Kansas competed with a tough Arizona team for 40 minutes coming off an overtime game the night before. The Jayhawks fought hard, but fell short, losing to Arizona 88-77 in the Big 12 Quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Jayhawks faced a 10-point deficit minutes into the second half, but Zeke Mayo caught fire to help Kansas take the lead. He made four threes over a two-minute stretch to close the gap and finished with 20 points. Hunter Dickinson rebounded after an inefficient first half to finish with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Dajuan Harris was super-efficient, finishing with 16 points on 6/9 shooting, including making all four of his threes.

However, the consecutive long, hard-fought games caught up to Kansas. The Jayhawks hit a wall with about five minutes left in the game trailing by one, and a rested Arizona game finished much stronger than the Jayhawks could. The Wildcats outscored the Jayhawks

First half

Kansas did a good job of matching Arizona early, with 7-footers Henri Veesaar and Hunter Dickinson trading three-point baskets. However, the Wildcats took the lead after Anthony Dell'Orso made a second-chance three and Jaden Bradley scored a transition layup off a turnover. The Jayhawks turned it over twice in the first five minutes amidst a somewhat sloppy start, trailing 14-9 at the under-16.

Carter Bryant instantly hit a three to extend Arizona's run to 8-0, forcing Bill Self to call his first timeout. Kansas' offense looked mostly stagnant throughout the first six minutes.

Hunter Dickinson got Kansas somewhat out of its slump, tossing a lob to Flory Bidunga before hitting another three to cut the deficit to five. However, poor defense from the Jayhawks and red-hot shotmaking from Arizona allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead. Bryant was left wide-open and hit his second three, and KJ Lewis knocked down a triple from the corner, extending Arizona's lead to 27-16.

Kansas struggled to get back into the game as it tried to quickly close the gap by launching threes. The Wildcats were efficient with their shot selection, with Caleb Love getting into the lane for a floater to put Arizona up 33-21.

The Jayhawks built some sense of momentum heading into the under-eight timeout. Diggy Coit knocked down a corner three, and then Kansas forced a turnover, still trailing by nine but with the Kansas-heavy crowd trying to build some energy.

Kansas continued to rely on the three-point shot as it made its way back into the game. Harris knocked one down, before Zeke Mayo made it a three-point game after a second-chance corner three. Jaden Bradley instantly answered on the next trip down the floor to keep the Wildcats ahead.

Arizona hit a scoring drought of over two minutes while it racked up the fouls and sent KJ Adams to the line often. Harris continued to propel the offense, hitting a floater to cut the deficit to three. However, a stretch of sloppy possessions for both teams left the Jayhawks trailing 38-35 with 2:43 remaining.

Kansas again couldn't get over the hump, with Veesaar hitting an open three after the Jayhawks cut the deficit to three. The Jayhawks wouldn't make a field goal for the final 3:23 of the half, and Arizona took a 45-37 lead into the break on an efficient 53% from the floor.

The Jayhawks kept things close thanks to a 7/15 performance from beyond the arc but were just 4/18 from two, including a 1/7 showing from Dickinson.

Second half

Kansas started the second half much sharper on the offensive end and quickly got back into the game. Dickinson made his first three shots, all from inside the paint, while Mayo hit back-to-back threes. The second three, a nasty step back from the corner, tied the game at 50-50 just over four minutes into the second half.

Mayo went scorched earth to give the Jayhawks their first lead since the score was 3-2. He knocked down two more threes, sandwiched by a triple from Harris, to give Kansas a 59-56 lead.

The two teams went blow for blow, trading consecutive short scoring spurts. Kansas scored four straight, which Trey Townsend answered with four straight of his own to put Arizona back on top heading into the under-eight timeout.

Veesaar picked up a pair of baskets after Love did a good job finding him in open space on drives to the rim. Kansas' frontcourt matched Veesaar's production, with Dickinson scoring two baskets to have the Jayhawks trailing 70-69 with 5:33 to play.

Arizona's big man continued to provide an impact as momentum started to shift back in favor of the Wildcats. Mayo missed a three that would've given the Jayhawks the lead, then Veesaar converted an and-one to put Arizona up four.

Kansas turned it over on back-to-back possessions, and a KJ Lewis layup put the Wildcats up 76-69. It looked like the Jayhawks were running out of gas, but Harris knocked down a three to cut the lead to four with 3:24 to play.

Arizona responded with six straight points to put the game away. The offense sputtered with seemingly tired legs, as Mayo left a couple three-pointers short.