The No. 1-seeded Wildcats went on a 15-2 run after that and pushed the lead back to 20, but the Raiders wouldn’t go away, getting as close as 13 before the final buzzer.
Basile had 21 points, Trey Calvin 16 (14 in the first half), Tim Finke 15 and Tanner Holden 12 for the Horizon League champs, who finished 22-14.
Among an ESPN panel of 54 staff members, 29 picked the Wildcats to reach the Final Four, and 14 picked them to win it all. That figure probably would have been higher if starting point guard Kerr Kriisa hadn’t been dealing with an ankle injury (he didn’t play against the Raiders).
Arizona put four players in double figures, led by PAC-12 player of the year Bennedict Mathurin’s 18. But while they shot 55 percent from the field and went 11 of 20 from 3, they were forced into 19 turnovers.
Wright State shot 34.8 percent from the floor and went only 9 of 25 on 3′s, but they committed just six turnovers.
When coach Scott Nagy was interviewed briefly midway through the first half on the national broadcast, he was upset with his squad, saying: “I don’t think we’ve gotten close to an offensive rebound. Our guys are so worried about getting back.”
But he expressed pride in how the players had gotten over some early-game jitters.
They never did solve their shortcomings on the glass. The taller Wildcats — their starting frontline went 7-foot-1, 6-11 and 6-7 — had a 47-25 rebounding edge. Christian Koloko, Arizona’s 7-1 center, scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had six assists.
Finke had a team-high six rebounds and four steals, while Calvin led the squad in assists with four.
Though the season ended in disappointing fashion, the Raiders notched the first NCAA win in program history and the first for the league since Butler reached the finals in 2011.
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