Brayden Burries scored 21 points and top-seeded Arizona never trailed while cruising to an 81-59 victory over eighth-seeded UCF on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City to reach the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Tobe Awaka had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the quarterfinal matchup and Koa Peat also scored 12 points for the Wildcats (30-2). Ivan Kharchenkov added 10 points for Arizona.
Themus Fulks scored 14 points for the Knights (21-11), who are expected to receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Jordan Burks and Chris Johnson added 10 points apiece for UCF.
Arizona will face fifth-seeded Iowa State in Friday night’s first semifinal.
No. 5 Houston 73, BYU 66
Kingston Flemings led four players in double figures to help Houston pull away from BYU.
Emanuel Sharp added 13 points, Joseph Tugler tallied 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Chris Cenac Jr. notched 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting for second-seeded Houston (27-5), which won its fourth straight game to return to the Big 12 semifinals for the third time in as many years in the league.
Freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa racked up a game-high 26 points — his 13th straight game with 20-plus points — and Robert Wright III scored 15 and a game-high five assists for 10th-seeded BYU (23-11).
No. 7 Iowa State 75, No. 16 Texas Tech 53
Tamin Lipsey scored 20 points to help the fifth-seeded Cyclones trample the fourth-seeded Red Raiders.
Joshua Jefferson added 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the Cyclones overcame an early 12-point deficit in the quarterfinal clash. Dominykas Pleta added 11 points off the bench as Iowa State (27-6) notched its second big performance in two days.
LeJuan Watts had 12 points and seven rebounds and Christian Anderson scored 10 points for Texas Tech (22-10). The Red Raiders dropped to 3-3 since losing star big man J.T. Toppin to a season-ending ACL injury.
No. 14 Kansas 78, TCU 73
Darryn Peterson scored 16 of his 24 points after halftime to help the Jayhawks survive with a hard-fought win over the Horned Frogs.
Peterson was an inefficient 5-for-17 from the floor but made up for it by making 13 of 16 free throws in 37 minutes of action. He added eight rebounds and three steals for third-seeded Kansas (23-9), which will face second-seeded and fifth-ranked Houston in the late semifinal on Friday.
David Punch led sixth-seeded TCU (22-11) with 24 points — 18 of which came in the second half — and 10 rebounds. Liutauras Lelevicius added 14 points and Jayden Pierre tallied 11 with a team-high three 3-pointers for the Horned Frogs, whose six-game winning streak was snapped.
