Because of the way the bracket was laid out, the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Tournament ends up being the last of 16 teams to play. Turns out it was worth the wait for Arizona.
The Wildcats trailed for only 97 seconds in a nearly wire-to-wire 88-77 win over Kansas in the Big 12 tourney quarterfinals on Thursday night in Kansas City. Third-seeded Arizona (21-11) advances to the semifinals where it will face No. 2 Texas Tech (25-7) at 6:30 p.m. PT Friday.
The UA avenged its 83-76 loss to 6th-seeded Kansas (21-12) in the regular season finale by shooting better than 53 percent in each half, withstanding 14 3-pointers from the Jayhawks and keeping Hunter Dickinson from dominating like last time. Dickinson had 19 points and 12 rebounds, but he was 8 of 18 from the field and 6 of 13 on 2s after going 15 of 23 for 33 points on Saturday.
KJ Lewis and Henri Veesaar had 19 points apiece for Arizona, both coming off the bench as Trey Townsend was reinserted into the starting lineup. Townsend had 16, making 6 of 8 shots while Lewis and Veesaar combined to go 13 of 22 and the UA outscored Kansas 46-20 in the paint.
Caleb Love had 11 points but he took only nine shots, tied for the fewest attempted this season, instead dishing out a team-best six assists and only one turnover in 35 minutes.
Arizona held Kansas to 42.2 percent shooting but saw the Jayhawks shoot 45.2 percent from 3, making seven triples in each half. Zeke Mayo was 5 of 12 from 3 and hit four in a 5-minute span in the second half to give the Jayhawks their last lead at 59-56.
The Wildcats forced 13 turnovers, four more than in the previous two games combined, and converted those into 15 points. Lewis had four of the UA’s eight steals.
Arizona led 45-37 at halftime thanks to 53.3 percent shooting. It held Kansas to 33.3 percent in the first half, including only four 2-point baskets, but in the first 2-plus minutes Dickinson had seven points inside the arc.
That reopened the perimeter for the Jayhawks, who tied it at 50 on a Mayo 3 with 15:42 left. Kansas then took its first lead since 3-2 on a Dajuan Harris 3 with 12:30 to go.
While Kansas kept hitting 3s like it did in the first half, getting 15 straight points from deep, Arizona went cold from outside. The Wildcats were 7 of 11 from 3 before halftime but missed its first five triples in the second half until Caleb Love drained one off the catch to put the UA back up 61-59.
A 3-point play by Trey Townsend, aided by a goaltending call on Kansas’ Flory Bidunga, put the Wildcats up 66-63 with 7:48 remaining. The UA kept the lead the rest of the way, making five straight shots at one point, and outscored the Jayhawks by 14 over the final 11-plus minutes.
Arizona hit seven of its first 11 shots, from seven different players, with Veesaar, Anthony Dell’Orso and Carter Bryant each draining open 3s. All eight rotation players scored in the first six minutes, with Lewis’ two free throws capping a 10-0 run for a 19-9 lead.
Lewis rained a 3 to put the Wildcats up 27-16 midway through the first half, and two Jaden Bradley free throws with 9:05 left in the first half gave them more points (31) than in the opening 20 minutes in Lawrence.
Kansas used an 11-2 run to get within 35-32, doing so with some outside shots and getting to the line. Bryant, Lewis and Tobe Awaka each got two fouls before the under-4 timeout in the first half, and Townsend got there with 1:54 left before halftime.
Arizona went more than four minutes without a field goal until Veesaar hit a second 3 and the Wildcats held the Jayhawks without a basket over the final 3:23.
The win over Kansas improved Tommy Lloyd to 12-2 in revenge games and gave him 109 wins for his career, tied for the 4th-most in a coach’s first four seasons.
Arizona and Texas Tech split their regular season meetings, each winning at home.
