Arizona will begin its quest for its first Big XII Tournament title on Thursday in the quarterfinals against Central Florida. Central Florida beat Cincinnati 66-65 in overtime in the Big XII Tournament second round on Wednesday in the second round to advance to play Arizona.
Arizona won 84-77 at Central Florida on January 17. The Wildcats beat the Knights 88-80 in Tucson last season in their only other meeting. Central Florida rallied from an 11-point deficit with just over a minute left to cut the margin to six with 24 seconds remaining in the game.
Jaden Bradley made three out of four free throws in the final 20 seconds to cement the win for Arizona. Bradley led Arizona with 23 points, Brayden Burries scored 18 and Motiejus Krivas had 17 and 12 rebounds as five Wildcats finished in double figures against the Knights.
Central Florida point guard Themus Fulks scored 30 points, had eight assists and five rebounds on 11-18 from the field, two out of four on three-point attempts and made all six of his free throws with three turnovers before fouling out against Arizona in January.
THE KNIGHTS WIN IT OVERTIME ⚔️@UCF_MBB punches its ticket to the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinals in dramatic fashion.
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 11, 2026
UCF is set for a meeting with No. 1-seed Arizona tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT.#Big12MBB | @Phillips66Gas pic.twitter.com/ffTSdYwOyH
Themus Fulks struggles against Cincinnati
Fulks struggled against Cincinnati with four points on two of nine shooting but contributed three rebounds and seven assists. Cincinnati played exceptional defense by holding UCF to 33.8 percent shooting from the floor and three of 24 on three-point attempts. UCF also made only 13 of 23 free throw attempts.
Arizona versus Central Florida odds
Arizona is a 16.5-point favorite in the early FanDuel odds. Central Florida is +860 on the money line and Arizona is -1600. Expect another high-scoring game. Arizona leads the Big XII, averaging 86.7 points per game and Central Florida is sixth in the conference at 82.0 PPG.
Arizona and Central Florida will tip off at noon Mountain Standard Time on ESPN with the top announcing team of Dan Shulman on play-by-play, Jay Bilas as the analyst and Kris Budden as the sideline reporter. The winner will advance to the Big XII Tournament semifinals at 3:00 PM MST on Friday.