Central Florida beat Utah 87-72 on Tuesday night in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament to advance to play Kansas on Wednesday. The winner of the second-round game between Central Florida and Kansas will play Arizona in the quarterfinals on Thursday night in Kansas City.
Arizona beat Central Florida 88-80 on January 11 in Tucson and lost 83-76 at Kansas on Saturday. Kansas beat Central Florida 91-87 on January 28 in Lawrence. Fourteenth-seeded Central Florida upset 11th-seed Utah on Tuesday night. Central Florida completed the season sweep of Utah after a 76-72 win on February 23.
After falling behind 7-2, Utah had a 21-2 run to take control of the game early with their largest lead of the game at 21-9. Central Florida outscored Utah 30-19 over the final 10:45 of the first half to cut the deficit to 40-39 at halftime. The Knights outscored the Utes 24-7 in the first 7:38 of the second half to take control of the game.
Utah never got closer than nine points the rest of the way and that was briefly. Central Florida led by as many as 19 points and closed out the comfortable win. Four players finished in double-figures for Central Florida. Keshawn Hall scored 23, Darrius Johnson had 20, Jordan Ivy-Curry had 15 and Moustapha Thiam had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Central Florida shot 54.7 percent, including a blistering 15-21 from the field, 3-6 on three-point attempts and 15-20 from the free throw line in the second half. After Utah shot 50.0 percent in the first half, but only 1-12 on threes, the Utes made only 30.6 percent of their shots in the second half and were 3-14 from beyond the arc.
Central Florida versus Kansas odds
Per the FanDuel Sportsbook, Kansas is a 10.5-point favorite over Central Florida. Central Florida is +430 on the money line, and Kansas is -600. The over/under is 152.5. The over is -115, and the under is -105. If Kansas advances over Central Florida, expect the Jayhawks to be favored against Arizona in the quarterfinals on Thursday.