Gabe York made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, and second-seeded Arizona advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year with a 73-58 victory over Ohio State on Saturday.
”We won our way,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said.
McConnell had 19 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals to help the second-seeded 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 NCAA Tournament.
The Pac-12 champions went ahead by 15 points with 6:34 remaining before holding off No. 10 seed Ohio State (24-11), which eliminated Arizona in the regional semifinals two years ago. Next up for the Wildcats is sixth-seeded Xavier, where Miller was the head coach from 2004-09, in the West Regional semifinals Thursday in Los Angeles.
They also remain on track for a rematch against Wisconsin in the regional final. The Big Ten champion Badgers, who ousted Arizona in an overtime thriller in last year’s regional final, are the top seed in the West.
”We’ve weathered a couple of storms,” Miller said. ”I think we’ve learned in this region, this tournament, a couple things this week leading to L.A. that we have to make sure we’re sharp and ready to go. Now that we have two more games on a neutral court, I think it becomes easier to go out there and be yourself.”
The Buckeyes gave the Wildcats all they could handle, even with standout freshman D’Angelo Russell struggling with his shot. Russell scored nine points and made just 3 of 19 shots after going for 28 points in Ohio State’s overtime win over VCU in its tournament opener.
Russell also had seven rebounds and six assists. He wore a bandage to cover the five stitches he received above his left eye after taking an elbow in Thursday’s game.
”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.
Sam Thompson added 18 points and Shannon Scott scored 10 for the Buckeyes, who led by six points in the first half but never could match Arizona’s size. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 43-26.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
