Wright State falls to Arizona in NCAA Tournament; Finishes season as Horizon League Champs

SAN DIEGO — UPDATE @ 9:30 p.m.:

The Wright State Raiders’ NCAA Tournament run has come to an end.

The Raiders fell to 1-seed Arizona Wildcats 70-87 in San Diego Friday night.

Wright State went into the game trying to become only the second 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The first time it happened was in 2018 when UMBC beat Virginia.

Four Raiders finished the game with double-digit points, including junior Grant Basile who led the team with 21 points.

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INITIAL REPORT:

The Wright State Raiders are looking to shock the basketball world and continue their NCAA Tournament run tonight when they play one of the highest remaining seeds in the tournament.

The 16-seed Raiders play the Arizona Wildcats, the top seed in the South Region, in San Diego with tipoff scheduled for 7:27 p.m.

Wright State is coming off an impressive and historical win Tuesday when the Raiders won their First Four matchup against fellow 16-seed Bryant Bulldogs at UD Arena. The Raiders win was the first Division I Tournament win in program history after three previous NCAA Tournament appearances.

>>Watch parties planned for Wright State NCAA tournament game against Arizona

Sportsbooks place the Wildcats as a heavy favorite in the game, currently favorited to win by at least 20 points. The Wildcats have had an impressive season leading into tonight’s game with an overall record of 31-3 and boasting Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles.

The winner of tonight’s game will move on to face the winner of 8-seeded Seton Hall and 9-seeded TCU, with that game tipping-off after the Arizona, Wright State game.

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If the Raiders are able to win, it would be one of the more shocking upsets in tournament history. In the history of the NCAA tournament, only one 16 seed has ever beat a number 1 seed. The only time its ever happened was in 2018 when UMBC beat top-seed Virginia.

However upsets were the major storyline in Thursday’s game with two popular picks in the tournament losing to lower seeds. Second-seeded Kentucky lost in overtime to 15-seeded Saint Peter’s, only the 10th time a 15-seed won a first round game. The most recent 15-seed over 2-seed came just last year when Ohio State lost to Oral Roberts. Big Ten Tournament champions Iowa also lost to 12-seeded Richmond Spiders.

News Center 7′s James Rider is the only local reporter in San Diego for the Wright State game. We’ll continue to have updates on the Raiders on air and online through their tournament run.

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