It took a bit longer than usual. But this year’s N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament finally got its first major upset on Thursday.
And No. 13-seeded Buffalo did not need a buzzer beater to knock off No. 4 Arizona, a team thought by many to have had the talent to reach its first Final Four since 2001.
The Bulls practically ran the Wildcats out of Boise. With suffocating defense, and 55 percent shooting, they gathered a double-digit second-half lead and never looked back, winning, 89-68, in a South Region matchup.
Arizona, trailed all season by a federal investigation into basketball corruption, fired the assistant coach Emanuel Richardson, who was arrested on bribery charges.