Big 12 Championship Game 2026 Arizona vs. Houston Schedule, Preview
The Houston Cougars and Arizona Wildcats will meet for the second straight year in the Big 12 tournament final.
Arizona had the more stressful semifinal battle on Friday, as it needed a Jaden Bradley buzzer-beater to get past the Iowa State Cyclones.
Houston was far more dominant in its semifinal clash with the Kansas Jayhawks. Houston was ahead by double digits for most of the second half.
Houston is the reigning Big 12 tournament champion, but this year, Arizona owns the upper hand in the head-to-head battle. The Wildcats won the regular-season clash on February 21.
Big 12 Tournament Semifinal Scores
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No. 1 Arizona 82, No. 5 Iowa State 80
No. 2 Houston 69, No. 3 Kansas 47
Championship Game Preview
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Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN
Arizona faces the challenge of putting an emotional semifinal win in the past to prepare for Saturday's championship game.
The Wildcats battled for 40 minutes with Iowa State before Bradley hit the game-winning shot.
Arizona received 36 points off the bench, including 26 from Anthony Dell'Orso, in a game in which Koa Peat and Brayden Burries combined for seven points.
Peat and Burries have to play much better on Saturday for the Wildcats to deal with Houston's tenacious defense that held Kansas under 50 on Friday.
Peat did not play in the regular-season meeting with Houston, while Burries contributed seven points in 31 minutes.
Dell'Orso was the star in that game as well with 22 points. He might have to be the X-factor again if Houston puts the defensive clamps on Bradley, Burries and Peat.
Houston needs its young star, Kingston Flemmings, to take over Saturday to counter what the Arizona guards can do. Flemmings had 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss to Arizona.
The Cougars won the rebounding battle and hit more threes against Arizona the first time around, but they were held to 36 percent from the field.
Flemmings and Co. need to put in a more accurate shooting performance to leave Kansas City as the repeat Big 12 tournament champion.
