Live by the 3, die by the 3: Wildcats cash it in at the Sweet Sixteen

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

From the desk of Dan Price

a very disappointed Wildcat fan...

Ultimately, the two-seeded Arizona Wildcats decided to live or die by the three-point shot in their Sweet Sixteen matchup with sixth-seeded Clemson.

The only thing is our beloved Wildcats from Tucson are not a three-point shooting team.

Clemson (24-11) advanced to the Elite 8 in Los Angeles tonight at the Crypto.com Arena with a 77-72 win over Arizona. The Tigers forced the Wildcats to shoot the ball from far...far away. The Wildcats were a dismal 5 for 28 from beyond the arc and shot just 37.3 percent from the field (25 of 67). Meanwhile, Clemson followed coach Brad Brownell's 'game plan' from tip-off to the final buzzer.

Yes, they gave up some points under the bucket, as Arizona's 7-foot center Oumar Ball produced his usual double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds in his 29 minutes on the court. However, Caleb Love, Kylan Boswell, and Pelle Larsson combined to shoot 2 of 20 from downtown. Love finished the game with 13 points, Larsson eight, and Boswell only three.

Arizona and coach Tommy Lloyd turned to Jaden Bradley off the bench to try to spark the Wildcats. And he did. Bradley played 25 minutes. He sliced and diced his way to a team-high 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, and canned eight free throws. Of Ballo's 15 points, only one came from the free-throw line. In fact, Arizona missed eight of its 25 attempts at the charity stripe.

You live by the three and die by the three.

The Arizona Wildcats' season ends at 27-9. The Wildcats had a good showing at the NCAA Tournament, winning over Long Beach State and Dayton to reach the Sweet Sixteen.

Arizona wanted so much more.