KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brayden Burries had 21 points, Tobe Awaka had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and second-ranked Arizona blew most of a big first-half lead before pulling away again for a 81-59 victory over UCF in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.
Koa Peat also had 12 points for the No. 1 seed Wildcats (30-2), who will take a seven-game winning streak into a matchup with No. 7 Iowa State — which beat No. 16 Texas Tech in its quarterfinal — on Friday night for a spot in the conference championship game.
Themus Fulks had 14 points to lead eighth-seeded UCF (21-11). Jordan Burks had 10.
There was a scary moment in the second half when the Knights’ John Bol fell to the floo r clutching his chest. The 7-foot-2 sophomore from South Sudan had to be helped to the locker room and the exact nature of the problem was unclear.
The Wildcats looked fresh and feisty from the moment the ball was tipped, perhaps taking advantage of UCF’s tired legs following its second-round overtime win over Cincinnati, and roaring to a 35-8 lead over the first 13 minutes of the game.
The Knights actually outscored the Wildcats the rest of the first half Thursday, but they still faced a massive 46-30 deficit.
That would be insurmountable against a lot of teams but especially against the Wildcats, whose only losses this season came back-to-back to Kansas and Texas Tech, and who is no doubt eager to avenge a loss to Houston in the championship game a year ago.
UCF got within 61-48 with about 7 1/2 minutes left before Arizona put the game away.
Up next
The Wildcats will attempt to beat the fifth-seeded Cyclones again after a 73-57 victory just last week.
UCF hopes to avoid a First Four game in the NCAA tourney when it learns its seed on Sunday.
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