NCAA Men: It’ll be Purdue vs. Arizona in West Region Finals
Purdue'sTrey Kaufman-Renn tips iin the game-winner over Texas' Dailyn Swain duirng the Sweet 16 in San Jose on Thursday nght. (AP photo)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renn has heard coach Matt Painter remind the Boilermakers so many times during his four years at Purdue that it’s not always the first shot of a possession that matters most.
“It’s those tip-ins at the end of the games,” Kaufman-Renn recalled of the message. “He said that my four years here, so it’s kind of cool to experience that.”
Yes, Kaufman-Renn’s quick hands at the rim extended a special NCAA Tournament run for Purdue.
Kaufman-Renn tipped in a miss by Braden Smith with 0.7 seconds left, and the No. 2-seed Boilermakers edged hobbling Texas star Tramon Mark and the 11th-seeded Longhorns 79-77 on Thursday night in the Sweet 16.
Texas (21-15) tied it moments earlier when Dailyn Swain made a driving layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play with 11.9 seconds to go. Smith had scored on his own drive with 38 seconds remaining and finished with 16 points.
Kaufman-Renn hit his first seven shots — going 6 for 6 and grabbing five rebounds in the first half — on the way to 20 points. He was mobbed by teammates right after the final buzzer sounded at SAP Center.
Texas had subbed 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis out of the game with 11 seconds left after Boilermakers big man Oscar Cluff had fouled out, giving Purdue a better opportunity in the paint. Kaufman-Renn got himself right under the front of the rim after Smith missed on his drive.
“The No. 1 thing for us to have a chance today was to rebound with Purdue,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “I thought we really struggled to rebound on defense.”
Mark scored 29 for the Longhorns, grimacing and clearly in pain limping on his injured leg through the closing minutes when the sixth-year senior’s team needed him most. His points were the most by a Texas player in an NCAA Tournament game since Kevin Durant scored 30 against Southern California in the second round of the 2007 tournament.
Purdue (30-8) advances to Saturday’s Elite Eight game against top-seeded Arizona (35-2).
The teams traded baskets and chances most of the night.
Chendall Weaver scored off his offensive rebound with 1:03 to play pulling Texas within 73-72 after Smith had made only one of two free throws.
Vokietaitis hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left before Purdue’s C.J. Cox made two at the 19.4-second mark.
ARIZONA 109, ARKANSAS 88
Arizona finally got over the Sweet 16 hurdle under coach Tommy Lloyd, getting 23 points from Brayden Burries and a dominant offensive effort in a rout of Arkansas in the other West Region semi.
Fellow freshmen Koa Peat added 21 points and Ivan Kharchenkov had 15 as the top-seeded Wildcats (35-2) won their 12th straight game overall to tie a school record for wins in a season and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2015.
Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka all scored 14 points as Arizona became the first team in NCAA Tournament history with six players scoring at least 14 points in a game.
Lloyd has won a record 147 games in his first five seasons as a head coach but has been unable to find tournament success before this season. Arizona had lost three times in the Sweet 16 and once in the first round as a No. 2 seed in Lloyd’s first four seasons.


