Editor’s Note: The Round of 32 games featuring Arizona, Ohio State, Utah and Georgetown played in Portland on Saturday are re-capped in this one story:
The Utes (26-8) will travel to Houston to play the winner of Sunday’s game in Charlotte, North Carolina, between top-seeded Duke (30-4) and No. 8 San Diego State (27-8).
Utah hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2005, when the Utes fell as the No. 6 seed to No. 2 Kentucky. The Utes are making their first tournament appearance since 2009.
L.J. Peak led Georgetown (22-11) with 18 points.
Jordan Loveridge’s long jumper gave Utah a 57-53 lead late, but the Utes couldn’t quite pull away from the physical Hoyas. After Peak’s layup brought Georgetown within 61-57 with 3:06 left, Taylor nailed a 3-pointer for Utah.
Dakarai Tucker’s layup stretched Utah’s lead to 66-59 at the 1:40 mark and Georgetown couldn’t catch up.
The Utes opened the tournament on Thursday with a 57-50 victory over No. 12 seed Stephen F. Austin, while Georgetown advanced with an 84-74 victory over No. 13 Eastern Washington.
The Hoyas haven’t been to the Sweet 16 since 2007, when they won as the second seed until dropping to top-seeded Ohio State in the Final Four.
Georgetown was making its 30th appearance in the tournament, including a national championship in 1984. The Hoyas settled for an NIT invitation last year after getting bounced from the 2013 NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed by No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast.
During the 1990s and into the 2000s, the Utes were a perennial NCAA Tournament participant under coach Rick Majerus, advancing in 11 of his 14 seasons at the helm. In 1989, Utah got past defending national champion Arizona and landed in the title game but fell to Kentucky 78-69.
The Utes won a national championship in 1944.
Utah saw the return of 7-foot center Dallin Bachynski, who missed the tournament opener after tweaking his ankle earlier in the week. Utah needed him against the bigger and heavier Hoyas.
The game featured contrasting styles: Georgetown’s Princeton offense against Utah’s motion offense. At first the Utes appeared to have trouble adjusting to the Hoyas, who found early success on the perimeter.
Tied at 32 at the half, Utah hit consecutive 3-pointers to go up 40-36 early in the second half. Taylor’s 3 put the Utes up 43-36. The Utah bench went wild, and coach Larry Krystkowiak signaled the players to mute the celebration.
Isaac Copeland made a 3 for the Hoyas to cut into the lead, and Utah was hurt by a scoring drought that lasted more than 5:30 before Loveridge made a 3-pointer to give the Utes a 46-42 lead with 11:30 to go.
Georgetown pulled within 49-47 on D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera’s hard-fought layup before Joshua Smith’s decisive dunk tied the game at 49 with 8:40 left.
TIP INS
Utah: Delon Wright is the little brother of guard Dorell Wright of the Portland Trail Blazers, whose home court is the Moda Center.
Georgetown: Georgetown’s 6-foot-10, 350-pound center Joshua Smith is from Kent, Washington, only a couple of hours by car from Portland. He says he had more than 40 people from Kent making the trip south for the game.
UP NEXT
Utah advances to face the winner of Sunday’s game between top-seeded Duke (30-4) and No. 8 San Diego State (27-8) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Georgetown’s season is over.
Arizona defeats Ohio State to reach Sweet 16
If D’Angelo Russell really has played his last collegiate game, it’s not the way Ohio State wanted to send him out.
The standout freshman struggled to find his shot, scoring just nine points as the 10th-seeded Buckeyes lost 73-58 to second-seeded Arizona in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, it was kind of one of those days for him,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.
The Buckeyes gave the Wildcats all they could handle in the first half, even with Russell — a likely NBA lottery pick — in a shooting funk.
Sam Thompson had 18 points and Shannon Scott scored 10 for Ohio State, which led by six points early on but never could match Arizona’s size. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 43-26, packing the paint and using their length to reel in Russell.
Russell made just 3 of 19 shots after going for 28 points in Ohio State’s overtime win over VCU in its tournament opener. He added seven rebounds and six assists — including a dazzling, cross-court, no-look pass during a fast break — in what was probably his last game for Ohio State.
Russell wore a bandage to cover the five stitches he received above his left eye after taking an elbow in Thursday’s contest. And he spent the final minutes on the bench listening to Arizona’s fans chant “U-of-A!”
“I would say they played great D on a few of them, but a lot of them were great shots. I just missed,” Russell said.
Russell declined to say whether he will declare for the NBA draft, as most expect him to do. He said his poor shooting performance will have no impact on his decision, either.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an individual factor, missing shots or feeling like, ‘Oh, I lost to Arizona, I’ve got to get back at ’em,'” he said. “I don’t see anything like that.”
Arizona’s Gabe York made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, and T.J. McConnell turned in a terrific all-around performance.
McConnell had 19 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals to help the Wildcats (33-3) overcome a sluggish start. The senior’s steady hand created all kinds of space for York and other shooters to bust the Buckeyes’ zone defense, which they rarely used during the regular season but broke out for the tournament.
“They got the ball to the middle a lot in the second half and Gabe York played a heck of a half,” Scott said. “That kills a zone.”
The Pac-12 champion Wildcats went ahead by 15 points with 6:34 remaining before holding off Ohio State (24-11), which eliminated Arizona in the regional semifinals two years ago. Next up for the Wildcats is sixth-seeded Xavier in the West Regional semifinals Thursday in Los Angeles.
It was sweet redemption for Arizona and coach Sean Miller, who lost on a last-second shot to Ohio State in 2013. And it was the first time in three tries that Miller beat Matta, a close friend and former colleague who also handed Miller’s Xavier team a last-second defeat in the 2007 tournament.
“This is probably, without a doubt, maybe his best team,” Matta said.
The Wildcats looked tentative most of the first half against Ohio State’s smothering zone. In the second half, they worked the ball at a blistering pace and started hitting shots from outside.
York, who was scoreless against Texas Southern, hit four 3-pointers during one stretch. He finished 5 of 9 from long range.
“When they shrink (the defense) like that,” York said, “the only thing that’s left for me is to knock down shots.”
TIP-INS
Ohio State: The Buckeyes fell to 18-9 in the NCAA Tournament under Matta. … Ohio State has not advanced past the round of 32 since 2013, when it lost to Wichita State in the regional finals.
Arizona: The Wildcats are 10-3 in the NCAA Tournament under Miller. … Arizona has reached at least the Sweet 16 in four of Miller’s six seasons.
UP NEXT
Ohio State’s season is over.
Arizona faces Xavier on Thursday.