Less than a week after losing to Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse, Arizona will have an opportunity to avenge itself Thursday in the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals.
The No. 6 seed Jayhawks held on to a 98-94 overtime victory over UCF Wednesday night to advance to Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. MST matchup with the No. 3 seed Wildcats. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+.
Kansas led UCF as many as 13 points in the second but the Knights of Orlando mounted a comeback over the final 10 minutes of regulation. In the final minute Kansas was up 83-80 when Jordan Ivy-Curry hit a 3-pointer that ultimately sent the game to overtime.
UCF had opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final seconds of OT but couldn’t convert, and the Jayhawks escaped to move to 21-11 on the season.
Zeke Mayo led KU with 24 points on 5-7 shooting from deep, while Hunter Dickinson contributed a 23-point, 13-rebound double double. AJ Storr had 19 points off the bench and KJ Adams Jr. added 15.
The 98 points were the second-most Kansas has scored in a game this season; KU had 99 points in a win over UCF in early January.
Arizona will face the same opponent to end the regular season and open the conference tournament for a second consecutive year. Last season the Wildcats fell at USC 78-65 to conclude Pac-12 play, then topped the Trojans 70-49 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Under coach Tommy Lloyd the Wildcats have had success playing teams they’ve previously lost to in the same season. Arizona, however, did lose to Washington State twice last year.
A win over Kansas Thursday would help Arizona’s chances of being a 4 seed come Selection Sunday, while a loss might solidify the Wildcats as a 5 seed.