Kansas City, Missouri — The University of Arizona men’s basketball team (22-11, 14-6 in Big 12) found a way to outlast No. 2 Texas Tech University (25-8, 15-5 in Big 12) in an 86-80 Big 12 semifinal win. With this victory, Arizona advances to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship game where the Wildcats will face No. 1 University of Houston.
6-foot-4 guard Caleb Love scored 27 points to lead Arizona, shooting 10-for-15 from the field, including 5-of-8 shooting from the 3-point line. KJ Lewis followed with 15 points, six assists and led defensively with eight rebounds. 7-foot center Henri Veesaar scored 8 of his 10 points in the second half of the game while also collecting seven rebounds.
“Our guys did a great job just finding a way, and you know it wasn’t easy,” said Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd. “We did a good job holding them off enough and giving ourselves enough cushion. If we made one or two more plays it was gonna be tough for them to get over the top.”
Arizona shot an impressive 50% (8-for-16) collectively from beyond the arc and 50.8% (31-for-61) from the field. The Wildcats’ defense came out prepared, limiting a Texas Tech team, who shot 15 made 3-pointers in Thursday’s 76-74 quarterfinal victory over Baylor University, to just 9-for-28 shooting from the 3-point line. Despite Texas Tech having four Red Raiders finish scoring in double figures, including a combined 39 points from sophomore guard Kevin Overton and 6-foot-2 freshman Christian Anderson, it wasn’t enough.
“Our guys did a good job being attentive, and you know they probably missed a few they probably wanted to have back, but I thought our guys did a much better job of being attentive and not overhelping in situations,” Lloyd said. “Some of the fouls are regretful. I wish those free throw numbers were a little bit lower, but all and all limiting them to nine 3’s when they wanted to make 10 plus, you know we’ll take it.”
First half
Houston gained the first possession to start the night as Tobe Awaka was called for the early foul. Shortly after, Love shot a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead. Love then followed with a jumper, collecting the first five points for Arizona. Despite getting multiple foul calls, Texas Tech shot 0-for-4 from the free throw line to start the game. The Wildcats came out with intensity in the beginning minutes as Love caused a Red Raider turnover, leading to two made free throws. Directly after, Veesaar followed with a layup to stretch the early 9-0 lead.
Almost three minutes into the period, 5-foot-11 guard Elijah Hawkins scored on a stepback 3-pointer to get Texas Tech on the board. However, his shot was quickly answered after Trey Townsend, who Lloyd put in the starting lineup, scored a layup to gain his first points of the game.
Out of a timeout, Love shot a 3-pointer that was replicated on the other end by Anderson, shortening the 14-9 lead. Soon after, Anderson scored again, this time off an Arizona turnover to make it a one possession game a little more than five minutes into the first period.
After three made 3-pointers shot by Overton and Anderson, Arizona called a timeout to come up with a way to adjust to the now 22-19 score. Out of the break, JT Toppin scored on a jumper that held the Red Raiders lead at 3 points.
Townsend tied the game at 25 with a layup as Texas Tech called a 30-second timeout to talk it over with 9:19 left in the first period. With under 10 minutes remaining before the half, Jaden Bradley made a layup to gain a brief 2 point lead before Federiko Federiko tied the game at 27.
Lewis found an opportunity to score on back-to-back possessions, helping push Arizona towards a 31-30 lead. Overton responded for Texas Tech with a made layup as the 1-point lead teetered back-and-forth.
Love scored his 17th point for the night with a jumper, hitting his 6-of-8 shot with under five minutes remaining in the first half. The Wildcats continued to match Texas Tech’s effort, as Lewis scored a driving layup, shortly followed by an Arizona timeout.
Carter Bryant scored his first points of the night with a shot from beyond the arc, slowly bringing the score up to 38-34 with 3:22 left in the first period. Conrand Martinez made his presence known for Arizona, scoring on the fast break off a turnover, stretching the Wildcats’ advantage to 8 points.
Texas Tech went on a scoring lull, not scoring a field goal until Kerwin Walton hit a jumper with 52 seconds left in the first half. Townsend didn’t slow down offensively for Arizona, as the Oakland University transfer made his own jumper to secure an 8-point, 47-39 lead for the Wildcats at the half.
Love led the Wildcats with 17 first half points, hitting 6-of-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from the 3-point line. Collectively, Arizona shot 65.4% from the field and 62.5% from beyond the arc. Anderson led Texas Tech in the first half with 11 points, including two made 3-pointers.
Second half
There was almost no scoring in the first minute of the second period until Townsend made a layup off a Texas Tech turnover. Arizona’s possession was quickly answered by a turnaround shot by Toppin, shortening the deficit to 51-43.
Love stayed dominant in the beginning minutes of the second half, scoring back-to-back 3-pointers to gain his 23rd point, giving the Wildcats a 14-point lead. Texas Tech responded as Walton scored 5 points after hitting back-to-back shots of his own as the score turned to 57-48 with 15:22 left in the game.
The offensive pace seemed to slow down a bit for both teams, but Arizona and Texas Tech continued to fight for the lead. Anderson’s made jumper cut the score 59-50 but was answered 23 seconds later by Bradley scoring his first 3-pointer of the night to gain back the double-digit advantage.
On a pass from Bradley, Love finished on the dunk as Arizona took a 64-52 lead. Texas Tech found a 7-0 scoring run as the score with under 10 minutes left in the game, cutting the score to 64-59 after a made 3-pointer. The Red Raiders didn’t seem to slow down offensively as Hawkins and Overton each scored within a minute of their possessions, cutting the deficit to just 4 points with 6:14 remaining in the game.
Veesaar extended the Wildcats’ lead up to 8 points after making a layup off a turnover and getting called for the foul, but he unfortunately came up short on the free throw. Veesaar was dominant offensively down the stretch of the second half, finding a 76-69 lead for Arizona after making a hookshot jumper. However, Texas Tech wouldn’t go away easily as Walton scored a 3-pointer 11 seconds later.
With under three minutes left in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament, Love hit a jumper as the Wildcats called a timeout directly after to regroup. Out of the break, Anderson hit two free throws for the Red Raiders, followed by Veesaar scoring a layup that brought Arizona’s advantage up to 6 points.
Veesaar didn’t stop scoring, as he found the second-chance opportunity to dunk the ball that made the score 82-74 with 1:28 remaining. Anderson made his own layup, chipping away at the 82-76 score with 1:17 remaining in the game. After both teams traded free-throws on each end, Hawkins made a layup with 20 seconds left on the clock, but it wouldn’t be enough to completely overcome the Wildcats 5 point lead.
Ultimately, Arizona limited Texas Tech on shots with their defense while also being able to score on multiple opportunities, securing the 86-80 Big 12 Semifinal victory.
Looking ahead
The No. 3 seed Wildcats remain in Kansas City, Missouri as they move on to the Phillips Big 12 Championship to face the No. 1 seed University of Houston on Saturday, March 15 at 5 p.m. CT at the T-Mobile Center. The team looks forward to competing in the game they’ve been working towards the whole season, Love said.
“We’re playing for something bigger than ourselves. We’re playing for the players who played before us, so we take pride in it and we’re going to come in and play as hard as we can,” Love said. “(We’ll) try to execute the game plan as best as we can, and we’ll see the outcome that comes from that.”
