Preview & Game Day Thread: Big 12 Tournament – Arizona vs. Texas Tech

Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (25-7, 15-5)
Bad Guys: Arizona Wildcats (21-11, 14-6)
When to Watch: Friday, March 14th @ 8:30 pm
Where to Watch: T-Mobile Center | Kansas City, Missouri
How to Watch: ESPN2
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -2.5

Advanced Stats

TEXAS TECH STAT ARIZONA
7
KenPom
12
6
KP AdjO
13
30
KP AdjD
32
6
T-Rank
11
6
T-Rank O
18
26
T-Rank D
30
7
Haslemetric
12

Lineups

TEXAS TECH
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Elijah Hawkins (5-11/160) 9.1 / 6.4*
SHOOTING GUARD Chance McMillian (6-3/190) 14.2 / 4.1
SMALL FORWARD Kerwin Walton (6-5/210) 5.5 / 1.1
POWER FORWARD Darrion Williams (6-6/225) 14.3 / 5.2
CENTER JT Toppin (6-9/225) 18.4 / 9.3
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Christian Anderson (6-2/165) 10.5 / 2.2*
SEVENTH MAN Kevin Overton (6-5/200) 7.8 / 3.7
EIGHTH MAN Federiko Federiko (6-11/215) 5.1 / 4.6
NINTH MAN Eemeli Yalaho (6-8/240) 3.3 / 2.4
TENTH MAN Leon Horner (6-4/215) 0.3 / 0.6
ELEVENTH MAN Jack Francis (6-3/185) 0.3 / 0.3
TWELFTH MAN Corbin Green (6-5/230) 0.0 / 0.5
THIRTEENTH MAN Jazz Henderson (5-11/175) – / –
ARIZONA
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Caleb Love (6-4/205) 16.2 / 3.6*
SHOOTING GUARD Jaden Bradley (6-3/200) 11.8 / 3.4
SMALL FORWARD Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6/190) 7.4 / 1.4
POWER FORWARD Trey Townsend (6-2/225) 8.4 / 4.0
CENTER Tobe Awaka (6-8/250) 8.4 / 7.9
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Henri Veesaar (7-0/225) 9.5 / 4.9
SEVENTH MAN Carter Bryant (6-8/220) 6.4 / 4.0
EIGHTH MAN KJ Lewis (6-4/205) 10.8 / 4.5
NINTH MAN – (-/-) – / –
TENTH MAN – (-/-) – / –

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. Arizona is an elite offensive team, terrific inside the arc, 40th in the nation, they make their free throws, 19th in the nation, 9th in not getting shots blocked, 17th in offensive rebounding and 62nd in free throw rate. They aren’t a good 3-point shooting team, 265th, but I think that’s minor when you are so good in so many other categories. Defensively, they are probably getting to the point where they are elite, 42nd in opponent 2-point shooting and 52nd in shots blocked. They are a big team and that’s a problem for Texas Tech.

2. Scouting. Love is good and bad, but mostly really good. Not a great shooter, which is bad for a point guard. He doesn’t turn the ball over and makes his free throws. Awaka and Veesaar re terrific inside and tough to beat. Dell’Orso is the best shooter, 40% from deep. This is a deep team and they spread minutes pretty well.

3. How They Match Up. After the Baylor game McCasland said that Texas Tech would need Federiko Federiko and that is accurate. With Toppin on an absolute heater, Arizona is probably going to throw different players at Toppin. When Arizona beat Texas Tech they turned the ball over too much, but other than that they played a really well game in Tucson. Texas Tech will have to be good and I don’t expect to have Chance McMillian. There is no reason to play him if he’s not 100%.

4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.

5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:

NOT AVAILABLE YET, BUT YOU CAN CHECK THAT LINK.

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