No. 24 Arizona and Oklahoma will meet in Thursday’s semifinals in the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas, with some familiarity between Sooners guard Kobe Elvis and the Wildcats.
Elvis was part of Dayton’s team that faced Arizona in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
He had 13 points in the Flyers’ 78-68 loss.
In Oklahoma’s 79-77 win over Providence on Wednesday in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, he had 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field — including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
“I was able to take good shots when they came to me,” Elvis said. “I was just playing off my teammates, that sort of thing.”
Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears finished with 20 points for the Sooners (5-0). He was 12 of 14 from the free-throw line and had seven assists to offset his eight turnovers.
Oklahoma almost squandered an eight-point lead with 32 seconds left.
The lead was cut to 79-77 after two free throws by Jayden Pierre with three seconds left following a technical foul called on Oklahoma for six players on the court.
A reserve walked on the court without the horn sounding to allow him in the game after Elvis made two free throws.
Providence gained possession after Pierre’s free throws, and Pierre’s 30-foot shot at the buzzer missed off the rim.
“There’s a lot to unpack,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said of the last sequence. “At the end of the day, our philosophy is when you make a free throw late like that, you sub in. You have him sitting at the scorer’s table.
“You go in so … Providence was trying to boat-race it up the court. We sub so we can set our defense. I’ll take it. We have young kids … if they don’t understand to check in before going in, that’s on me.”
Arizona (3-2) bounced back after Tommy Lloyd experienced consecutive losses for the first time in his four years as the Wildcats’ head coach.
Arizona defeated Davidson 104-71 on Wednesday behind a shooting performance of 56.5 percent (39 of 69) from the field and 50 percent (11 of 22) from 3-point range.
Anthony Dell’Orso, a Campbell transfer, was one of five players who finished in double-figures scoring with 21 points. Dell’Orso was 5 of 7 from 3-point range and 8 of 11 overall from the floor.
Caleb Love finished with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Love was 1 of 15 from 3-point range in consecutive losses to Wisconsin and Duke this month. He made 3 of 7 from beyond the arc against Davidson and was 7 of 13 overall.
“Caleb got downhill, he got to the lane, got to the paint, got to the rim, finished, and that kind of gave him some rhythm,” Lloyd said. “After that, he was able to knock down some 3s.”
Trey Townsend had 17 points, Tobe Awaka finished with 13 to go with 10 rebounds, and Motiejus Krivas had 10 points while making all four of his shots.
–Field Level Media
