are your thoughts on the game today? Will Sean Miller finally beat Thad Matta?
We hope you're enjoying our coverage thus far today, we are a little over an hour away until tip-off in Portland! Hope you're ready.
“It’ll be a team effort. He’s good at what he does, and he executes extremely well, so it’s about just limiting him, making everything tougher for him. He’s a great player, so of course he’s gonna make tough shots. It’s a pride thing. Telling yourself you’re not gonna let this guy do certain things that he’s used to doing. Just being able to settle down and lock the guy down,” said Rondae Hollis-Jefferson on OSU's outstanding freshman D'Angelo Russell.
Thad Matta on playing Sean Miller for a third time in the tournament, "Those were classic moments. I can still remember the Xavier game, being down nine points with like two minutes to go, telling the guys, Hey, we got them right where we want them. They believed me. That was maybe one of the harder games I've had to coach in my career because I had recruited -- been a part of recruiting those guys to that university, a majority of them. So that was challenging in some ways. I think the funny thing about two years ago is on Monday night, Sean and I were talking, after the selection thing. Sean says, God, if we can get to L.A., could be like a home game for us because there's a lot of Arizona people there. I said, You're going to L.A.? I said, I think if we win, we go to L.A. We did the numbers. Oh, my God, we could be playing each other..."
Another interesting battle will be the battle of the bigs. Arizona possess two of the most athletic and most powerful forwards in the country in Brandon Ashley and Kaleb Tarczewski. They get easy shots around the rim and control the boards on the offensive and defensive end. Amir Williams and Sam Thompson are a bit smaller compared to Arizona's backcourt and Sean Miller could be looking to go down low early and often.
Everyone got the matchup they wanted, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson vs. D'Angelo Russell. Russell was one of the most outstanding players in the entire Big Ten this past season and he averaged over 19 points a game, which led Ohio State and shot a hair over 45% as well. But it's not just the shooting that's impressive, it is the way he handles the basketball. You never know what's going to happen next and if you're trying to defend him, good luck. However, Hollis-Jefferson is one the most premier defenders in the country and is willing and able to guard anyone on any team. His long arms cut off normal passing lanes and he's athletic enough to get up and really disrupt a shot.
Arizona had a season to remember. The Wildcats were three possessions away from an undefeated season, but losses on the road to UNLV, Oregon State, and Arizona State ended any hopes of that. After that last loss to their arch rivals, the Arizona State Sun Devils, Sean Miller had his squad rolling. They won their last eleven before the start of the NCAA Tournament including a thrashing of the Oregon Ducks winning by 28 points. Another impressive victory came in Salt Lake City in late February when the UofA ended Utah's home winning streak, as they pulled out the five point victory.
However, Thad Matta and his Buckeyes have not had that great of a season. They finished the season with an 11-7 conference record and ended the year in sixth, five games back of the Big XII regular and post-season tournament champions, Wisconsin. For the most part, Ohio State played well at home but a demolishing by the Badgers on the Buckeyes home court ended any hopes of finishing the regular season outside the top 25. Their worse loss of the season came back on February 22, when OSU traveled to Ann Arbor and lost by seven.
This is the time that Ohio State head coach Thad Matta and Arizona's Sean Miller has met. MIller, a former assistant under Matta, are meeting for the first time since the epic meeting back in 2013 when Ohio State got the three point victory thanks to LaQuinton Ross; he hit that three pointer with two seconds left on the clock. That 2013 meeting was not their first meeting, that came a few years before, in 2007, when Miller was the head coach at Xavier. But once again, Matta bested his former assistant as OSU was able to erase nine point defecity with less than three minutes to go, eventually winning in the first overtime.
Hello and welcome to VAVEL USA's live coverage of the 3rd Round of the NCAA Tournament as the Arizona Wildcats are set to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. The tip-off is set for 5:15 pm ET, so stay tuned for your play-by-play coverage!