Arizona routed by Buffalo in first round of NCAA Tournament

The Wildcats’ season ends in ruthless fashion

BOISE — The Arizona Wildcats knew the Buffalo Bulls were going to push the pace. They knew they were going to shoot 3s. They knew they were going to play small.

It didn’t matter.

Buffalo’s hellacious offense still got what it wanted, and now Arizona is on the first flight back to Tucson as a one-and-done in NCAA Tournament.

The No. 13 seeded Bulls shot 55 percent and 50 percent from 3, as they routed the No. 4 seeded Wildcats 89-68 in the first round.

After 12 lead changes in the first half, the Bulls commanded the second half, outscoring the Wildcats by 19. The Boise crowd, pulling for the underdogs, cheered them on.

Arizona’s defense looked much-improved in the Pac-12 Tournament last week in Las Vegas, but regressed to its usual self in Boise.

The Bulls beat the Wildcats off the dribble, confused them in transition, and even outrebounded them in the paint.

Buffalo made 13 layups and sank 15 3s, most of which were wide-open looks.

Arizona’s saving grace was supposed to be its towering frontcourt of Deandre Ayton and Dusan Ristic in this game, but it couldn’t get them the ball.

Ayton had 14 points and 13 rebounds on 13 shots in his final game as a Wildcat. Ristic had 16 points on 7-8 shooting in his final showing.

Allonzo Trier scored 10 points on 15 shots and no one else scored in double figures. But with the Arizona was defending, its offense didn’t have a chance to overcome Buffalo’s firepower.

The Bulls will face No. 5 seeded Kentucky in the Round of 32 on Saturday. Arizona faces a dark future.

The Wildcats are losing their entire starting five, including the best player the program has ever seen, have zero incoming recruits, and still have the federal investigation into college basketball hanging over their heads.

This was seen as the Wildcats’ last chance in who knows how long to make a deep NCAA Tournament run, but it ended ruthlessly with a 21-point loss in the first round instead.

Maybe that’s the new norm.

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Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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