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NCAA Men's Tournament: West Regional Tracker

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AJ DybantsaDarius Acuff
Geoff Magliocchetti 466 March 19, 2026Fact checked by: Sara Jane Gamelli No Comments

Placed at the top behind the efforts of fantastic freshmen, Arizona will seek to avoid desert dramatics as it headlines the West Region.

Keep track of all the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament happenings in the West Region below ...

NCAA men's basketball Houston
(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

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RELATED: East Region Preview | South Region Preview | Midwest Region Preview | West Region Preview | Ballislife Writer's picks

Regional Summary

Champion: Arizona
Most Outstanding Player: Koa Peat, Arizona
All-Region Team: Jaden Bradley (Arizona), Trey Kaufman-Renn (Purdue), Tramon Mark (Texas), Koa Peat (Arizona), Braden Smith (Arizona)

Elite Eight (March 28)

(1) Arizona 79, (2) Purdue 64

A spectacular second half clinched Arizona's first Final Four bid in a quarter-century, as they derailed the Boilermakers by a 22-point margin over the last 20 after trailing by seven at intermission, their largest deficit of the tournament to date. Big men Koa Peat and Ivan Kharchenkov led the way with a combined 38 points and Peat's 20 set an Arizona freshman Elite Eight record to pass Mike Bibby's output en route to the 1997 national title. Overcoming a double-double for Oscar Kluff (who played big minutes while Trey Kaufman-Renn endured early foul trouble), Arizona pulled away with an early second half run, one headlined by the continued clutch antics of Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries. 

Sweet 16 (March 26)

(1) Arizona 109, (4) Arkansas 88

An offensive onslaught allowed the Wildcats to scratch out the Razorbacks, as Tucson is heading back to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2015. While Arkansas briefly basked in a potential swan song for Darius Acuff Jr., who put up 28 points in defeat, the Wildcats had six different men score at least 14, paced by the 23 from Brayden Burries. With that output, Arizona became the first team to have six reach that landmark in a single NCAA Tournament showing.

 

(2) Purdue 79, (11) Texas 77

A fateful double from Trey Kaufman-Renn capped off one of the most exciting games of the tournament to date, as the 6'9 forward putback a Braden Smith misfire with less than a second remaining to secure the victory in a game where the margin never stretched beyond seven. It was just enough to hold off a gutsy performance from Tramon Mark, who braved a clear injury to lead all participants with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three. Kaufman-Renn led the Boilermakers with 20 on the victorious side, making up for struggles from the outside that saw Fletcher Loyer hit all four Purdue three-pointers.

Second Round (March 21-22)

(1) Arizona 78, (9) Utah State 66

Behind a second half breakout for Jaden Bradley, the Wildcats withstood a second half rally from the Aggies to clinch a Sweet 16 spot for the third consecutive season. Despite trailing by 18 early in the second half, the Mountain West champion Aggies whittled the deficit down to four but Bradley's successful and-one, part of an 18-10 run to close out the game, shifted momentum back in Arizona's favor, much to the delight of a partisan crowd in San Diego.

(2) Purdue 79, (7) Miami (FL) 69

The Hurricanes held Braden Smith in check (3-of-12) after his historic happening in the opening round but fellow Boilermakers Fletcher Loyer (24 points, 4-of-4 from three) and Trey Kaufman-Renn (19 points, 9 rebounds) picked up the slack in raising a return trip to the Sweet 16. Purdue made more history with Sunday's early win, as they earned Matt Painter's 500th win at the West Lafayette helm, placing him only a dozen behind program legend Gene Keady.

(4) Arkansas 94, (12) High Point 88

Darius Acuff Jr. and Rob Martin put up one of the best one-on-one battles in the tournament, but Acuff's 36 wound up providing the difference that ended the Panthers' Cinderella run. Trailing only by one at halftime (thanks in part to Acuff free throws in the final minute), Martin completed the erasure of a late seven point deficit with a successful and-one and a reverse driving lay-up that tied the game with 3:19 remaining. But seven straight tallies from Acuff re-established the hearty advantage for the Razorbacks, who are back in the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.

(11) Texas 74, (3) Gonzaga 68

Camden Heide hit a three-pointer in the final half-minute to provide the victorious difference while Jordan Pope and Matas Vokietaitis each tallied 17 points as Texas' surprising run continued. With the win, the Longhorns become just the sixth First Four victor to reach the regional semifinal round and the first since UCLA's Final Four run in 2021. Neither team led by more than eight as Gonzaga, sustained by 25 from Graham Ike, was eliminated in the second round in back-to-back seasons for the first time since a five-year streak in 2010-14. 

First Round (March 19-20)

(7) Miami (FL) 80, (10) Missouri 66

A late offensive surge and grit in the paint helped the Hurricanes overcome a hostile crowd in St. Louis, as Malik Reneau tallied 24 points in the program's first tournament victory since the 2023 Final Four run. Miami earned 19 second chance points while tallying a plus-16 advantage on the glass 

 

(2) Purdue 104, (15) Queens 71

 

The Boilermakers put on an offensive showcase against the tournament rookies from Charlotte, headlined by a special bit of college basketball history: by setting up a Trey Kaufman-Renn layup in the first half, Braden Smith became the all-time leader in Division assists, passing former Duke star Bobby Hurley. Smith dished out eight total on the day, pairing his helpers with 26 points.

(9) Utah State 86, (8) Villanova 76

A late run for the Aggies helped them secure victory in one of Friday's few thrillers, as a plus-10 rebounding advantage and a 36-13 win in free throw attempts allowed them to survive 14 three-points from Villanova. Led by 22 points from Mason Falsev and 20 more from MJ Collins Jr., Utah State outscored the Wildcats 15-3 over the final 3:55. 

(1) Arizona 92, (16) Long Island University 58

Arizona's fantastic freshmen lived up to their reputation, as Brayden Burries put up 18 points while Koa Peat scored 15 more en route to a one-sided victory at the top of the bracket. While also enjoying a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double from Ivan Kharchenkov, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, further aided by a plus-21 advantage on the glass and a 53 percent success rate from the field.

 

(3) Gonzaga 73, (14) Kennesaw State 64

The Bulldogs held off a furious challenge from the Conference USA champions, eventually pulling away thanks to 19 points from Graham Ike and 17 more from Davis Fogle off the bench. Conference USA champion Kennesaw State led by as much as seven in the early going and held a lead as late as the penultimate minute of the first half but Gonzaga ended the period on a 10-0 to restore sanity, even though the Owls hung around until the end.

(11) Texas 79, (6) BYU 71

AJ Dybantsa's hyped freshman season came to an end as the Longhorns continued their trek with a follow-up victory over the Richie Saunders-less Cougars. Dybantsa played all 40 minutes and paired 35 points with 10 rebounds, but his collegiate career came to a potential end thanks to Texas center Matas Vokietaitis, who needed only the first half to cure his own double-double before sealing Texas' victory with an emphatic rejection of Robert Wright III, preventing the score from falling to one possession in the final minute.

 

(4) Arkansas 97, (13) Hawaii 78

SEC champion Arkansas scored the first 11 points and never looked back, rolling to its largest NCAA Tournament victory since the 1994 regional semifinals. NBA hopeful Darius Acuff Jr. had 24 points and seven assists (part of 26 helpers for the Razorbacks) while Malique Erwin had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double on a day where Arkansas put up 64 tallies in the paint.

(12) High Point 83, (5) Wisconsin 82

Chase Johnston's first two-pointer of the season couldn't have come at a better time, as the three-point specialist took a long ball from Rob Martin to create a game-winning fastbreak with 11 seconds remaining in what became the first major upset of the Tournament. Trailing by as much as 10, High Point earned the first NCAA Tournament win in program history behind Johnston's heroics brought about by Martin's pass, created through the last of 10 rebounds on a 23-point night.

First Four (March 17)

(11) Texas 68, (11) NC State 66

A game-winning fadeaway from Tramon Mark in the penultimate second helped render a late Wolfpack rally long forgotten as Texas prevailed in a return to the First Four. The Longhorns led by nine with just under three minutes to go before NC State managed to force a tie, but Mark's heroics, part of a 17-point night, allowed them to sweep a tournament doubleheader from the Wolfpack after previously taking a showdown at November's Maui Invitational.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags

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