March 7, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; The Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burris (5) during the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at CU Event Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Image Arizona won the regular season title in the Big 12, probably the toughest conference in the country, and Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd knows what that means.
Second-place Arizona is still expected to play basketball in April when Game 4 is held in Indianapolis.
The top-seeded Wildcats (29-2) begin their postseason chase Thursday afternoon when they face eighth-seeded UCF in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City, Missouri.
“I live this life, I chose this career, and I know what the consequences are,” Lloyd said. “We have big dreams and goals, and I know how stories are made. Most of the people who make those stories don’t have to live the way I live. They go through a lot of different things in life. And I’m just a basketball coach.”
Arizona is one of three Big 12 teams ranked in the top seven in the AP Top 25 poll and one of five teams ranked in the top 16. After winning their first 23 games, the Wildcats lost back-to-back games to Kansas and Texas Tech in the second week of February.
Arizona rebounded with six wins to close the season, including wins over ranked teams BYU, Houston, Kansas and Iowa State.
Still, the sheer number of strong teams means there’s no guarantee the Wildcats can win this tournament.
In the NCAA Tournament, Arizona has not advanced past the Sweet 16 in any of Lloyd’s last four seasons and was unceremoniously eliminated by 15th-seeded Princeton in the first round in 2023.
“As a coach, you know what it takes to get to the Final Four, win a championship and be part of a certain club,” Lloyd said. “Otherwise, you’re the type of person who can’t win big things. That’s really lazy and easy, so I don’t care.
“… If we fall short or something like that happens, I’m strong enough to handle it and I love my job enough to get up and do it again.”
The Wildcats have great depth, with seven players averaging more than 8.7 points per game. Third-leading scorer Jaden Bradley (13.4 points, averaging a team-high 4.6 assists) was named Big 12 Player of the Year.
UCF (21-10) is an NCAA Tournament bubble team and will be hoping to clinch a berth with a 66-65 overtime win over ninth-seeded Cincinnati on Wednesday.
The Knights trailed by eight points with 2:17 to play in regulation before going on an 8-0 overtime run. Their biggest deficit was 12, and the result was their fifth double-digit comeback win of the season.
“I thought our guys had to fight back several times and I thought they could do it,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “But this team has been doing this all season. It’s just their competitive spirit. It showed in the summer. It showed again (Wednesday) – just their will to win.”
Ja-Michael Stillwell had 17 points and 15 rebounds Wednesday, and Riley Kugel had 15 points. Kugel averaged a team-high 14.7 points.
The Knights will be big underdogs against Arizona, but had a solid showing in an 84-77 loss to the Wildcats on Jan. 17 in Orlando, Florida. Themus Fulks scored a career-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field for UCF, while Bradley led Arizona with 23 points.
Stillwell didn’t need to talk about the importance of Thursday’s matchup.
“We know it’s a big game because we’re playing it,” he said. “So we just have to make the call and get ready for battle.”
–Field level media
