March Madness: Power ranking the Sweet 16 teams left in 2024 NCAA Tournament

5. Arizona Wildcats

It’s very early in the Tommy Lloyd era at Arizona but they’ve yet to get past the first weekend, despite being top seeds. It looked a little scary early on against 15-seed Long Beach State, tied late in the first half. Yet Arizona made sure there wasn’t going to be anything close, rolling to an 85-65 win.

All five scorers were in double figures, led by 20 points and eight assists from Kylan Boswell. Both Caleb Love and Oumar Ballo finished with double-doubles, while Pelle Larsson had 15 points and five assists in the win.

Arizona next took on Dayton, a team with an All-American big man (DaRon Holmes). The Pac-12 program took control early but it ended up being a close call in the second half. Arizona was able to pull off the 78-68 victory, led by 19 more points from Love. Keshad Johnson had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jaden Bradley chipped in with 12 off the bench.

With an upset in the bottom half of the West Region, Arizona won’t get Baylor but rather Clemson. The Tigers have been impressive so far in the NCAA Tournament but are one of the lower seeds left (6) in the Big Dance. It’s a good chance for the Wildcats to get to the Elite 8 without facing a top-tier team just yet.