3 Things To Expect from Arizona Against UCF
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The Big 12 Tournament is officially underway and the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats are set to face the UCF Knights in the quarterfinal round in Kansas City, MS, a rematch of when the two teams first met in Orlando, FL on Jan. 17. Arizona received a double bye after finishing the season with a 29-2 record and first place in the Big 12.
Arizona got the best of the knights that day, winning by a score of 84-77 behind Jaden Bradley's 23 points, five assists and two steals. Motiejus Krivas had a double-double that day as well, scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Although winning the Big 12 Tournament may not seem as important to the Wildcats, who already won the Big 12 regular season title after beating Iowa State 73-57 on March 2, head coach Tommy Lloyd is still motivated to add another title to his resume before the start of the NCAA Tournament.
"If you put us in a tournament, I guess I'm a sucker for it," Lloyd said. "I'm going to try to win it and I'm going to try to win it one game at a time. It's not going to be much more complicated than that. We're not going to go to to Kansas City and kick it and so we can come back home a couple days early. If we lose, we'll come back and we'll regroup and we'll get ready for the NCAA tournament."
Should the Wildcats beat the Knights, they will face the winner of Texas Tech and Iowa State in the semifinals. Here are three things to expect from Arizona when it plays UCF on Thursday.
Domination on the Glass
In the Knights' narrow overtime victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats, they barely outrebounded their opponents 49-46, 31 of those coming on the defensive side of the floor. In Big 12 play, the Wildcats lead in both offensive and defensive rebounds. They also have two players in Tobe Awaka and Krivas who rank in the top 10 of the conference when it comes to crashing the glass.
Krivas was named the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year, while Awaka was named the Sixth Man of the Year, so expect them both to have a big game in Arizona's rematch with UCF.
Stellar Frontcourt Play
Arizona's starting guards, Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries, are coming off great seasons where Bradley was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Burries was placed on the All-Freshman list.
Burries alone scored team-high points in 11 of those 31 games. He also scored both a team-high and career-high 31 points against Colorado in the final game of the season. Bradley displayed exceptional floor general skills, leading the team in assists in 17 games.
Look for both players, along with Anthony Dell'Orso, to showcase their skills in what could be a high game for the Wildcats.
Other Players Could See More Minutes
During almost the entirety of the season, Lloyd opted to go with an eight-man rotation, which worked to the Wildcats' favor given their 29-2 record. Lloyd went with that same rotation in Arizona's win over Colorado, which he said wasn't a part of the plan.
Since Arizona will most likely be playing three games in as many days, it could be possible that other players such as Sidi Gueye and Evan Nelson will see some extended minutes against UCF. Both those players saw extra time when Arizona was without Koa Peat and Dwayne Aristode for three games.
Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.