Charles Barkley picked Arizona to win the NCAA Tournament.
March Madness took over Thursday night in the Sweet 16 when Clemson defeated the Wildcats 77-72 in a back-and-forth game in Los Angeles. With the win, Clemson advances to only the second Elite Eight in program history and first in 44 years.
Like all good sports, Barkley congratulated the ACC’s Tigers and coach Dabo Swinney.
Wait, Swinney?
That’s right, the former Auburn basketball star congratulated the Clemson football coach, not the basketball coach. The panel of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Clark Kellogg didn’t react, which made things even more confusing for those on social media Thursday night.
Chase Hunter scored 18 points and converted a three-point play with 25.7 seconds remaining, and Clemson advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, beating Arizona 77-72 in a West Region semifinal on Thursday night.
PJ Hall added 17 points for the sixth-seeded Tigers (24-11), who advanced to face either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 4 seed Alabama.
Clemson last reached the final eight in 1980, when there were 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Brad Brownell was making his second appearance in the second weekend of March Madness in his 14 seasons with the Tigers.
Oumar Ballo scored 15 points and Caleb Love 13 for second-seeded Arizona (27-9), which had a horrific shooting night, going 5 of 28 (17.9%) from 3-point range. Love missed all nine of his attempts beyond the arc as the Wildcats failed to reach the Elite Eight for the 12th time overall and first time since 2015.
Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd was ousted in the Sweet 16 for the second time in his three seasons.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.