Arizona Survives Challenge

Once again, Arizona was down but not out.

The Wildcats, who overcame a 10-point deficit to win their opening-round game against South Alabama, trailed by the same margin Saturday against College of Charleston before rallying to win 73-69 at the Southeast Regional.

“This is a competitive group of guys, and they’re not going to quit,” said Arizona coach Lute Olson.

Mike Bibby scored 13 of his 18 points in the final 7:16, and fourth-seeded Arizona turned up its defensive pressure down the stretch to end 12th-seeded Charleston’s 23-game winning streak.

The Wildcats, who will play top-seeded Kansas on Friday in Birmingham, Ala., missed nine of their first 11 shots in the second half and trailed 47-37 before rallying. Arizona (21-9) started challenging the Cougars’ inbounds passes and pressed them as they came up the court.

“We didn’t do a great job of really executing at that time,” said Charleston guard Anthony Johnson. “We were kind of anxious to give the knockout blow instead of running the offense. We took some bad shots.”

Jason Terry started Arizona’s rally by scoring seven points in a 9-2 run that tied it at 50, but the Wildcats didn’t take the lead until Bibby’s 3-pointer with 7:16 left.

He scored 10 of Arizona’s 11 points over the next 4 minutes, including two free throws with 4:38 left that gave the Wildcats their first lead since the opening minute of the half.

“Well, the dream season has come to an end and what is one of the most sad days in my coaching careers is that I am losing some polished, gritty, classy, competitive performers,” said Charleston coach John Kresse, who has four seniors on his team.

Stacy Harris scored a career-high 25 points for the Cougars (29-3) despite playing with tendinitis in his left knee.

Charleston was in only its sixth season since leaving the NAIA.

Kansas 75, Purdue 61

Paul Pierce took his turn in the spotlight for Kansas, scoring 20 points and making big plays with the game in the balance as the top-seeded Jayhawks held off the Boilermakers.

Two days after Scot Pollard grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds against Jackson State, Pierce pulled down 12 and took over when eighth-seeded Purdue made it a game after trailing by 10 at halftime.

The victory sends Kansas (34-1) to its fifth straight regional semifinal.

Raef LaFrentz had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas, and Jacque Vaughn 12 points and nine assists.

Chad Austin scored 17 for Purdue (18-12), but went 4 of 18 from the field. Brad Miller had 15 points and 10 rebounds.