No. 1 Arizona (23-0, 10-0) at No. 11 Kansas (18-5, 8-2) | Allen Fieldhouse; Lawrence, Kan. | 7 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)
KANSAS
14 G Melvin Council (6-4 senior)
22 G Darryn Peterson (6-6 freshman)
3 F Tre White (6-7 senior)
40 F Flory Bidunga (6-10 sophomore)
15 C Bryson Tiller (6-11 freshman)
Key reserves
11 G Jamari McDowell (6-5 sophomore)
13 G Elmarco Jackson (6-3 sophomore)
7 F Kohl Rosario (6-6 freshman)
How they match up
The series: Kansas leads 9-5 after the teams renewed a long-dormant rivalry last season, with the Jayhawks winning 83-76 on the final day of the regular season and UA avenging the loss 88-77 five days later in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals. The Jayhawks are scheduled to visit McKale Center on Feb. 28.
Kansas overview: The Jayhawks lost all five starters from a 13-loss team last season, so it was a convenient time for an upgrade. While overhauling his lineup, Bill Self added shooting and athleticism, pulling in the potential No. 1 NBA pick Darryn Peterson, along with St. Bonaventure transfer Melvin Council, Illinois transfer Tre White and others. He also promoted rim-protecting Congo native Flory Bidunga into the starting lineup.
While Peterson has been limited because of ankle and hamstring injuries for much of the season, he has averaged 34 minutes in each of the Jayhawks’ last two games. During them, he hit two late 3-pointers to push the Jayhawks past Texas Tech and had 14 points against Utah on Saturday.
Peterson and White are both bigger wings with significant 3-point threats — White ranks 119th nationally with a 42.5% 3-point percentage, and Peterson hits long-range shots at 41.9% — while the 6-4 Council is a steady point guard who turns the ball over on only 11.2% of Kansas’ possessions when he’s on the floor.
Kansas ranks sixth nationally in defensive efficiency, allowing opponents an average of 93.1 points per 100 possessions, in large part because the Jayhawks make it difficult to do anything inside. Kansas ranks second in block percentage, swatting away 17.3% of opponents' shots, and is sixth in two-point percentage defense.
Individually, Bidunga blocks 10.3% of opponents’ shots when he’s on the floor, the 18th-best block percentage nationally, while offensively, he shoots 68.8% from two-point range. Center Bryson Tiller also blocks 5.9% of opponent blocks when he’s on the floor.
While the Jayhawks lost at UCF and at West Virginia earlier in Big 12 play, they have won seven straight games, over Iowa State, Baylor, Colorado, Kansas State, BYU, Texas Tech and Utah.
He said it: “Kansas and Houston are playing as well as anybody in the conference. (Kansas is) getting into a rhythm. Peterson seems to be playing more and they understand how to play with him, and what to do when he's off the floor. Obviously, they have one of the greatest coaches of all time, so it's no surprise they're starting to fire on all cylinders.
“(Peterson) is like a planet in orbit. He’s got this gravitational pull defensively. He impacts everything that you have to do defensively. He can shoot it, he can drive it, he can pass it, he can finish. I think he's getting better defensively. There's really nothing that he can't do on the floor, and you have to respond to that.
“There are other players who are really talented, as well. Tre White is shooting (well) from 3. He hits big shot after big shot. Bidunga has been incredible, defensively and offensively, and Tiller might have been the best player on the floor against BYU (with 21 points and seven rebounds).
“Blocking shots is an art form that you either kind of have that feel or you don't, and they seem to have a couple guys that have that feel.
“Their defensive efficiency has been one of the top in the conference. Obviously blocking shots is one (reason), and they're choking off the paint. They're not having many defensive miscues. They're a really good defensive team, and that allows them to get stops, get out and transition, and it all goes together.
“I just feel like the parts fit together really well. They seem to be playing with confidence. I think last year's team at times probably stubbed their toes but this year's team is getting better and better and better.” — UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Jayhawks
Key players
KANSAS
Darryn Peterson
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson (22) drives against Utah guard Terrence Brown (2) during the first half in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.
Peterson’s inconsistent availability has been one of the hottest topics in college basketball this season, because it's only natural to wonder what the Jayhawks could do with him all the time — and whether his absences could affect his draft stock. A do-everything talent on the wing, Peterson was the Naismith High School player of the year last season and could be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
ARIZONA
Anthony Dell’Orso
Arizona guard Anthony Dell'Orso (3) earns 3 points for the Wildcats over Oklahoma State guard Anthony Roy (9) during a match at McKale Center, Feb. 7, 2026.
Considering Kansas might be one of the few teams able to deal with Arizona inside, the Wildcats might actually need to throw in a few 3-pointers this time. Mired in a midseason shooting slump, Dell’Orso hit the one 3 he took at Kansas last season and was 1 for 3 on Saturday against Oklahoma State.
Sidelines
Bear Down (Under)
While Dell’Orso has made just 3 of 18 3-pointers (16.7%) since he was 3 for 6 against TCU on Jan. 10, he also hit all four shots he took inside the arc Saturday to total 11 points.
But when UA coach Tommy Lloyd was asked after Saturday's game if it was nice for Dell’Orso to get the monkey off his back, the UA coach looked at it a different way. Not only is Dell’Orso from Australia, but Lloyd played semi-pro ball and spent a year there, too.
“It’s probably more a koala bear than a monkey,” Lloyd said. “I mean, Delly has been good. We had a good conversation yesterday. Delly is a great dude, a high character guy, and he's here for it. So I'm happy to see him have a little bit of success because I'm sure that makes him feel a little bit better.”
Even as Dell’Orso has slumped from beyond the arc, he’s still played 23 or more minutes in three of UA’s past four games, and Lloyd indicated that would continue.
“There’s really no scenario I see where I don't keep giving him opportunities,” Lloyd said. “He’s earned that, he deserves that, and our team needs it from him.”
After Saturday’s game, Dell’Orso indicated he’s staying confident.
“This is part of the game,” he said. “You can't let those statistics follow you. It's going to happen. Everyone goes through it, and it's just trusting your repetitions, trusting your routine, staying true to yourself. Don't let anything bother you, and eventually it'll come back.
“Because I know I can shoot, so that's all that matters.”
GameDay returning to McKale
ESPN announced it will broadcast its "College GameDay" show from McKale on Saturday, its first appearance in Tucson during UA’s Big 12 era.
In fact, GameDay hasn’t fully set up at McKale since Feb. 19, 2022, before the Wildcats hosted Oregon.
The following season, before UA hosted UCLA, ESPN held a partial “GameDay” of sorts when analyst Jay Bilas participated in GameDay remotely from McKale in front of the ZonaZoo. Host Rece Davis and analysts LaPhonso Ellis and Seth Greenberg were in-studio since ESPN wasn’t operating the full GameDays that weekend due to its NFL playoff coverage.
ESPN’s choice this time will make for a busy day at McKale. GameDay will be filmed between 8-10 a.m., with the UA women’s team playing ASU at noon and the men facing Texas Tech at 4:30 p.m.
The UA women’s team was initially scheduled to tipoff at 11 a.m. but was pushed back to noon because of the transition needed from GameDay. In turn, that will keep the men’s team off the floor until about two hours before its game.
RJ sees another Final Four
Unable to attend Arizona’s 2001 team celebration Saturday because he was assigned to work ABC’s telecast of the Lakers-Warriors game later that day, former Wildcat standout Richard Jefferson spoke to fans via video about the brotherhood and community around that team.
He also may have put just a little bit of pressure on the current Wildcats.
“We haven’t been to the Final Four since this amazing group” did it in 2001, Jefferson said. “I believe for the first time that we have a team that will return” there.
Told of that remark, Lloyd noted with a smile that he was being thrown off his usual game-to-game thinking. Then he delivered a long response that touched on what it might take to actually get there.
“I know this team has great potential. I'm not going to make light of it,” Lloyd said. “But I also know there's a lot of work to be done. There's a lot of challenges ahead, and I know that in opportune times, things sometimes don't go your way.
“We're not scared of what's ahead of us, but by no means are we acting like we've been anointed. I know there's some really good coaches in this conference. I know they're licking their chops for a chance to play us.
“You know, one team that I'm seeing that no one's talking about, Houston, they just keep kicking ass. Kicking ass. It's what they do, and that's what they've done for the last four or five years. So let's understand there's a gauntlet coming.”
Numbers game
23: Straight Baylor wins in 2019-20 that set the Big 12 record for overall win streak, a mark Arizona has tied and can break Monday with a win at Kansas.
307: Kansas’ national rank in percentage of minutes played by reserves (27.0), as calculated by Kenpom.
1,015: Points scored at Arizona by point guard Jaden Bradley, who also scored 235 for the other “UA” as an Alabama freshman in 2022-23.
— Bruce Pascoe
