College Hoops Weekend Update: Conference Championships

by Elias Meredith

Sportz Nation - 3/16/2026

SATURDAY:

2 ARIZONA VS 5 HOUSTON

Photo by Charlie Riedel/ AP Photo

Saturday night, 2 Big 12 powerhouses traveled to T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Missouri for a right to be named the 2025-2026 Big 12 champions. The freshman duo of Brayden Burries and Koa Peat each scored 21 points a piece to give the Arizona Wildcats their first conference championship as Big 12 members in a 79-74 victory over the Houston Cougars.

Once Arizona grabbed the lead at the 14:08 mark of the first half, they would hold on to it for all but 9 seconds. At the 3:45 mark, Houston would tie the game at 33 after going on an 11-4 run. Arizona would respond, closing the first half on an 11-3 run. 

Senior guard Jaden Bradley led Arizona, scoring all 13 of his points in the first half. Houston was led by junior forward Joseph Tugler with 10 first half points.

In the second half, Arizona was up as much as 15 points, but Houston would not go down with a fight. The Cougars would go on a 14-0 run to cut the deficit down to 1 with 7:09 left in regulation.

Arizona would bend, but not break, as the freshmen would take over offensively. The freshman trio of Brayden Burries, Ivan Kharchenhov, and Koa Peat would score 17 of Arizona’s last 19 points. 

With 1:31 left in regulation, Arizona had a 75-66 lead, before 2 threes by Houston guards Mercy Miller and Milos Uzan made it a 75-72 game, but it was too late. 

Houston was forced to foul down 3 with the shot clock unplugged, and Arizona iced the game at the charity stripe, converting their last 4 free throw attempts to capture their first Big 12 championship.

Key to Victory: Defense on Flemings

Houston head coach, Kelvin Sampson usually relies on his upperclassmen for scoring, but this year freshman Kingston Flemings has bucked that trend. Flemings led the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game, but in this game he was held to only 8 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

Arizona making it tough on Houston’s star freshman took away Houston’s most potent offensive weapon.

Next for the Wildcats: Friday, March 20 | NCAA Tournament First Round vs No. 16 LIU Sharks at 1:35 PM EST

Next for the Cougars: Thursday, March 19 | NCAA Tournament First Round vs No. 15 Idaho Vandals at 10:10 EST

SUNDAY:

3 MICHIGAN VS 18 PURDUE

Photo by Nam Y. Huh/ AP Photo

Sunday afternoon, the Michigan Wolverines and Purdue Boilermakers faced off in the United Center for the Big Ten title. The Boilermaker frontcourt came to play as senior center Oscar Cluff and senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn combined for 41 points in Purdue’s third Big Ten title in 4 years. 

The Boilermaker backcourt also had a healthy contribution to the victory. Senior guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer each scored 14 a piece in the 80-72 victory over Michigan.

The first half was filled with lead changes and ties, as two of the most efficient offenses in the country battled for position. At the 3:14 of the first half, Michigan got a little wiggle room by getting their lead up to 6. But that lead was short-lived, as Purdue went on a 9-0 run to take the lead back.

Michigan would score 4 unanswered points to tie the game at 38 at halftime. Both teams leaned on their upperclassmen in the first half, as graduate student guard Nimari Burnett scored 10 first half points, and Cluff and Loyer each scored 9 a piece to lead the Boilermakers.

Purdue came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. The Boilermakers, whose biggest lead was 3 in the first half, grew their lead to 14 points in the second. Kaufman-Renn powered the explosive start, scoring 10 of his 13 second half points within the first 10 minutes.

With 3:50 left in regulation, Michigan went on a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to 5, but Purdue would respond. An 8-3 Purdue scoring run would balloon their lead back to 11, and close the game, scoring 8 of their last 10 points from the free throw line.

Key to Victory: Purdue’s Upperclassmen

All 4 seniors in Purdue’s starting lineup finished in double figures and they were efficient, while doing it. The senior foursome of Smith, Kaufman-Renn, Loyer, and Cluff combined 69 of Purdue’s 80 points, and shot 60% from the field (27/45).

Next for the Boilermakers: Friday, March 20 | NCAA Tournament First Round vs No. 15 Queens University Royals at 7:35 PM EST

Next for the Wolverines: Thursday, March 19 | NCAA Tournament First Round vs winner of Howard and UMBC at 7:10 PM EST

Thank you for reading!

Elias Meredith (@EAM_55)