Arizona holds off Utah State’s surge to reach 3rd consecutive Sweet 16

SAN DIEGO -- Jaden Bradley scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half as the catalyst for West Region No. 1 seed Arizona holding off a wild comeback from No. 9 seed Utah State for a 78-66 win Sunday in NCAA Tournament second-round play.

With its win, Arizona advances to its third consecutive Sweet 16 and fourth in five years. The Wildcats meet No. 4 seed Arkansas Thursday in San Jose, Calif., looking for their first Elite Eight berth since 2015.

Arizona (34-2) looked poised to run away from the Aggies early in the second half, going on a 9-0 run that opened up a 51-33 lead.

But Utah State (29-7) held the Wildcats without a field goal for almost eight minutes to fuel a 21-7 stretch. The Aggies deployed an aggressive, full-court trap defense that forced Arizona into eight second-half turnovers.

Coupled with the Wildcats' shooting struggles -- 39.3% from the floor for the game -- Utah State pulled to within four points multiple times down the stretch but could not fully close the gap.

Motiejus Krivas proved vital to Arizona stopping the bleeding. The 7-foot-2 center set up each of the Wildcats' first three field goals after the drought with a pair of offensive boards - the first leading to a Jaden Bradley layup, the second coming on a tip-in - and then sealing off a defender to free Bradley for another basket.

Krivas finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive glass.

Bradley's three-point play sparked a stretch in which the Big 12 Player of the Year scored six straight Arizona points. The Wildcats fans packing San Diego State's Viejas Arena serenaded Bradley with chants of "M-V-P" in response.

Drake Allen connected on a pair of big 3-pointers for Utah State, part of his 11 points, before MJ Collins Jr. pulled the Aggies to within six points with another 3 before Brayden Burries answered with a fadeaway 3-pointer of his own as the shot clock expired on the other end.

The sequence was the backbreaker for Utah State.

Burries finished with 16 points and shot 3-of-3 from 3-point range. While Arizona struggled to score on the interior, the Wildcats connected at a higher clip - 7-of-17 shooting for 41.2% - than Utah State's 8-of-32 (25%) from outside the arc.

Allen, Collins and Mason Falslev each made two 3-pointers for the Aggies. Collins finished with 12 points, Falslev had eight points and Garry Clark's 13 points led Utah State.