Jaden Bradley and Anthony Dell'Orso of Arizona and C.J. Carr, Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith of Purdue all have multiple years of experience making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. Bradley and Smith are the leaders of their teams, who are both in the second weekend for the third consecutive year.
Bradley is playing in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Before transferring to Arizona in 2023, Bradley played for Alabama when they lost to San Diego State in the regional semifinals. After two seasons as a reserve on Sweet 16 teams, Bradley has started in the last two.
Arizona is playing in a regional final for the first time since 2015. Bradley and Dell'Orso are playing in their first regional finals. Bradley has played in 12 NCAA Tournament games in his career. Bradley began to emerge for Arizona when he averaged 12.7 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.7 steals in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Dell'Orso has been a key player off the bench for Arizona in 2025-26 after starting 28 out of the 37 games for the Wildcats in 2024-25. Dell'Orso has the potential to have a big game and help carry Arizona. In consecutive wins over Houston and Baylor in February, Dell'Orso scored 22 points.
“I looked everywhere, I can’t find any component of the game where Purdue is better than Arizona in this matchup.”@itsbjtaylor says Purdue has NO advantage over Arizona 😳 pic.twitter.com/8BbsgzpwPg
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 27, 2026
Purdue's experienced guards
Smith has improved his scoring during the NCAA Tournament, averaging 18.0 PPG, up from 14.6 during the regular season. Smith is also averaging 2.3 RPG and 7.0 APG. The assists numbers are down for Smith during the NCAA Tournament and he has missed all seven of his three-point attempts in the past two games.
Loyer has also increased his scoring during the NCAA Tournament from 14.2 PPG during the regular season to 18.7. Loyer has also been on fire during the NCAA Tournament on threes, making 12 out of his 20 attempts from beyond the arc after shooting 41.2 percent during the regular season.
In line with his backcourt mates, Cox has improved his NCAA Tournament scoring from 8.5 PPG during the regular season to 10.7. Cox has also contributed 4.3 RPG and 1.3 APG in the NCAA Tournament, while making 61.1 percent from the field and 50.0 percent of his three-point attempts.
Arizona and Purdue are both balanced. Expect a physical battle on the frontline, with backcourt play also critical. Arizona is better defensively than Purdue, but the Boilermakers are an efficient offensive team that is going to try dictate tempo.