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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Caleb Love scored 27 points to lead the Arizona Wildcats over shorthanded Texas Tech 86-80 in a Big 12 tournament semifinal game Friday at T-Mobile Center.
Arizona's rubber-match win, coming after the teams split the regular-season series, moved Arizona to 22-11 and into the Big 12 tournament championship game against Houston at 3 p.m. Saturday. It also may have put the Wildcats back in consideration for a preferential top four NCAA Tournament seed.
Texas Tech dropped to 25-8 and is projected to receive a No. 3 seed on Sunday.
Arizona shot 50% and held Texas Tech to just 42%, though the Red Raiders hit over 50% of their field goals in the second half to keep the game within single digits for most of the second half.
Love scored his 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting while hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers. KJ Lewis added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists despite continuing to deal with a sore right wrist, ripping off a wrap over it during the first half.
Kevin Overton led Texas Tech with 19 points but the Red Raiders were playing without two of their top three scorers: All-Big 12 first team forward Darrion Williams wore a boot Friday after playing against Baylor in a Thursday quarterfinal game, and forward Chance McMillian did not play because of an upper body strain.
In addition, Texas Tech forward JT Toppin, the Big 12’s Player of the Year, threw up in a trash can in a tunnel adjacent to the court because of over-hydration, according to ESPN’s coverage of the game. Toppin had just 10 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes while missing both 3-pointers he took.
Because the Big 12 tournament semifinals didn’t have either Kansas, Kansas State or Iowa State for the first time ever, depriving the event of nearby rooting interest, the Wildcats’ fan support was audible inside the half-empty T-Mobile Center.
While it wasn’t the sort of “McKale North” atmosphere supporting the Wildcats at recent Pac-12 Tournaments, UA fans were the biggest group on hand for the late semifinal game Friday.
Leading 47-39 at halftime, Arizona took early second half leads of up to 14 points before the Red Raiders chipped away. TTU scored seven straight points, capped by a 3-pointer from Overton, to cut UA's lead to 64-59 with 9:08 left.
Overton later hit his fourth 3 from the right corner to pull the Red Raiders within 70-66 with 6:14 left and at that point, TTU was shooting 57.1% from the field after making only 32.4% in the first half.
But Texas Tech never came any closer from there.
In the first half, Love scored 17 points while Arizona held Texas Tech to just 32.4% percent shooting and took a 49-37 halftime lead.
Arizona shot 65.4% from the field, though the Red Raiders tied UA with 17 rebounds and scored four more points at the free-throw line.
The Wildcats outscored the Red Raiders 9-4 over the final 2:01 of what was a one-possession game for most of the first half, with little-used point guard Conrad Martinez turning a steal into a layup with 1:12 to go.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead, with Love scoring the first seven points of the game off a 3-pointer, a 12-footer and two free throws.But Texas Tech hit 5 of 6 3s over the next six minutes to take a 22-19 lead after Christian Anderson and Kevin Overton hit 3s on successive TTU possessions.
The game score remained with three points, with Texas Tech missing its final 12 3-pointers of the half, until Townsend hit a pair of free throws to give UA a 40-35 lead with 2:01 left in the half.
Arizona entered Friday’s game at 21-11 and Texas Tech was 25-7. The Red Raiders are fighting for a potential No. 2 NCAA Tournament while UA is projected to be hovering between a 4 and 5.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Caleb Love scores 27 to lead Arizona over Texas Tech into Big 12 final
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Arizona's rubber-match win, coming after the teams split the regular-season series, moved Arizona to 22-11 and into the Big 12 tournament championship game against Houston at 3 p.m. Saturday. It also may have put the Wildcats back in consideration for a preferential top four NCAA Tournament seed.
Texas Tech dropped to 25-8 and is projected to receive a No. 3 seed on Sunday.
Arizona shot 50% and held Texas Tech to just 42%, though the Red Raiders hit over 50% of their field goals in the second half to keep the game within single digits for most of the second half.
Love scored his 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting while hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers. KJ Lewis added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists despite continuing to deal with a sore right wrist, ripping off a wrap over it during the first half.
Kevin Overton led Texas Tech with 19 points but the Red Raiders were playing without two of their top three scorers: All-Big 12 first team forward Darrion Williams wore a boot Friday after playing against Baylor in a Thursday quarterfinal game, and forward Chance McMillian did not play because of an upper body strain.
In addition, Texas Tech forward JT Toppin, the Big 12’s Player of the Year, threw up in a trash can in a tunnel adjacent to the court because of over-hydration, according to ESPN’s coverage of the game. Toppin had just 10 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes while missing both 3-pointers he took.
Because the Big 12 tournament semifinals didn’t have either Kansas, Kansas State or Iowa State for the first time ever, depriving the event of nearby rooting interest, the Wildcats’ fan support was audible inside the half-empty T-Mobile Center.
While it wasn’t the sort of “McKale North” atmosphere supporting the Wildcats at recent Pac-12 Tournaments, UA fans were the biggest group on hand for the late semifinal game Friday.
Leading 47-39 at halftime, Arizona took early second half leads of up to 14 points before the Red Raiders chipped away. TTU scored seven straight points, capped by a 3-pointer from Overton, to cut UA's lead to 64-59 with 9:08 left.
Overton later hit his fourth 3 from the right corner to pull the Red Raiders within 70-66 with 6:14 left and at that point, TTU was shooting 57.1% from the field after making only 32.4% in the first half.
But Texas Tech never came any closer from there.
In the first half, Love scored 17 points while Arizona held Texas Tech to just 32.4% percent shooting and took a 49-37 halftime lead.
Arizona shot 65.4% from the field, though the Red Raiders tied UA with 17 rebounds and scored four more points at the free-throw line.
The Wildcats outscored the Red Raiders 9-4 over the final 2:01 of what was a one-possession game for most of the first half, with little-used point guard Conrad Martinez turning a steal into a layup with 1:12 to go.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead, with Love scoring the first seven points of the game off a 3-pointer, a 12-footer and two free throws.But Texas Tech hit 5 of 6 3s over the next six minutes to take a 22-19 lead after Christian Anderson and Kevin Overton hit 3s on successive TTU possessions.
The game score remained with three points, with Texas Tech missing its final 12 3-pointers of the half, until Townsend hit a pair of free throws to give UA a 40-35 lead with 2:01 left in the half.
Arizona entered Friday’s game at 21-11 and Texas Tech was 25-7. The Red Raiders are fighting for a potential No. 2 NCAA Tournament while UA is projected to be hovering between a 4 and 5.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Caleb Love scores 27 to lead Arizona over Texas Tech into Big 12 final
Continue reading...
