Santa Clara Stuns Arizona

Unheralded Santa Clara held Arizona to only one field goal for 15 minutes of the second half Thursday night to send the second-seeded Wildcats to their second straight first-round loss in the NCAA tournament, 64-61.

Pete Eisenrich scored 19 points as the Broncos (19-11) became only the second 15th-seeded team to win a first round game in NCAA tournament history. Richmond beat second-seeded Syracuse 73-69 in 1991.

In a game of scoring streaks and droughts, Santa Clara overcame a 25-0 run and came back from a 13-point deficit in the second half to pull the biggest upset of this year’s tournament.

It was the second straight first round upset loss for Arizona (24-4), which was knocked off by 14th-seeded East Tennessee State last year.

Santa Clara held Arizona to only one field goal from the time Chris Mills hit a basket with 15:26 left until Mills hit a 3-pointer to draw Arizona within 64-61 with 8.4 seconds remaining.

Santa Clara’s Steve Nash missed two free throws with 7.3 seconds left, but Kevin Dunne grabbed the rebound and was fouled and also missed both free throws, but Damon Stoudamire’s desperation 23-footer as time expired bounced off the back of the rim.