WACO, Texas — For Arizona, the chance to win a Big 12 title probably isn't just about beating Houston, Iowa State, Kansas and the other big boys around the conference.
It’s also about surviving the trap games: The ones against an underachieving opponent who can bust out against you, the ones sandwiched between bigger games, or sometimes the ones where a lot of your guys just feel kind of lousy.
Arizona survived all of that Tuesday, turning a 10-point deficit into an 87-80 win over Baylor during a riveting second half before about 6,000 fans at Foster Pavilon.
“Man, it seemed like they had an answer for everything, but I'm just super proud of our guys for hanging in there, hanging in there,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “That was just a hang-with-it game, hang with it, hang with it.. It took incredible toughness and fortitude from our guys.
“I don't know what narrative people have about our program, but if it doesn't start with toughness, then they're not doing their homework.”
Arizona 's Jaden Bradley shoots after getting past Baylor's Tounde Yessoufou, left, as Caden Powell (44) and others look on in the first half in Waco, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.
The win moved Arizona to 26-2 overall and 13-2 in the Big 12, where they have a two-game lead in the loss column with three games left to play. The Wildcats can clinch a share of the conference title with a win over Kansas at McKale Center on Saturday.
Baylor dropped to 14-14 overall and 4-11 in the Big 12.
While the Bears have struggled to aseemble a competitive Big 12 team after turning over their entire playing roster from last eason, they have potential first-round NBA picks in forwards Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou, plus several capable role players.
Arizona, meanwhile, brought in a lot of guys who were not at full speed.
Forward Koa Peat sat on the bench for the third straight game with a lower-leg injury, though he warmed up beforehand in a sign that he may be ready to play Saturday against Kansas, guard Brayden Burries was still on the final stretch of getting over bronchitis, while wing Anthony Dell’Orso furiously rehabilitated a sprained ankle suffered Saturday.
Dell'Orso, who had scored 22 points in each of UA's last two games, had eight points on 3 of 7 shooting but soaked up 30 minutes.
“Delly, he’s a stud,” Lloyd said. “He told me before the game he felt 100%. I don't think he looked 100% but for him to say that shows his competitive character. You see him tweaking that ankle out there and hanging with it.
“We just don't have a lot of options right now. We’ve just got to get through it, and our medical staff's doing a great job making our guys available.”
Lloyd said he didn’t have anything confirmed on Peat, who was upgraded to questionable (50-50) on the official Big 12 availability report for Tuesday’s game, but said “hopefully, we’re nearing the point where he'll be able to play.”
The UA staff couldn’t do much again about reserve forward Dwayne Aristode, who continued to stay home with his undisclosed illness, but the Wildcats again turned to freshman Sidi Gueye and grad transfer forward Evan Nelson for spot minutes, leaned on wing Ivan Kharchenkov for another 36-minute plus effort... and found Burries suddenly looking like his old self again.
While point guard Jaden Bradley scored 25 points on 8-for-17 shooting, Burries had 24 on 8-for-13 shooting in his most efficient performance since his illness struck him before UA beat BYU on Feb. 18. After that game, Burries posted an Instagram story featuring an IV going into an arm.
“I just think today I was feeling better. I was able to breathe a little bit better,” Burries told the Star afterward. “That’s all it was. Honestly, the past few games, I couldn't really breathe.”
Together with the familiar inside force of Motiejus Krivas (12 points) and Tobe Awaka (10 points, 13 rebounds), it all essentially meant that the Wildcats looked a lot like their old selves in the second half.
It just took a while for them to get there.
In the first half, Arizona allowed Baylor to shoot 53.6% and was outrebounded 19-14 by the Bears. But the Wildcats outrebounded them 23-11 after halftime while Baylor's shooting dropped to 45.2% and UA's improved to 55.2%.
Overall, Arizona scored a season-high 25 second chance points off 13 offensive rebounds.
Arizona forward Koa Peat warmed up before the Wildcats' game at Baylor on Tuesday, though he did not play for a third straight game because of a lower-leg injury.
"It's the best insurance policy you can have on offense," Lloyd said of the offensive rebounding. "For one, let's take care of the ball. But two, offensive rebounding goes a long way to helping you with your efficiency. We really challenged our guys at halftime."
Baylor led 41-34 at halftime and went ahead by 10 when Tounde Yessoufou hit a 3-pointer 16 seconds into the second half. But Arizona went on a 14-2 run early in the second half to to take a 48-46 lead with 15:09 to go.
The relatively quiet crowd at Foster Pavilion picked up energy at that point, with the game mostly staying within one possession over the rest of the game.
Baylor pulled within 78-77 entering the final two minutes when Cameron Carr blocked a shot from Dell’Orso and raced in for a layup but the Wildcats pulled back ahead 80-77 when Burries assisted Motiejus Krivas on an inside score.
After Baylor’s Isaac Williams cut UA’s lead to two points by hitting the second of two free throws, Burries hit a 17-foot jumper after Kharcheknov rebounded Bradley's missed 3-pointer.
That gave UA an 82-78 lead with 27 seconds left and Williams missed the front end of a one-and-one with 22 seconds left. Then the Bears fouled Burries, who hit two free throws with 17.6 seconds left to put UA ahead 84-78.
The Wildcats held on from there, and kept control of the Big 12 race, on an evening that looked like it might go the other direction for them.
“You know, these seasons are long, these games are tough, and they can be emotional,” Lloyd said. “Sometimes, when you get punched like that and you're on the road, it's easy to say, `Hey, today's not our day.’ Our guys just don't have that kind of character.”
