No. 2 Arizona begins Big 12 Tournament with a quarterfinal win over UCF

By Canadian Press on March 12, 2026.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brayden Burries had 21 points, Tobe Awaka had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and second-ranked Arizona blew most of a big first-half lead before pulling away again for a 81-59 victory over UCF in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.

Koa Peat also had 12 points for the No. 1 seed Wildcats (30-2), who will take a seven-game winning streak into a matchup with No. 7 Iowa State — which beat No. 16 Texas Tech in its quarterfinal — on Friday night for a spot in the conference championship game.

Themus Fulks had 14 points to lead eighth-seeded UCF (21-11). Jordan Burks had 10.

There was a scary moment in the second half when the Knights’ John Bol fell to the floo r clutching his chest. The 7-foot-2 sophomore from South Sudan had to be helped to the locker room and the exact nature of the problem was unclear.

The Wildcats looked fresh and feisty from the moment the ball was tipped, perhaps taking advantage of UCF’s tired legs following its second-round overtime win over Cincinnati, and roaring to a 35-8 lead over the first 13 minutes of the game.

The Knights actually outscored the Wildcats the rest of the first half Thursday, but they still faced a massive 46-30 deficit.

NO. 7 IOWA ST. 75, NO. 16 TEXAS TECH 53

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Joshua Jefferson had 18 points and 13 rebounds, longtime running mate Tamin Lipsey scored 20 and Iowa State used a big second-half run to bury Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

The fifth-seeded Cyclones (27-6) fell behind by 12 early in the game, pulled ahead by halftime, then used a 19-3 run shortly out of the break to earn a Friday night date with eighth-seeded UCF or second-ranked and No. 1 seed Arizona for a spot in the title game.

LeJuan Watts had led the Red Raiders (22-10) with 12 points. Christian Anderson had 10 before he appeared to strain a muscle while slipping on the glass court being used by the Big 12 for its postseason tournament with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the game.

Several players in both the women’s and men’s tourneys have complained of its slick nature.

The teams traded haymakers to start the game — No. 4 seed Texas Tech opened on a 17-5 run and Iowa State countered a few minutes later with a 15-2 charge of its own — before the game settled into a back-and-forth battle between top 20 teams.

NO. 10 VIRGINIA 81, NC STATE 74

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Malik Thomas scored 16 points, Thijs De Ridder added 15 points and Virginia defeated N.C. State for the third time this season in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Coach Ryan Odom earned the win on the same floor where he led 16th-seeded UMBC to a historic and shocking upset over then-No. 1 overall seed Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

Jacari White added 13 points as the Cavaliers (28-5) shot 54.8% from the field in the second half and made 6 of 13 3-point attempts to pull away.

Paul McNeil Jr. had 26 points and Van-Allen Lubin added 14 for the Wolfpack (20-13).

NC State had lost by 15 points at home and 29 points on the road earlier this season to Virginia and never led either game. Wolfpack coach Will Wade said before the game his team has “been outclassed” by the Cavaliers.

NO. 13 ST. JOHN’S 85, PROVIDENCE 72

NEW YORK (AP) — Zuby Ejiofor had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as St. John’s opened the defense of last year’s Big East Tournament title by blowing out Providence in the quarterfinals.

Bryce Hopkins added 14 points and 13 boards against his former team, helping the top-seeded Red Storm (26-6) advance to play fourth-seeded Seton Hall or No. 5 seed Creighton in the first semifinal game Friday evening at Madison Square Garden.

Oziyah Sellers had 14 points and reserve Ian Jackson also scored 14 for the Johnnies, who topped the Friars 30-4 in bench points and outrebounded them 51-30 in what’s expected to be Kim English’s final game as Providence coach.

Multiple reports citing anonymous sources last week indicated the school informed English he will be fired after the season, his third at Providence.

St. John’s scored the first nine points and led throughout, building a 23-point cushion in the opening half. No. 9 seed Providence (15-18) trimmed it to 11 after halftime, but the Johnnies pushed it back to 24 with a little more than four minutes left.

NO. 23 WISCONSIN 85, WASHINGTON 82

CHICAGO (AP) — John Blackwell scored a career-high 34 points with six 3-pointers and Wisconsin hung on to beat Washington in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Nick Boyd added 23 points with five 3-pointers while Andrew Rohde hit two free throws in the closing seconds to stretch it to a three-point game after the Badgers (23-9) let an 18-point lead in the second half shrink to one. The Huskies’ Zoom Diallo missed a pull-up 3 just before the buzzer.

Wisconsin will face No. 9 Illinois, which had a bye through the first three rounds, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Washington’s Hannes Steinbach cut it to 81-79 with a driving layup with just two minutes remaining. Diallo made it a one-point game a minute later when he got fouled on a reverse layup and hit the second three throw after missing the first.

Blackwell then pulled up in the paint and scored for Wisconsin to make it 83-80 with 49 seconds remaining. Diallo cut it to one with a driving layup with 17 seconds left after the Huskies’ Quimari Peterson missed a 3.

Rohde made it 85-82 when he hit those two free throws with eight seconds remaining, and the Badgers hung on when Diallo missed the potential tying 3 from the top of the key.

NO. 25 TENNESSEE 72, AUBURN 62

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nate Ament scored 27 points as the Tennessee Volunteers rallied from an 11-point deficit and beat Auburn to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The fifth-seeded Volunteers (22-10) will play No. 22 Vanderbilt on Friday afternoon for a slot in the semifinals.

Ament started and played 32 minutes after sitting out the last two games with an injured right knee and ankle. Tennessee wouldn’t have had a chance without the freshman.

Auburn led 49-39 on a bucket by Keyshawn Hall when Ament started a 22-2 run for Tennessee by scoring the first 10 points. Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s layup then tied it up at 51 with 7:34 left, and Amari Evans’ free throw gave the Vols their first lead since the opening minutes.

Ament, who scored 17 of his 27 in the second half, capped the spurt with a free throw off a technical foul on Auburn coach Steven Pearl for a 61-51 lead with 3:56 left.

Gillespie finished with 15 points for Tennessee.

MIAMI 78, NO. 24 LOUISVILLE 73

CHARLOTTE (AP) — Malik Reneau scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half, Tru Washington added 17 and Miami beat Louisville to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.

Reneau was 5 of 9 from the field and 7 of 8 from the foul line after halftime.

Tre Donaldson scored 14 points for Miami (25-7), which moves on to face No. 10 Virginia in Saturday’s semifinals.

Ryan Conwell had 22 points and nine rebounds and J’Vonne Hadley added 19 points for the Cardinals (24-10).

Miami avenged a 92-89 loss to Louisville just five days earlier. This time, points weren’t as easy to come by.

Louisville, playing its second game in two days after failing to secure a top-four seed and a double bye despite its national ranking, led 38-37 at the break after a physical first half that saw three Cardinals players leave with bloodied faces.

The Hurricanes used a swarming defense to take control early in the second half. Dante Allen came up with a steal and fastbreak layup for a three-point play to give Miami a 49-41 lead.

Miami scored 17 points off turnovers.

UMASS 87, NO. 20 MIAMI (OHIO) 83

CLEVELAND (AP) — Miami (Ohio) dropped its Mid-American Conference Tournament opener to UMass, spoiling the last perfect record in Division I men’s basketball.

Daniel Hankins-Sanford made a tiebreaking layup with 29 seconds remaining, and the Minutemen escaped with victory in a quarterfinal game that had 12 lead changes and 10 ties.

The RedHawks (31-1) were the fifth men’s Division I program this century to go undefeated during the regular season. Now it’s the second to get tripped up in its conference tournament. St. Joseph’s lost to Xavier in the 2004 Atlantic 10 quarterfinals but was still a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Miami was the first squad since Gonzaga in 2020-21 to not have a loss going into a conference tournament.

The RedHawks had eight one-possession games during the regular season, including their last three coming into the MAC Tournament.

There were some doubts about the RedHawks earning an at-large berth. Those quieted after a win over Ohio last Friday but might perk up again after this.

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The Associated Press