It wasn’t as easy as Arizona fans may have liked, but the top-seeded Wildcats made it past the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals with an 81-59 win over No. 8 UCF Thursday afternoon in Kansas City.
Arizona
Big 12 Tournament: What Tommy Lloyd, Arizona players said after win over UCF
Playing far away from the friendly confines of Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd and the UA fan base is still getting used to Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center. Well, that is the few Arizona fans who made the trip.
“I think our fans all waited to buy tickets,” Lloyd said after the game. “They all assume that we’re going to San Diego, and they’re making a lot of assumptions now, and they’ve saved all their money. I just didn’t feel like we had a great presence in the arena today. So you know what? Then it needs to become all about us.”
If Lloyd sounded cranky about Arizona’s fan support, he was pumped up to be in a conference tournament where every game presents a challenge.
“There’s no easy games,” Lloyd said. “The other team always has a lot of talent and is well coached, and we understand that. We understand that. We respect that. And we enjoy the competition and love the opportunities.”
Our recap of the game can be found here. Below is what Lloyd, Motiejus Krivas and Brayden Burries said after the game.
Lloyd on Arizona getting the win: “Well, thank goodness we got off to a good start, because there were stretches of that game I didn’t think we played very well. But the objective in these tournaments is to get to the next one, and that’s mission accomplished today. And obviously we know tomorrow’s going to be a tough battle with an Iowa State team playing in their backyard, but we look forward to it.”
On what it was like coaching on a glass court: “Well, I didn’t play. I coached, so I was on fine footing. You can ask these guys. I mean, they would be able to give you a better answer about that. But for me, I mean, listen, we’ll play on asphalt. We’ll play on asphalt with double rims. I mean, we’re fine with that. And if the other team has to deal with it, then we’ll deal with it as well. But I’ll let the powers that be make those higher up decisions.”
On preparing for Iowa State: “Well, we played them a week ago or so, or ten days ago. We’ll obviously look back at that and see what worked and what didn’t work and see what kind of adjustments we can make. But we have a lot of respect for Iowa State and their program, and I have a lot of respect for T.J. and the job that he’s doing, and I have a lot of respect for their players. Like I said, we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
On whether human nature factored into Arizona letting off the brakes: “I mean, I don’t know. Maybe. You know, I really challenged our guys. Sometimes in these tournaments, you know, you get in them and I’ve been fortunate enough to coach in enough NCAA tournaments and conference tournaments that these early-round games, it can be kind of a sterile environment, you know, unless you’re playing in your backyard and you have your entire fan base there. I think our fans all waited to buy tickets, They all assume that we’re going to San Diego, and they’re making a lot of assumptions now, and they’ve saved all their money. I just didn’t feel like we had a great presence in the arena today. So you know what? Then it needs to become all about us. We need to internalize and kind of band together and become a stronger unit, and we need to create energy for each other and draw energy off each other in those situations. So I think it’s a great lesson learned from our guys. Now, listen, I’m going to give them credit for getting the lead and getting off to that great start. That was good. But yeah. It just felt like we had a little bit of a letdown, and I’m sure UCF’s urgency they played with had a little bit to do with that.”
On getting off to a quick start: “I mean, it wasn’t part of the messaging. A lot of times I tell the guys, let’s get a feel for the game and kind of hang in there and try to figure out what works and see if we can build with some runs later in the half or early in the second half. But, hey, we came out. And they had played the night before, and maybe it took them a little bit to kind of get the lactic acid a little bit, and our guys were able to take advantage of that and build an early lead. I’m never going to shy away from building an early lead, because to me obviously it gives you a buffer to absorb some of these late-game runs. And it doesn’t always feel good when teams are chipping away at your lead, but it’s nice to have that lead and be able to have that margin for error, you know, down the stretch.“
On Arizona’s fan turnout in Kansas City: “I mean, listen, you guys are asking a lot of questions here. I want to talk about the ballgame. 100 percent. Would I want this in Vegas? Yeah. 100 percent I will. But you know what? I didn’t ask to be in the Big 12. We got put in the Big 12. I didn’t have any input on it, but I love being in the Big 12. So if they tell me we’re going to play in Kansas City, we’re loading up the plane and going to Kansas City. We’re not going to sit there and overthink it. You guys can do all that stuff or have another coach give you opinions on what he would want. I just want to get on the floor and try to kick ass and play 40 minutes. That’s it.”
On the difference between playing in the Pac-12 Tournament compared to the Big 12 Tournament: “Well, you’ve got to understand the Pac-12 tournament was in Las Vegas, so it was McKale North. So we were Iowa State, we were Kansas. So it obviously feels really different for us now. But listen, it’s what we signed up for, so there’s no complaints. I mean, I’m not going to be bitter towards Iowa State fans or Kansas fans for coming to support their team. It’s not an easy haul to get from Tucson to Kansas City. So we have an amazing fan base. It looks like the tournament’s going to be here for a while, so I think we better figure out how to win in Kansas City. That’s where my mind’s at.
On the difficulty of the Big 12 Tournament: “Well, I mean, it’s a monster. It’s a monster. We’ve been in it two years. Every game’s tough. With UCF coming out today, what are they, the eight, nine seed? Eight seed. And they’re a really good team that’s going to be in the NCAA tournament. There’s no easy games. The other team always has a lot of talent and is well coached, and we understand that. We understand that. We respect that. And we enjoy the competition and love the opportunities.”
Krivas on what it was like playing on the Big 12 Tournament court: “It’s a little bit different, but no big differences. I think it’s good for the fans on the arena and the TV, so all thumbs up.”
Burries on the court and arena conditions: “Yeah. I think you’ve just got to get used to it real quick. Just the first five minutes when you’re warming up, just get used to it. But other than that, it’s pretty good. And then like the only thing I didn’t like was if you’re shooting a free throw and you’re on the other side, the LED lights get in your eyes a little bit. But ain’t no big deal, really.”
A NASA mission to rescue its Swift Observatory from the brink has relied on Arizona, with Flagstaff’s Katalyst Aerospace supplying the spacecraft due to reach orbit and boost the telescope’s orbit.
Arizona plays a central role in a daring NASA mission: It will soon attempt to stave off the death of one of its space telescopes in danger of falling back to Earth.
The Swift Observatory has been scanning the cosmos for more than two decades while orbiting Earth. But in recent years, NASA has noticed that the crucial satellite has been unexpectedly getting lower and lower – putting it in danger of burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Now, the U.S. space agency is on the cusp of mounting a rescue mission later in June – the likes of which has never before been attempted – that stunningly came together in less than a year.
The daring venture has recently reached the final stages, with the spacecraft that will fly in orbit – manufactured by an Arizona aerospace company – being mated with the rocket and the aircraft that will deploy it to orbit. If all goes to plan, the mission will soon send the spacecraft on a trajectory to intercept NASA’s telescope and reverse its decaying orbit by boosting it to a higher altitude, extending the observatory’s life.
Here’s what to know about the mission, and Arizona’s integral role in ensuring everything came together to save the observatory in time.
What is the Swift Observatory?
Launched in 2004, NASA’s Swift Observatory has spent more than two decades orbiting Earth while studying a variety of cosmic phenomena. The satellite’s primary objective, though, is to observe gamma-ray bursts – events triggered by the catastrophic deaths of massive stars and considered to be the most powerful types of explosions in the universe.
The satellite is equipped with three multiwavelength telescopes that are able to collect data in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray light.
Swift space telescope falls faster to Earth than expected
NASA to mount rescue mission for vital space telescope named Swift
NASA and commercial partners will launch a spacecraft in June to boost Swift Observatory’s orbit, staving off its destruction and extending its life.
The Swift Observatory is in a region of space known as low-Earth orbit nearer to the atmosphere, which is also where the International Space Station resides.
All spacecraft in that region can expect to fall to lower altitudes if they don’t have propulsion systems to counteract atmospheric drag and maintain their orbits. But the Swift Observatory has fallen faster than NASA has anticipated because of increased solar storms since fall 2024.
NASA plans mission to rescue Swift
NASA could allow the Swift Observatory to fall back to Earth, where it would harmlessly burn up as it careened into the atmosphere.
Instead, the space agency is planning a mission to rescue the telescope and extend its mission for several more years.
A successful mission would mark the first time that a commercial robotic spacecraft captured a government satellite that – unlike other spacecraft like the Hubble Space Telescope – was never meant to be serviced in space. The unprecedented venture, NASA leaders say, would also test a new capability that could be used on other missions while negating the need to spend even more money to replace the observatory.
To accomplish the risky feat, NASA will need a spacecraft designed to capture and raise the orbit of the Swift Observatory, and a rocket to launch it into space, according to the agency. In the meantime, mission teams on the ground are keeping Swift at least 185 miles above Earth, where the boost mission has the best chance of success, NASA said.
Arizona aerospace company races to develop rescue spacecraft
The spacecraft that will attempt to rescue the Swift Observatory was developed by Katalyst Space, an aerospace company based in Flagstaff, Arizona, which was awarded the $30 million contract in September 2025.
With less than a year to help NASA mount a rescue mission, Katalyst developed the LINK robotic servicing spacecraft intended to latch onto a space telescope that was never meant to be captured.
Because Swift has no docking ports or grappling fixtures to grab onto, Katalyst built LINK with a custom robotic capture mechanism that will attach to a feature on the satellite’s main structure. The process is meant to mitigate the chance of any sensitive instruments being damaged, Katalyst said in a press release.
Why such a quick turnaround? Because Swift is falling – and falling fast.
According to Katalyst, the satellite has a 50% chance of making an uncontrolled reentry by mid-2026 without intervention, with those odds increasing to 90% by the end of 2026.
Northrop Grumman to launch LINK spacecraft
LINK will hitch a ride to space with a rocket manufactured by Northrop Grumman, a Virginia-based aerospace and defense company. At about 55 feet tall, Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL is classified as a small-lift rocket regarded as the world’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle.
In mid-June, LINK was securely encapsulated in a payload fairing inside the Pegasus XL rocket at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, according to Katalyst.
The Pegasus XL was also attached around the same time to the belly of Northrop Grumman’s Stargazer aircraft tasked with deploying the rocket, NASA said in a press release. The Stargazer aircraft then took off June 18 from Wallops bound for the Marshall Islands, where the mission is due to commence.
When, where is launch?
The Pegasus XL rocket is due to launch later in June from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located in the South Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines, according to NASA.
Rather than get the rocket off the ground vertically on a launch pad, Northrop Grumman deploys an air-launch strategy to send the Pegasus to space. The approach will require the company’s Stargazer L-1011 aircraft to take off and climb to approximately 40,000 feet over the ocean, where Pegasus will be released.
After several seconds in free-fall, the Pegasus XL will then ignite the first of its three-stage rocket motors, delivering LINK into orbit in about 10 minutes, according to Northrop Grumman.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona is launching a statewide task force aimed at cracking down on cargo theft.
CargoNet estimates $725 million was lost in cargo thefts nationwide in 2025. Arizona is among the states where cargo theft happens most often.
Cargo thefts rise in Arizona
State Sen. Kevin Payne was the sponsor of Senate Bill 1452, which created the Cargo Theft Task Force and was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Monday.
“There’s a lot of cargo theft going on,” Payne said.
The bill creates a statewide cargo theft task force made up of six investigators, legal staff, and any law enforcement designated by the Attorney General’s office. The task force will investigate cargo theft and track new criminal trends.
“I don’t think that people thought it was as serious as it actually is,” Payne said.
Scott Cornell, chief risk officer for SPG Cargo and Logistics and chair of the Transported Asset Protection Association, said he has investigated cargo theft for three decades and that cases have become harder to solve lately
“These large, sophisticated international crime rings have taken over cargo theft in the United States, and they pull the strings from a dozen or two dozen different countries,” Cornell said.
Cornell said addressing cargo theft directly through a specialized task force at the state level could have more impact.
“I think when you address it directly, like Arizona is with a cargo theft task force, you’re bound to have much more impact than a state that doesn’t have that specialization,” he said.
In Arizona, expensive shoes, watches and electronics are among the items stolen from semitrucks and trains in the last couple of years.
“We pay for it,” Cornell said. “The cost is absolutely going to be passed on to the consumer. There’s no question about it.”
Payne said the goal of the task force is to reduce cargo theft in Arizona.
“I sure would like to eliminate a lot of it,” Payne said. “You know, cut it down a lot. Make it to where it’s not profitable for them to do this so they’ll stop.”
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is in charge of establishing the task force. In a statement, the AG’s office says Attorney General Kris Mayes looks forward to continuing the ongoing work to combat retail theft and cargo theft through this task force, and it will coordinate efforts with law enforcement statewide.
The task force’s first report is due to the governor, Senate president and House speaker by July 1, 2027.
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Arizona
Arizona man convicted for role in bringing cocaine to Cincinnati, other US locations for over 5 years
CINCINNATI — An Arizona man has been found guilty of supplying dozens of kilograms of cocaine to multiple U.S. locations, including Cincinnati, bi-weekly for more than five years.
Tucson resident Cesar Cervantes, 52, was convicted of participating in drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies in a jury trial after the government seized more than 160 kilograms of cocaine, three kilograms of fentanyl and $1.4 million in cash from him.
According to court documents, Cervantes would use a network to deliver drugs that originated in Mexico to multiple locations across the country, including designated couriers in Cincinnati, between at least July 2018 and August 2023. Officials said he would supply between 25 and 50 kilograms biweekly to his coconspirators.
Cervantes would then use money launderers to funnel money back to Mexico. In one instance, court documents said he had coconspirators deliver around $300,000 to two separate money launderers — one based in China and another in Colombia.
The jury found Cervantes guilty on all counts for his role in the conspiracies following a trial before U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland in the Southern District of Ohio. He faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison.
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