For the second time in less than a week, the Arizona Wildcats will face the Kansas Jayhawks, but this time, the stakes have been raised. A spot in the Big 12 tournament semifinals is on the line at 9:30 p.m. ET. Kansas beat Arizona 83-76 in their lone season matchup five days ago.

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In their first matchup, the Wildcats struggled on defense, particularly guarding Hunter Dickinson and Zeke Mayo. Those two players combined for 53 points, while Diuckinson had a 33-point, 10-rebound double-double. Since the Big 12 bracket was released, I’ve debated this game between Arizona and Kansas, and this matchup was a potential option. Despite losing to Kansas less than a week ago, the Wildcats are the favorites at -2.5 in this game on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Kansas beat UCF 98-94 late Wednesday night in the second round of the Big 12 tournament. Dickinson and Mayo once again played well, combining for 47 points, but the x-factor was AJ Storr. Prior to this game, Wisconsin transfer Storr only had six games with double digits. He scored 19 points against UCF on 7-11 shooting from the field. Last Saturday, Storr was scoreless and had not scored more than seven points in the previous eight contests.

After four of Arizona’s eight players scored five or fewer points, more production will be needed from the Wildcats’ role players to avenge their loss to Kansas. Love, Jaden Brady, and KJ Lewis will need to be more aggressive on the defensive end to contain Mayo and Storr. It is hard to beat a team twice in a row, and after a battle in overtime against UCF, backing the Wildcats is the play.

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