KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Every time a player makes a free throw in the Big 12 Tournament, his stats having already flashed on the opposite side of the glass floor, a cascade of small white “XII” logos light up from the baseline through the free-throw lane.
Those who make 3-pointers generate a yellow flash all along the arc outside of which the shot was made, too.
During timeouts, big, all-capital “TIMEOUT” lettering screams down each side of the floor, then disappears while the colors and logo of a corporate sponsor appear. Or graphics for some sort of fan game.
“Never played on a court that lights up like that,” Baylor’s Cameron Carr said. “Just a different experience, different floor. There's a first for everything.”
When a game is all over, naturally, the tournament’s official sponsor, Phillips 66, gets its payoff: The court turns red and Phillips 66's “GO GO GO” campaign — the likes of which aren’t known nearly as much in Arizona as in the conference’s traditional footprint — is flashed in white.
BYU center Keba Keita, center, and Kansas State guard P.J. Haggerty hase a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on the glass playing floor at the Big 12 Conference tournament Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo.
But some of the guys standing on top of the Big 12’s “ASB GlassFloor” are players who, mostly, say it’s not a whole lot different than any other floor.
“When you're not playing in the game, you notice it, but once the game is going on, it's just basketball,” Cincinnati forward Jalen Celestine said. “We've all played on concrete, hard wood, tile. It's just basketball, at the end of the day.”
For players, it might have been more about how it felt, more than how it looked. Like, would they slip? Or could the glass actually shatter?
No, probably, and no. The German-engineered floor, similar to the one UA’s Ivan Kharchenkov played on with Bayern Munich last season, has LED technology underneath a playing surface made of layers of safety glass. According to Sportico, the floor features an aluminum and steel skeleton that provides a durable spine, while ceramic layers and laser-etching on the glass create grip for players.
“Honestly, I thought it was going to be a little bit slippery, but the grip was pretty good,” Cincinnati’s Baba Miller said. “I think it's pretty cool.”
Carr and Baylor teammate Caden Powell said the floor did have a lot of give, though they disagreed on the grip slightly.
“It feels good to jump on,” Carr said. “Doesn't hurt your legs as much, but it's a little bit slippery, honestly.”
A 6-9 center, Powell drew laughs when he noted that “I wasn't really dribbling the ball a lot or anything, so it wasn't really something I noticed or something that really bothered me.” But he did feel it under his feet.
“It gave a lot more than the hardwood courts and softer jumping, landing,” Powell said. “I didn't really notice too much slip, but I thought it was cool.”
Burries, Bradley honored
Arizona backcourt mates Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries both made the list of five finalists for their respective Naismith positional awards earlier this week.
Bradley was named one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy point guard award, while Burries was named a finalist for the Jerry West shooting guard award.
Although Bradley was not named on the Cousy’s preseason list of 20, drawing a question from UA coach Tommy Lloyd at the beginning of the season, Burries was among the 20 players named to a preseason list for the West award, then struggled over the first month of the season.
But since a breakout 28-point performance against Alabama on Dec. 13, Burries has become the Wildcats' top scoring threat.
On a notably balanced team, Burries ranks 10th in scoring during Big 12 games with an average of 17.5 points, and he's scored 20 or more in his last four games, including a 31-point outburst at Colorado on Saturday.
Burries entered the Alabama game shooting just 30% from 3-point range and was 1 of 6 in the first half — and then hit all four he took in the second half while scoring 20 points after halftime.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd said Burries' “phenomenal” stretch in the game generated some confidence.
“He had to work through some things and get some experience,” Lloyd said. “He just needed reps and he needed to feel what it's like to struggle and why, and then to be able to review that and learn from it, and then figure out where he could be successful.”
The other four finalists for the Jerry West award are Isaiah Evans of Duke, Emanuel Sharp of Houston, Keaton Wagler of Connecticut and Solo Ball of UConn.
For the Cousy award, joining Bradley on the finalist list were Houston's Kingston Flemings, Arkansas' Darius Acuff, Michigan State's Jeremy Fears and Purdue's Braden Smith.
Hurley ‘enjoying’ the ride
The question was inevitable, but Mo Odum didn’t want to hear it.
After ASU held off Baylor 83-79 to win its first-round Big 12 Tournament game Tuesday, the Sun Devil guard interrupted coach Bobby Hurley when he was asked about reports Monday saying he would be fired as ASU’s head coach.
Hurley has faced that sort of speculation all season, since ASU has been letting him coach out the final year of his contract, so he began to address the latest buzz on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Hurley and the Sun Devils had to face fifth-seeded Iowa State.
“I talked with…” Hurley said, when Odum quietly turned toward him, then faced the audience.
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley motions to his players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Baylor at the Big 12 Conference tournament Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo.
“Next question,” Odum said.
Hurley went on anyway.
“Yeah, I talked with the team, and you saw the reports,” Hurley said Tuesday, before the Sun Devils faced Iowa State. “I didn't want to hide anything from them. They're playing for each other. I'm coaching them to the best of my ability.
“I have not been told anything. Although the source is reputable and a guy that I know. I'm just doing my job and coaching this team and enjoying these moments with this group right now.”
After Hurley answered, Odum was asked if the talk about Hurley made him play any harder. After all, last week Odum was unabashed in his support for Hurley, saying he was “the greatest coach that’s ever coached me… I don’t care what anybody says.”
Odum didn’t like that question, either.
“No,” he said. “We play the same regardless. Next question.”
Simon says
UA’s 1997 Final Four MVP, Miles Simon, served as analyst for ESPN+ during the two first-round games on Tuesday. He worked two games with Mike Monaco while Jon Scambi and Fran Fraschilla worked the other two.
ESPN’s top regular duo for Big 12 games, Scambi and Fraschilla, were also assigned to work the second round and quarterfinal games, while ESPN’s lead announcing team of Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas was assigned second-round, quarterfinal and championship games.
Only EMOY
Brian Brigger points to someone in the crowd during a timeout after Arizona grew its lead over TCU in the second half at McKale Center on Dec. 30, 2024.
Asked after he was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year if winning awards motivated him, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he’s more of a “process guy.”
The Wildcats, really, have only one award.
“I'm just the guy that has a title as the head coach, and they don't do assistant coach of the year awards,” Lloyd said. “I guess we do an equipment manager of the year and he wins it every year.”
That would be veteran UA equipment manager Brian Brigger, who is fondly (and jokingly) known as EMOY (equipment manager of the year).
