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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 Tournament hasn't exactly been kind to its own teams when it comes to staying healthy.
Second-ranked Houston cruised into the title game with a 76-56 victory over No. 17 BYU on Friday night, despite top rebounder J'Wan Roberts sitting on the bench with his sprained ankle in a boot. A few hours later, Arizona joined the Cougars in the title game with an 86-80 victory over No. 9 Texas Tech, which was missing Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams due to injuries.
The Red Raiders also had star forward JT Toppin dealing with an illness; at one point, he threw up in the arena tunnel.
“We were a little short-handed and the guys that played — it was just our competitiveness that I loved,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said afterward. “I told them in the locker room, ‘This is not where it ends.’ That is the beauty of what we’ve done this season. This is just the beginning of another season for us that we’re excited to be part of.”
McMillian missed the second half of Texas Tech's quarterfinal win with what the team called an “upper body strain,” and Williams was wearing a walking boot on his right foot after he aggravated an injury that has bothered him the last few weeks.
“Chance last night was in pretty severe pain, and this morning he woke up and was definitive that he couldn't play. Our hope is we get him back for the NCAA Tournament,” McCasland said. “Darrion tried to warm up and said he couldn’t go. We hope we get him back for the tournament, too."
The Red Raiders took Arizona down to the wire anyway thanks to their role players stepping up. Kevin Overton scored 20 points with six rebounds, and Christian Anderson poured in 19 points while playing all 40 minutes.
“It just goes to show how much work we put in practice, and how everybody on our team wants to win, and we all know what it takes to win," Anderson said. “Like you said, we were a little short-handed, but even with that and some fatigue, we played strong. We had some great moments, and sometimes we didn't, but we played hard the whole game.”
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson did not provide an update on Roberts, who hurt his ankle right in front of the Cougars' bench in the opening minutes of the second half against Colorado in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
“Obviously having J’Wan out we had to shuffle things around, but whether that’s good or bad, we’re used to having guys out with injury here the last few years,” Sampson said, “so we plug somebody else in.”
Earlier in the tournament, No. 12 Iowa State was forced to play without top guards Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey in a 96-92 quarterfinal loss to BYU, and Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger was left wondering about their status ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
Gilbert, the Cyclones' second-leading scorer, has been dealing with a muscle strain for several weeks. He tried to play in the second round against Cincinnati but only managed 11 minutes, and he did not play at all in the second half, when Lipsey — one of their top distributors — hurt his groin in the closing minutes of the 76-56 victory over the Bearcats.
“Those guys have been phenomenal competitors for us over time, so now the competition comes in the training room, the rehab, everything that you do and how much you put into, you know, getting your body healthy and doing what you need to do to be out there,” Otzelberger said. “I know that, again, they’ll both get the treatment that they need.”
The Cyclones at least had a little more rest than the Cougars and Red Raiders after losing earlier in the Big 12 Tournament.
“Evaluate it day by day," Otzelberger said, “and just see where we’re at.”
___
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Second-ranked Houston cruised into the title game with a 76-56 victory over No. 17 BYU on Friday night, despite top rebounder J'Wan Roberts sitting on the bench with his sprained ankle in a boot. A few hours later, Arizona joined the Cougars in the title game with an 86-80 victory over No. 9 Texas Tech, which was missing Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams due to injuries.
The Red Raiders also had star forward JT Toppin dealing with an illness; at one point, he threw up in the arena tunnel.
“We were a little short-handed and the guys that played — it was just our competitiveness that I loved,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said afterward. “I told them in the locker room, ‘This is not where it ends.’ That is the beauty of what we’ve done this season. This is just the beginning of another season for us that we’re excited to be part of.”
McMillian missed the second half of Texas Tech's quarterfinal win with what the team called an “upper body strain,” and Williams was wearing a walking boot on his right foot after he aggravated an injury that has bothered him the last few weeks.
“Chance last night was in pretty severe pain, and this morning he woke up and was definitive that he couldn't play. Our hope is we get him back for the NCAA Tournament,” McCasland said. “Darrion tried to warm up and said he couldn’t go. We hope we get him back for the tournament, too."
The Red Raiders took Arizona down to the wire anyway thanks to their role players stepping up. Kevin Overton scored 20 points with six rebounds, and Christian Anderson poured in 19 points while playing all 40 minutes.
“It just goes to show how much work we put in practice, and how everybody on our team wants to win, and we all know what it takes to win," Anderson said. “Like you said, we were a little short-handed, but even with that and some fatigue, we played strong. We had some great moments, and sometimes we didn't, but we played hard the whole game.”
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson did not provide an update on Roberts, who hurt his ankle right in front of the Cougars' bench in the opening minutes of the second half against Colorado in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
“Obviously having J’Wan out we had to shuffle things around, but whether that’s good or bad, we’re used to having guys out with injury here the last few years,” Sampson said, “so we plug somebody else in.”
Earlier in the tournament, No. 12 Iowa State was forced to play without top guards Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey in a 96-92 quarterfinal loss to BYU, and Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger was left wondering about their status ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
Gilbert, the Cyclones' second-leading scorer, has been dealing with a muscle strain for several weeks. He tried to play in the second round against Cincinnati but only managed 11 minutes, and he did not play at all in the second half, when Lipsey — one of their top distributors — hurt his groin in the closing minutes of the 76-56 victory over the Bearcats.
“Those guys have been phenomenal competitors for us over time, so now the competition comes in the training room, the rehab, everything that you do and how much you put into, you know, getting your body healthy and doing what you need to do to be out there,” Otzelberger said. “I know that, again, they’ll both get the treatment that they need.”
The Cyclones at least had a little more rest than the Cougars and Red Raiders after losing earlier in the Big 12 Tournament.
“Evaluate it day by day," Otzelberger said, “and just see where we’re at.”
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Continue reading...
