The first weekend of the men’s NCAA tournament ended with a bang on Sunday night, with No. 1 seed Arizona surviving a wild upset bid by No. 9 TCU, 85–80, in overtime. In the process, it punched the final ticket to the Sweet 16.
The Horned Frogs were gunning to become the second team to take down a No. 1 seed in the second round, as UNC did with Baylor on Saturday. But Bennedict Mathurin had other ideas, pouring in 30 points and 10 rebounds and refusing to let the Wildcats lose.
Arizona, a popular Final Four and national title pick, could never quite get separation from the TCU in what was a tight affair all night in San Diego. The Wildcats eventually found themselves on the ropes in the final minute before Mathurin drained a three with 14 seconds remaining to tie things up.
