No. 1 Arizona (15-0, 2-0) at TCU (11-4, 1-1) | Schollmaier Arena, Fort Worth, Texas | 2 p.m. | ESPN | 1290-AM
Probable starters
ARIZONA
0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)
5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)
18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)
0 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)
13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)
Key reserves
3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)
30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)
2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)
TCU
2 G Brock Harding (6-0 junior)
1 G Jayden Pierre (6-0 senior)
15 F David Punch (6-7 sophomore)
3 F Liutauras Lelevicius (6-7 junior)
24 C Xavier Edmonds (6-8 junior)
Key reserves
5 F Micah Robinson (6-6 sophomore)
00 G Jace Posey (6-5 sophomore)
55 G Tanner Toolson (6-5 junior)
How they match up
The series: Arizona beat TCU 90-81 in its first-ever Big 12 game last Dec. 30 to tie the all-time series at 2-2. Before that, the Wildcats beat TCU 85-80 in overtime of a 2022 NCAA Tournament second-round game in San Diego. The teams have never played at TCU.
TCU overview: The Horned Frogs lost four starters off a .500 team last season but replaced them with three key Division I transfers in guards Brock Harding (Iowa), Jayden Pierre (Providence) and Liutauras Lelevicius (Oregon State), while another starter, center Xavier Edmunds, came over from Salt Lake Community College. Those newcomers joined a returning scholarship core of six players led by forward David Punch to bring the Horned Frogs into the Top 25 conversation so far this year.
TCU has received Top 25 votes over three weeks, after beating Florida and Wisconsin in a San Diego MTE in November and after winning six straight games that included a home conference opener against Baylor on Jan. 6. Except for a season-opening home loss to New Orleans, the Frogs have not hurt themselves much with losses: They fell to second-ranked Michigan by only four points, to Notre Dame in overtime and at Kansas in overtime on Tuesday.
The Horned Frogs are notably small, deploying 6-0 guards in Harding and Pierre, with Pierre shooting 42.5% from 3-point range and Harding providing a steady presence at point guard. They also manage with a frontline that usually ranges between 6-foot-5 and 6-8, still keeping opponents to just 47.4% shooting from two-point range, the 54th-lowest such mark in Division I, and outrebounding their opponents by an average of 5.2 per game. In what is the 24th most efficient defense in Division I, TCU also prompts opponents to turn the ball over on 21.1% of their possessions, the 20th best defensive turnover percentage in Division I.
Offensively, TCU runs a slower-than-average tempo overall, going deep into the shot clock on many set plays but also running an aggressive transition offense. The Frogs are an average shooting team, but they share the ball, dishing assists on 59.3% of their baskets, the 44th-best ratio in Division I, and have a balance similar to Arizona's. All five starters average 8.7 points or more, while forward Micah Robinson comes off the bench to average 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
He said it: “They haven’t lost a 40-minute game since Nov. 14 (to Michigan), so they’re a really good team. It’s gonna be a great crowd and as big of a challenge as we’ve had so far to this point.
"(Defensively), they're gonna challenge you. They've got two really good bigs. David Punch is one of the best post players in the conference. I think Brock Harding is one of the better point guards in the conference. They're a tough, hard-nosed, physical team. We're gonna have to match their physicality. We're gonna have to box out, rebound, and we're gonna have to play to our standard.
“Harding and Pierre are gonna have the ball in their hands of time. It's about those two guards, and their two bigs, Edmonds and Punch.” — UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Horned Frogs
Key players
TCU
David Punch
Arizona forward Trey Townsend (4) looks to make a pass as he’s defended by TCU forward David Punch (15) in the second half during a game at McKale Center on Dec. 30, 2024. Arizona won 90-81.
The Horned Frogs’ lone returning starter, Punch has evolved into a top interior defender while also leading them in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (7.8). At 6-7, he manages to block 10.1% of opponents’ two-point shots when he’s on the floor, and he shoots 57.7% inside.
ARIZONA
Motiejus Krivas
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) gets it from all sides while driving between Kansas State guard Mobi Ikegwuruka (14), left, and guard Nate Johnson (34) during the second half of their Big 12 game, Jan. 7, 2026, in Tucson.
Already dominant against a slightly bigger Kansas State frontcourt on Wednesday, Krivas will have at least a 4-inch height advantage over every TCU player he will face Saturday — if his teammates can get him the ball through the Frogs’ pesky defense.
Sidelines
Bradley, Peat make Wooden list
After he was done running down several key contributors in the Wildcats’ win Wednesday over Kansas State, especially Brayden Burries (28 points) and Motiejus Krivas (25), UA coach Tommy Lloyd was asked about guard Jaden Bradley's toughness.
The Wildcats' senior floor leader fell to the floor on his left shoulder after being fouled under the basket — then propped himself up, winced some more at the free-throw line, but hit two ensuing free throws and went on to play 25 more minutes.
“What’s crazy is we’ve talked about everybody but JB,” Lloyd said. “JB is our leader and our alpha dog. It just says so much about him that we could talk about all of those other guys without bringing him up.
“He does take a hard fall, he stays in the game. He makes the free throws. I mean, he's a bad man. He's a bad man, and he's an absolute winner."
Lloyd has been advocating for Bradley all season, most notably when he complained in early November that Bradley had been left off a preseason watch list for the top 25 point guards. But Bradley and forward Koa Peat were named to the 25-player Wooden Award midseason watch list before Wednesday’s game.
No taunting allowed
Always respectful and composed on the interview podium, Peat was notably more emotional on the court Wednesday: He was called for a technical foul after dunking and pointing toward a K-State defender.
“The play happened fast. He got a good dunk, and then I think celebrated to their bench. You just can't do that,” Lloyd said. “Koa’s an awesome kid. He apologized right away.
“We always talk to our guys — celebrate with your teammates. Don’t celebrate against somebody. It's a great reminder because that can change the game. It puts a foul on him. Then he picked up as a foul later that ends up being his second foul, so his run gets shorted in the half."
Konnichiwa, Rawle
Because the Japanese B League and B2 leagues are on a short winter holiday, that means several former Sean Miller-era players have time to relax for a while.
One of them, Rawle Alkins, allocated some of his time to show up in a McKale Center courtside seat on Wednesday when the Wildcats hosted Kansas State.
While Alkins is playing for the Kobe Starks of the B2 (second-division) league, he told a UA spokesman he often runs into the many other Miller-era former Wildcats scattered around the B League: Brandon Ashley, Grant Jerrett, Stanley Johnson, Keanu Pinder and Dusan Ristic.
Also around the B League to haunt those guys: Former Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky, whose heroics helped the Badgers beat the Wildcats in 2014 and 2015 Elite Eight games.
Numbers game
1: TCU win in 10 previous games against the No. 1-ranked team in the country, an 85-82 victory over Kansas in the quarterfinal of the 2017 Big 12 Championship.
2: Previous times TCU has hosted the No. 1-ranked team at Schollmaier Arena, losing to Baylor 76-64 on Jan. 8, 2022, and to Kansas 85-66 on Dec. 1, 2003.
2.8: Inches of difference in average height between Arizona (6 feet, 7.1 inches) and TCU (6 feet, 4.3 inches) players, according to a Kenpom measurement that weighs average height by minutes played.
— Bruce Pascoe
