Good, Bad, and Ugly from Arizona’s Big 12 Quarterfinal Win

Arizona picked up a win last night in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament over UCF. The Knights gave the Wildcats a little scare in the second half, but there was never any real danger for the No. 2 team in the country.

The Wildcats ended up putting away the Knights to pick up an 81-59 victory. They will now move on to the semifinals to clash with the No. 5 seed Iowa State. The Wildcats just defeated the Cyclones by 16 points less than two weeks ago.

Right back here tomorrow night. pic.twitter.com/dD6daXi2aA
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 12, 2026

Here is the good, bad and ugly from Arizona's win over UCF.

Good: Points off TOs

Stifling defense was on display from the Wildcats, especially in the first half. Five turnovers were forced, which led to a 35-8 lead at one point in the half. It was a stellar display on the defensive end from the Wildcats.

That defensive mindset carried over into the second half, as the Wildcats forced six turnovers. The Wildcats had a total of 18 points off turnovers, which was double what the Knights had. It was a very impressive showing from the Wildcats as a whole.

Riley Kugel, the leading scorer for the Knights, was shut down. He averages just under 15 points a game, but got nowhere near that number versus the Wildcats. Kugel had zero points at halftime and finished with just six points. He shot 2-7 from the field and committed four fouls.

Bad: Second Half

The second half as a whole was not pretty for the Wildcats. They only outscored the Knights by six points in this frame. If it were not for such a dominant first half, the game could have been a lot closer.

After shooting 50% from 3-point range in the first half, the Wildcats turned around and shot 25% from deep in the second. They shot a total of 40% from the field in the half, and that number is higher because of a late-game run. It was a lot lower for the majority of the second half.

CATS WIN ‼️@ArizonaMBB picks up where it left off in the regular season with a W in the 2026 Phillips 66 Big Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals.

Our first semifinal game is official: No. 5-seed Iowa State will play the top-seeded Wildcats tomorrow at 6 p.m. CT.… pic.twitter.com/eT3idpCdoc
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 12, 2026

All of the shooting percentages were significantly lower in the second half, and they committed three times as many turnovers. They had two three-minute periods where zero field goals were made. This allowed the Knights to hang around when they should have been put away a lot sooner.

Ugly: Free throws

They were pathetic from the free-throw line. The Wildcats are very lucky they were playing an inferior opponent in the Knights, or this could have come back to haunt them. They were 17-31 from the charity stripe.

Fourteen points were left off the board in a tournament game. This cannot happen again. Tobe Awaka was the main culprit, as he shot 2-9 from the line. His running mate, Motiejus Krivas, was not much better, as he was 5-9.

Ultimately, this did not matter at the end of the game, but it very well may tonight if they have a repeat performance from the line. The Cyclones are coming off a dominant win over Texas Tech, and the Wildcats will have to come prepared to advance to the Big 12 Tournament finals.