Arizona earns No. 4 seed in East Region, set to face Akron in Seattle

Wildcats open Tournament Play with fiesty Zips squad

TUCSON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Arizona Wildcats are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season under head coach Tommy Lloyd, securing a No. 4 seed in the East Region.

The Wildcats (22-12) will open their tournament run against No. 13 seed Akron on Friday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

Arizona finished third in the Big 12 during its first season in the conference, making a run to the conference championship game before falling just short. Now, the Wildcats turn their attention to March Madness, where they will look to advance past the opening weekend for the third time in four years.

Akron (28-6) dominated the Mid-American Conference, winning the regular season title and conference tournament. The Zips have won 21 of their last 22 games and are one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country, hitting 36.6% from beyond the arc.

If Arizona wins on Friday, a potential second-round matchup looms against a familiar foe—No. 5 seed Oregon, which takes on No. 12 Liberty in the other game in the Seattle pod.

A trip to the Sweet 16 would likely set up a showdown with No. 1 seed Duke in the East Regional, hosted in Newark, New Jersey. This marks Arizona’s lowest seeding since 2018, when the Wildcats also entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed.

Lloyd, whose hometown of Kelso, Washington, is just a couple of hours from Seattle, is focused solely on Akron.

"We're not looking ahead to anything," Lloyd said. "It's all about getting ready for Akron, playing our best basketball, and earning the right to keep playing."

Arizona will tip off its NCAA Tournament run on Friday at 4:35 MST.