Arizona at Kansas: Scouting report, McDonald's All-American nominees

Arizona Wildcats (11-8, 2-4) at Kansas Jayhawks (12-5, 2-4) | 1 p.m. Sunday | Allen Fieldhouse | ESPN+ | 1400-AM

He said it

Arizona assistant Anthony Turner on Kansas: “It’s a fun matchup. When you look at the numbers, the records, the statistics and the advanced statistics, the analytics, it shows that we're very similar in those regards. We're anticipating a really good match up, and it's going to be the team that shows up tomorrow and really executes their game plan the best with the most energy, communication, togetherness, then hopefully that'll be us.

“If you go back two games ago, we struggled against Iowa State offensively and defensively, and they exploited us in a lot of things defensively that hasn't typically happened to Arizona teams in the past. We put a lot of emphasis on correcting some things. Against Kansas State we did a tremendous job. We played against a team that is in the top two in the country in offense – 84 points per game – and we held them to 62. But our offense suffered. We want to make sure we can do it on both ends of the floor. Kansas, stylistically they want to clog the paint with their positioning and with their length and force us to take contested jump shots and box us out. … In practice we’re really working on being able to share the ball, keep the ball moving, put them in rotation, attack closeouts.”

On the sidelines

Little by little: One of the toughest things for the Wildcats this season is coming out of the locker room and starting the second half with intensity. It’s usually this lull that puts them on their heels and they have to fight to catch up.

On this week’s radio show, UA coach Adia Barnes said, “The most important minutes are the first two minutes of the second half.”

The Wildcats took this to heart against K-State as they went on a 12-2 run in the first seven minutes of the third quarter to cut a 13-point lead down to three.

Barnes was happy with how they performed during the stretch and that at halftime she focused on “opening the players eyes to certain actions.”

Still, Barnes said, “At times, (there were) the turnovers and giving up open threes. Those are killers in those momentum, in those drives, in those times when we have a shift to momentum and we're leading. We have to really lock down, bear down, and get stops, not make those mental mistakes, and we're not there yet, and that's the reality. We're not able to stay disciplined through those little stretches. We're learning.”

And that’s the focus for Barnes right now; she said it’s about “progression” and not “perfection.”

New format: This year’s format for the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship has all 16 teams participating and the top four teams receiving double byes into the quarterfinals.

Teams that finish the Big 12 regular season in fifth through ninth places,get a single bye and play in the second round.

The tournament runs March 5-9 — or 10, if BYU plays in the final, since the Cougars don't play on Sundays. If the title game is on Sunday, March 9, it will be broadcast on ESPN at 3 p.m. Most of the other games will be streamed on ESPN+ with one game in Friday’s quarterfinals on ESPNU.

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There will be four games played on each of the first three days and two — the semifinals — on Saturday, March 8.

Tickets range from $10-$160, and the league has added a premium offering that includes complimentary light snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, plus club access and courtside seats. 

Getting paid: It’s official. The NCAA unanimously approved the proposal to pay women’s basketball teams for playing and winning games in the NCAA Tournament, just like they do for the men. Starting this spring, the women will be paid a total of $15 million. If a team makes it to the Final Four, it will earn nearly $1.3 million for its conference, then distributed to the schools, paid out over the next three years.

In 2026, the total pool will increase to $20 million and in 2027, it will be $25 million. Each year after that, the total will increase 2.9%.

For perspective, the men get paid around $200 million.

Big honors: Roxy White and Jazzy Gipson — UA’s Class of 2025 — found their way onto the list of nominees for this year’s McDonald’s All-Americans. These two are just the latest Wildcats who were nominated and/or made one of the teams throughout Barnes’ tenure as UA coach. The first was former UA standout Cate Reese and the latest were Jada Williams and Breya Cunningham.

Sophomore standout: Kansas sophomore guard S’Mya Nichols, who was a Big 12 all-first teamer as a rookie, has stepped up her game even more this season. She is the third leading scorer in the Big 12, averaging 20.7 points and is ninth in the league in assists, dishing five per game.

“Either she’s scoring the ball or she’s assisting somebody else score the ball,” Turner said. “She’s doing it at the point guard spot, which really she isn’t a natural point guard. She’s more of a big guard forward type … I liken it to the Lakers a couple of years ago when they won the championship and LeBron James was the point guard on that team. And we all know, he could play any position he wants and she’s very similar in that regard.”

Not in Kansas: Sophomore Sahnya Jah isn’t with the team this week as the Wildcats play the Kansas schools. Sunday’s game marks the third consecutive game she hasn’t played. After the Iowa State game last Saturday, Barnes said, “She is not with the team. Coach’s decision.”

This is the second time that Jah hasn’t been with the team, as she missed the GCU game on Dec. 5. That time, Barnes said she wasn’t “available.”

By the numbers

3.364: The Wildcats' team GPA, 3.364, was the highest in program history for the fall semester.

35.14: Kansas’ junior guard Ellie Evans is third in the Big 12 for minutes played, averaging 35.1 per game.

12.5: Isis Beh is averaging 12.5 points per game over the last four outings. She scored 18 against Baylor and 16 against K-State.

2: The Wildcats are second in the Big 12 in turnovers forced, with 19.9 per game.