Big 12 Tournament bracket: Houston knocks off Arizona in hard-fought final

The Arizona Wildcats finished their inaugural Big 12 Tournament as the runner-ups, falling to top-seeded Houston in the final on Saturday.

The Wildcats secured the double-bye for the top four teams in the conference standings, earning a spot straight to the quarterfinals and when there, pulled away late from 6-seed Kansas, 88-77.

Arizona held off a short-handed 2-seed Texas Tech 80-86, earning their way into the championship against top-seeded Houston.

Caleb Love hit free throws to pull Arizona within two of Houston with 1:37 remaining, but two ensuing turnovers and an airballed 3-pointer sealed the championship in a 72-64 win for the Cougars.

Arizona State, which was locked into the No. 15 spot since before its regular season finale, fell to No. 10 Kansas State 71-66 on Tuesday in an opening-round game it was in the whole way but never able to take control.

Big 12 Tournament bracket and results

First round (Tuesday)

Game 1: No. 13 Cincinnati beats No. 12 Oklahoma State 87-68

Game 2: No. 16 Colorado beats No. 9 TCU 69-67

Game 3: No. 10 Kansas State beats No. 15 ASU 71-66

Game 4: No. 14 UCF beats No. 11 Utah 87-72

Second round (Wednesday)

Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State beats No. 13 Cincinnati 76-56

Game 6: No. 16 Colorado beats No. 8 West Virginia 67-60

Game 7: No. 7 Baylor beats No. 10 Kansas State 70-56

Game 8: No. 6 Kansas beats No. 14 UCF 98-94 (OT)

Quarterfinals (Thursday)

Game 9: No. 4 BYU beats No. 5 Iowa State 96-92

Game 10: No. 1 Houston beats No. 16 Colorado 77-68

Game 11: No. 2 Texas Tech beats No. 7 Baylor 76-74

Game 12: No. 3 Arizona beats No. 6 Kansas 88-77

Semifinals (Friday)

Game 13: No. 1 Houston beats No. 4 BYU 74-54

Game 14: No. 3 Arizona beats No. 2 Texas Tech 86-80

Finals (Saturday)

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