Arizona just made a former Purdue player eat his words with Elite Eight dominance

Former Purdue player Raphael Davis made multiple big statements before Arizona beat Purdue 79-6 in the West Regional Final on Saturday in San Jose to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2001. Davis stated he would take all of the key players for Purdue over Arizona. Arizona

Davis started by stating he would take Purdue point guard Braden Smith over Jaden Bradley of Arizona. There is a reasonable path to support Davis taking Smith, the all-time NCAA Division I leader in assists, over Bradley. That is not how the game played out.

Smith scored 13 points on four out of 15 from the field, three of eight on three-point attempts, with seven assists, five rebounds, one steal, two fouls and three turnovers. Bradley scored 14 points on four out of nine from the field and made all six of his free throws with six assists and one turnover.

Smith, the all-time Division I leader in assists, ran the Purdue offense ideally despite shooting four for 11 in the first half, to give the Boilermakers a 38-31 halftime lead. Arizona was far better defensively in the second half on Saturday, holding Smith to 0-4 from the field, 0-2 on three-point shots, with four assists and two turnovers.

Bradley outplayed Smith in the second half

Bradley scored 10 points on three out of five from the field, made all four of his free throws, had one rebound and two assists while leading an offense that did not commit a turnover in the second half. Arizona outscored Purdue 48-26 in the second half after trailing 38-31 at halftime.

Trey Kaufman-Renn over both (Arizona) bigs

Kaufman-Renn struggled with foul trouble, playing nine minutes in the first half after being called for two fouls and picking up his third in the first minute of the second half. Kaufman-Renn finished with 10 points on five out of 14 from the field, two rebounds, three assists, one block and four fouls.

Koa Peat dominated Purdue and was named the West Regional Most Outstanding Player with 20 points on nine out of 18 from the field, seven rebounds and three assists against the Boilermakers. Mo Krivas had six points, 12 rebounds and three assists, and Tobe Awaka had four points and two rebounds.

Brayden Burries outplayed Fletcher Loyer

After struggling in the first half, Burries was dominant in the second half as one of four Arizona players who scored in double figures over the final 20 minutes. Burries scored 14 points in the game on four out of 10 from the field, four of seven on three-point attempts, with six rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Loyer made three of his nine shots from the field, two out of six three-point attempts to score eight points with two assists, three rebounds, two turnovers and four fouls. Bradley and Burries completely outplayed Smith and Loyer. Ivan Kharchenkov also had a big game for Arizona with 18 points and eight rebounds on 7-11 from the field.

Arizona took over the game in the second half. With Bradley, Burries, Kharchenkov and Peat all scoring in double figures in the second half, Arizona showed that its balance is the reason they are 36-2 and advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2001.