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Arizona pulls away late to beat Kansas 88-77 in a Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinal

Arizona pulls away late to beat Kansas 88-77 in a Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinal

Arizona's Henri Veesaar heads to the basket as Kansas' Hunter Dickinson (1) and Dajuan Harris Jr. (3) defend during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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Arizona’s Henri Veesaar heads to the basket as Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson (1) and Dajuan Harris Jr. (3) defend during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Updated 4:19 AM UTC, March 14, 2025
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Henri Veesaar and KJ Lewis scored 19 points apiece and Arizona pulled away late to beat Kansas 88-77 in a Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinal at T-Mobile Center on Thursday night.

Veesaar came off the bench to sink 7 of 11 shots with two 3-pointers for the third-seeded Wildcats (21-11), who move on to play second-seeded and ninth-ranked Texas Tech in a Friday semifinal. No. 1 seed Houston plays No. 4 seed BYU in the other semifinal.

Veesaar scored 10, leading Arizona to a 45-37 advantage at halftime. Dajuan Harris Jr.'s 3-pointer gave No. 6 seed Kansas (21-12) its only lead of the half at 3-2. The Wildcats twice built 12-point leads. KJ Adams made two free throws to get the Jayhawks within 40-37, but Veesaar answered with a 3-pointer and Arizona stayed in front.

Arizona played with a lead until Zeke Mayo hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Kansas to knot the score at 50 with 15:43 remaining. Harris hit a 3-pointer to give the Jayhawks their second lead at 56-54. Rylan Griffen hit a jumper with 8:44 left to put Kansas up for the last time at 63-61. Trey Townsend followed with a dunk and a three-point play and Arizona maintained a lead over the final 7:48.

Towsend had 16 points and Love scored 11 with six assists.

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Mayo scored 20 to lead Kansas. Hunter Dickinson totaled 19 points and 12 rebounds. Harris hit four 3-pointers and scored 16.

The Jayhawks wore their blue jerseys in the tournament for the first time since the 2008 title game against the Texas Longhorns. They were the higher seed and wore white in their previous 36 straight games. Kansas — the two seed in ’08 — beat the top-seeded Longhorns 84-74.

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