Texas Tech No. 13 and Arizona 20 will meet Saturday night in a showdown between the Big 12 Conference candidates in Tucson, Arizona.
The Red Raiders (18-4, 9-2) enjoy the best 12 starts in the program’s history, while the Wildcats (16-6, 10-1) are tied up at the top of their first season meeting with Houston It’s there. league.
After beating the Arizona 70-54 in Lubbock, Texas on January 18th, Texas Tech is 5-0 and will try to wipe out the regular season series.
“I love the grit on this team,” Texas technology coach Grant McCusland said after the Red Raiders defeated Baylor 73-59 at their home on Tuesday. “We continue to find ways to separate when it matters. We’ve got some defensive possessions from a great team. We can still improve a lot. But I love watching our team play together and for each other.”
The Red Raiders have limited their enemies to 65.1 points per game, ranking fourth in the Big 12 that enters Thursday.
The 54-point Texas Tech allowed Arizona in its first meeting. The Wildcats season is lower.
In previous meetings, Arizona chased 57-54 with 5:16 left, but failed to score the remaining method as Texas Tech finished with a 13-0 run. The Wildcats missed the final 10 shots, nine of which were 3 pointers.
“Hey, we were right there,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “It’s a 5-point game in five minutes. Play in tough meetings, you’re playing on the road, you’ll have those days.”
Arizona has put together a five-game winning streak since that loss.
After going 0-for-5 over the arc in that game, the Wildcats star calves have made 19 shots (42.2%) out of 45 shots from long distances in the last five games.
Love’s performance this week as a big 12 player has helped to drive Arizona’s surge.
“I’m really proud of these guys for how they reacted after losing to Texas Tech,” Lloyd said. “But… there was a big game on Saturday so there’s no buyback.”
Texas Tech has the longest active streak in the Big 12 in seven games.
Chance McMillian leads the Big 12 with a 3-point shooting percentage (45.5), while Elijah Hawkins leads the meeting with 6.1 assists per game.
JT Toppin led Texas Tech with 20 points and 16 rebounds in his previous game against Arizona. He shot 55.3% off the field and ranks fourth with 8.4 rebounds per game.
“We can’t be satisfied,” said Dallion Williams, who scored 17 points in his victory at Baylor on Tuesday. “We won a few games, but we easily lost three straight times and got back to Square 1. We need to keep building.”
Arizona’s Jaden Bradley, who scored all 17 points in the second half of Tuesday’s 85-74 victory at BYU, averages 11.7 points, 3.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Love averages team high 16.3 points, while Tobe Awaka leads the Wildcats with 7.9 rebounds per game.
– Field-level media
