With just days left until Selection Sunday and March Madness, it’s crunch time in conference tournaments around the country.
Arizona stands above the rest of the Big 12 after winning the regular season title and appears to be a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats went 29-2 this season and the two games they dropped came in early February against Kansas and Texas Tech — two very good teams that could make March Madness runs of their own.
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That said, of all the major conference tournaments this week, this one feels the most wide open. Beyond Arizona, Kansas and Texas Tech, perennial contender Houston has another stacked team. The Cougars went 26-5 and have repeatedly looked capable of making another Final Four run under Kelvin Sampson. No. 7-ranked Iowa State should be in the mix as well.
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Who will hoist the trophy in Kansas City? Follow along below for scores, highlights, bracketology and more (scroll for live updates).
Big 12 men’s basketball tournament
When: March 10-14
Where: T-Mobile Center | Kansas City, Missouri
TV: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+
Big 12 tournament bracket, scores
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Big 12 Thursday schedule, results (all times ET)
Thursday, March 12 — Quarterfinals
Game 9 | Iowa State 75, Texas Tech 53
Game 10 | Arizona 81, UCF 59
Game 11 | No. 2 Houston vs. No. 10 BYU | 7 p.m. | ESPN/2
Game 12 | No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 6 TCU | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN/2
Friday, March 13 — Semifinals
Game 13 | No. 5 Iowa State vs. No. 1 Arizona | 7 p.m. | ESPN/2
Game 14 | G11 winner vs. G12 winner | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN/2
Live42 updatesThu, March 12, 2026 at 2:27 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Freshman Brayden Burries scores 21 to lead the Wildcats to a blowout win. They advance to the Big 12 semifinals to face Iowa State on Friday.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM PDT
Nick Bromberg
After putting up 40 against Kansas State in the first round, Dybantsa had 27 against West Virginia on Wednesday night.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 3:50 PM PDT
Nick Bromberg
If you’re watching AJ Dybantsa tonight as the fan of an NBA team hoping to get the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, don’t sleep on Houston guard Kingston Flemings.
The freshman is averaging over 16 points and five rebounds a game.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 3:05 PM PDT
Nick Bromberg
BYU and Houston tip off at 7 p.m. ET with TCU and Kansas following approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Friday night’s first semifinal is already set between Iowa State and Arizona.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 2:55 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 2:45 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
We’ve got two more Big 12 quarterfinal matchups on tap tonight.
Next up is a matchups of Cougars vs. Cougars as the No. 2 seed Houston faces 10-seeded BYU.
Big 12 tournament quarterfinals
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 2:35 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Multiple projected brackets have UCF as one of the last teams in the NCAA field. Did the Knights do enough to prove their worth to the committee? They’ll have to find out on Selection Sunday.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 2:19 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Just when it looked like UCF was about to make it interesting, Burries went off for a personal 7-0 run to put Arizona right back in control. He has 21 points and the Wildcats have a 73-54 lead with 3:24 to play.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 2:04 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Wildcats have gone cold, shooting just 5 of 19 in the second half and also missing a lot of free throws. But UCF has yet to get the deficit into the single digits.
Arizona 61, UCF 48 | 7:18 to play
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 1:51 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Knights big man was down on the court for a few minutes before needing to be helped off. ESPN reports he was feeling chest pains earlier in the game.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 1:43 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
This is getting a little bit interesting as the Knights have closed the gap to 12 points while Arizona is on a scoring drought of more than 4 minutes.
Arizona 54, UCF 42 | 11:19 to play
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 1:34 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Wildcats are getting it done on both ends. And to add to UCF’s troubles, Knights guard Riley Kugel already has 4 fouls.
Arizona leads 53-36 at the under-16 timeout.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 1:24 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
We’re back in action in Kansas City.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 1:23 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Here are the upcoming Big 12 tournament games today as the quarterfinals continue:
Coming up
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 1:09 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Brayden Burries leads Arizona with 12 points, Koa Peat has 7.
Themus Fulks leads UCF with 9 points.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 1:06 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
UCF finally found some offense late in the half, hitting each of its last 6 field goal attempts.
But the Wildcats are still in total control at the break.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 12:55 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
While Brayden Burries is leading the Wildcats with 12 points, fellow freshman Koa Peat is making plays of his own and has 7 points so far.
Arizona leads 39-16
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 12:44 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Everything is working for the Wildcats, who are 12 of 19 from the field. UCF is 3 of 17.
Arizona leads 32-8 at the under-8 timeout in the opening half.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 12:38 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Arizona is dominating this one so far. Brayden Burries has 9 points and Ivan Kharchenkov has 5, including this bucket.
Wildcats lead UCF 24-8.
Thu, March 12, 2026 at 12:22 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The top seed in the tournament is showing why, sprinting to a 12-2 lead over UCF in the first 4 minutes. Wildcats freshman Brayden Burries already has 7 points.