ARIZONA WILDCATS (19-12) vs. COLORADO BUFFALOES (19-11) | BIG 12 TOURNAMNENT | T-MOBILE CENTER, KANSAS CITY | 12:30 p.m. THURSDAY | ESPN+ | 1400-AM
She said it
Arizona coach Adia Barnes on Colorado: “We felt like we played one of our worst games of the seasons there at Colorado. They totally outplayed us and really did some things that disrupted us. If you look at the score, we actually could have lost by more. They spread you out. They run a lot of Princeton chin action. A lot of back cuts. It’s hard to guard and we had a really hard time boxing them out and containing their transition. We have to find a way to score better, be a lot more disruptive on defense and box them out.”
On the sidelines
Arizona guard Jada Williams (2) leads her team chant after the Wildcats 71-59 win against ASU at Desert Financial Arena, March 1, 2025.
Not so easy: When Barnes told her team that it was “A new season” and they had to win out — their last four games — to be in contention for the NCAA Tournament, her players took it in stride.
Not extra pressure. Just step up and get the job done by any means possible. And that’s exactly what they did – finding different ways to win each game. It didn’t matter that the teams they faced were in the lower portion of the Big 12. Heck, what everyone seems to forget is that every team in the Pac-12 – first or 12th – was a hard out.
In the Big 12, Houston, the 16th team, had one league win — over then-No. 24 Oklahoma State. So truly, anything could happen on any given day in this new-to-the-Wildcats conference. Houston was not an easy game by any measure.
“They came out with a bang,” Lauryn Swann said, “It was like an ‘Oh, shoot’ moment like these games aren’t going to be an easy as we hopefully thought they were going to be.”
Swann went on to say that it was more of a collective “team thing,” to win out.
Wildcats guard Lauryn Swann dribbles to the net against ASU at Desert Financial Arena on March 1, 2025.
“We all just knew in the back of our minds that if we don’t win the next four games, we’re going to have bad positioning in the Big 12 Tournament and we probably won’t make the NCAAs.”
The Wildcats didn’t take their foot off the pedal until after the win at ASU. Well, just for a moment.
“We have to execute the (Big 12) tournament play,” Swann said. “Now, it’s just win or go home. There’s no time to have just an iffy game. The people who are going to play are the people who show up to play that game.”
Brrr: A blizzard warning, 35-plus mph winds … we are not in Las Vegas anymore!
With the Big 12 conference holding the tournament in Kansas City, there was a lot of weather to contend with this week. High temps ranging from 38-49 degrees were forecasted for Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Weather Channel. Wednesday’s outdoor pep rallies were canceled because of snow — a blizzard warning through Wednesday morning — and low temperatures.
However, some things that were still on the docket for Thursday included concerts at the Miller Lite Fan Fest Live at the Kansas City Power & Light District and activities at the Big 12 BLVD fan fest.
In addition, food at the T-Mobile Center has a school flavor. For Arizona, it’s the Wildcat mini chicken chimichangas. Others include the Baylor brisket, Cincy cheese coney, Chili Colorado burrito bowl, OSU’s orange power pizza, Majerus special (Utah), Mountaineer pepperoni roll and Powercat steak tacos (Kansas State).
Doors will open for all games 60 minutes before tip of the session.
Barbecue: Jada Williams is in familiar territory this week playing in her hometown of Kansas City.
Wildcats guard Jada Williams (2) and forward Isis Beh (33) celebrate after Williams sinks a three-point shot in the second half against ASU in Tempe on March 1, 2025.
On Barnes’ radio show last week she gave her barbecue recommendation for UA fans heading to the Big 12 Tournament.
“Jack Stack, that’s my favorite barbecue,” Williams said. “You got to get some pulled pork mac and cheese.”
Watch party: Arizona is having a watch party for Thursday’s game at the Sands Club. Doors open at noon, and the first 50 people to check in get a gift. Wear red and blue and fans must RSVP at tucne.ws/wbkwatch.
Rah rah: For UA fans and alumni in Kansas City, there was an event Wednesday night at KC Hooley House – Downtown – to get things started.
On Thursday morning at 10 a.m., a pep rally is scheduled at Kansas City Power & Light District, followed by the Wildcat Walk and Trolly Travel to the team’s hotel. Around 11:30 a.m., the fans will send off the Wildcats to T-Mobile Center for the game. The game starts at 12:30 p.m.
The last time out: The last time Arizona played Colorado, the Wildcats offense wasn’t clicking and they lost in Boulder, 56-47. They shot 33% from the field and only 27% from long range and only two Wildcats reached double figures (Isis Beh and Skylar Jones). Arizona was down by only five going into the fourth quarter but couldn’t overcome the deficit. The Buffaloes were without their best player in Frida Formann, who is still out. She missed 13 games during the regular season.
Colorado has dominated the matchups between these two schools, winning 21 of 31 games. The programs are knotted at 3-3 during the Barnes and JR Payne coaching era. Both coaches took over their programs at the same time.
Results: In the early game on Wednesday, No. 13 UCF beat No. 12 81-69. UCF moves on to play No. 5 Kansas State on Thursday at 10 a.m. on ESPN+.
Kaitlin Peterson scored 35 points in 38 minutes of action.
She’s back: Sophomore Sahnya Jah is back from her NCAA suspension for the Big 12 Tournament. Jah sat out nine games this time around. Barnes would not comment on what led to the suspension.
The last time she played was Jan. 25 against West Virginia, when she saw seven minutes of action and scored six points.
The only question that remains is has Jah earned playing time? Time will tell, especially with Katarina Knezevic playing well lately, it may be hard for Jah to find minutes.
By the numbers
1: This is the first Big 12 Tournament that UA has competed in.
1: Colorado's earned its first win as a No. 9 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. The Buffaloes are back in the league after moving to the Pac-12 in 2012. Prior to beating Houston, Colorado was 0-3 as a 9-seed, losing in 2011, 2008 and 1999.
10: Colorado has played shorthanded most of the season, with 10 of the 14 Buffaloes sitting out at some point.
318: Arizona has 318 steals so far this season. Last year, with UA’s career steals leader in Helena Pueyo, (312) they finished with 398. Pueyo had 110 steals in her final go-round as a Wildcat.
2: Arizona is averaging two more rebounds this season than last year. The Wildcats are pulling down 34.3 per game this season compared to 32.2 last year.
