No. 4 Arizona clobbers 13th-seeded Akron in East mismatch

Field Level Media|published: Fri 21st March, 22:17 2025

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Akron at Arizona

Mar 21, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Henri Veesaar (13) dunks the ball against Akron Zips guard Isaiah Gray (13) during the second half in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Jaden Bradley recorded 19 points and six rebounds to help fourth-seeded Arizona roll to a 93-65 victory over 13th-seeded Akron on Friday in East Region first-round play at Seattle.

Trey Townsend added 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and collected eight rebounds, and Carter Bryant had 12 points and three blocked shots for the Wildcats (23-12), who will play either Oregon or Liberty in Saturday's second round.

Caleb Love registered 10 points and seven rebounds and KJ Lewis also scored 10 points for the Wildcats, who never trailed and held a dominating 53-22 rebounding edge.

Tavari Johnson scored all 13 of his points in the first half for Akron (28-7), which lost in the first round of the NCAA tourney for the third time in four seasons. The Zips are winless in seven all-time attempts.

Nate Johnson also scored 13 points for the Zips, but he was just 1 of 9 from the field. Shammah Scott added 11 points for Akron, which saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end.

The Wildcats shot 56.5 percent from the field and made 12 of 25 from 3-point range. Arizona had a 48-20 advantage in points in the paint.

The Zips connected on 33.3 percent of their shots, including 7 of 25 from behind the arc.

Arizona led by 10 at halftime and doubled the lead before the second half was five minutes old.

Bradley drained a 3-pointer to cap a 9-2 salvo and give the Wildcats a 50-33 advantage with 17:31 left in the game.

A short time later, Love hit a jumper and Lewis drilled a 3-pointer to make it 57-37 with 15:17 to go.

Akron was within 16 before Lewis scored on a layup, Bryant drained a 3-pointer and Bradley hit a jumper to push the lead to 73-50 with 8:36 left.

The lead topped out at 93-59 on Grant Weitman's 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining.

Townsend had 11 points as the Wildcats held a 41-31 lead at the break.

Bradley, Townsend and Love opened the game with 3-pointers as Arizona sprinted out of the gates.

However, the Wildcats led by just three past the midway point of the half. But Townsend scored on a putback to start a stretch in which Arizona scored 14 of 20 points. Love culminated it with a jumper to make it 33-22 with 3:59 left in the half.

--Field Level Media