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Gordon helps Arizona get past Weber State

Mar 22, 2014 - 2:03 AM San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Weber State stormed out of the gate, but Arizona quickly ratcheted up its defense before holding off the pesky Big Sky champs.

Aaron Gordon had 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks and Arizona beat Weber State, 68-59, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Nick Johnson netted 18 points, while Kaleb Tarczewski tallied 10 points and five blocks for the top-seeded Wildcats (31-4), who will play Gonzaga in the third round on Sunday.

Big Sky Player of the Year Davion Berry was 10-of-10 from the foul line and scored 24 points, but was just 5-of-20 from the field for Weber State (19-12).

Weber State, which put up an average of 18.3 3-pointers per game coming in, was 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc. It shot just 30.2 percent (16- of-53) from the floor.

"They've got a great team, great talent, great coaching, they have it all," Weber State head coach Randy Rahe said.

A Berry triple staked the other Wildcats to a 7-0 lead less than four minutes in.

"I thought we had some anxiety, dropped balls, missed shots and got down 7-0. Once we got through that stretch we played some really good basketball," Arizona head coach Sean Miller said.

Arizona, though, made its next seven shots from the floor as it answered with a 16-5 run. Tarczewski's layup capped the surge and gave the Wildcats a 16-12 edge.

Later, Gordon's slam concluded a 13-3 burst, which gave Arizona a 31-18 cushion late in the half before settling for a 32-20 advantage heading into the break.

The margin was further extended in the second half when Johnson nailed a trey and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made a layup to finish off a 16-5 flurry for a 50-29 Arizona lead.

Weber State dwindled the lead down to seven after Jordan Richardson hit a triple with 28 seconds to play, but Johnson sank two free throws and Berry missed a pair of shots at the other end to seal the outcome.

Game Notes

Arizona shot 55.3 percent (26-of-47) from the floor and 50 percent (7-of-14) from beyond the arc ... Weber State was 20-of-23 (87 percent) from the foul line.