Jaden Bradley, Trey Townsend and Caleb Love each made three-point shots in the first two minutes that accounted for a quarter of a season-high 12 conversions from beyond the arc as Arizona had a complete performance in a 93-65 win over Akron in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night in Seattle.
Arizona played excellent complementary basketball as they had nine dunks to match the 12 three-point shots. The Wildcats had 21 assists on 39 made field goals. Arizona was exceptionally efficient with the 12 made three-point attempts coming on 25 attempts which was only the sixth most this season.
Seven different Arizona players made three-point attempts on Friday night. Jaden Bradley made three of his five three-point attempts, Carter Bryant, Anthony Dell'Orso and Caleb Love each converted two of their four attempts from beyond the arc and K.J. Lewis, Trey Townsend and Grant Weitman each made one.
Arizona consistently made threes throughout the game. The Wildcats were 5-12 on three-point attempts in the first half and made seven of their 13 three-point attempts in the second half. Three-point shooting and defending the arc have often hindered Arizona this season.
Arizona entered the NCAA Tournament 271st nationally making 32.4 percent on three-point attempts. The Wildcats were 187th nationally entering the NCAA Tournament allowing opponents to make 33.6 percent of their three-point attempts. Akron made three of its 10 three-point attempts in the first half and finished 7-25.
The Zips entered the NCAA Tournament seventh nationally making 10.9 three-point shots, eighth with 29.8 attempts from beyond the arc and 57th making .364 percent of their attempts. Arizona held Akron below all three of their three-point averages entering the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona will likely be playing Oregon in the second round. The Ducks led 52-31 when this was published. Oregon opponents average making 7.1 three-pointers on 22.5 attempts for 31.7 percent and the Ducks make 7.7 threes on 22.6 attempts for 34,0 percent on the season. Arizona is going to have to work harder for open threes versus Oregon.