Hunter Dickinson tied a career high with 33 points on 15-23 from the floor with 10 rebounds and Kansas beat Arizona 83-76 in the final game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Kansas gradually pulled away over the final six minutes.
A 7-0 run by Kansas in just over two minutes put Kansas in front to stay late in the game. Arizona rallied from a 14-point deficit late in the first half to make the game competitive. The Wildcats scored the final five points of the first half and slowly got into the game in the second half.
A Caleb Love three-point shot with 13:25 left in the game gave Arizona its first lead at 54-53 since it was 17-15. The game remained even over the next seven minutes before Kansas finally took control. K.J. Adams and Dickinson combined for 26 points on 13-16 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists.
Arizona had four players finish in double figures. Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 21 points on 7-11 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line with three rebounds, two assists, a block and one steal. Caleb Love scored 16, Trey Townsend had one of his best games at Arizona with 13 and Tobe Awaka had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Townsend shot 5-9 from the field, 3-4 on threes and had seven rebounds and two assists. With Carter Bryant scoring five and K.J. Lewis three, the Arizona bench with Townsend included outscored Kansas 21-2. Kansas had a 13-7 edge in offensive rebounds and committed only five turnovers to eight for Arizona.
Zeke Mayo complemented Dicksinson scoring 20 points on 5-9 from the field, 5-7 on three-point attempts and 3-4 from the free throw line with four rebounds and six assists. Kansas finished with a 22-12 advantage in assists. Adams was the only other Jayhawk in double-figures with 10 of his 12 points in the first half.
With the loss on Saturday, Arizona is assured of the number three seed in the Big 12 Tournament. Arizona will play the 11th, 14th or sixth seed on Thursday night with a 6:30 Mountain Standard Time tipoff. If Arizona advances to the semifinals they would play at the same time on Friday night.