In the second game of a six-game gauntlet, the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats dropped their second straight game as the 16th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders pulled off the tough upset win in Tucson on Saturday night.
JT Toppin Stamps His Case for Big 12 Player of the Year with Monster Game
There may not be a more dominant player in all of college basketball this season than Red Raiders star Forward JT Toppin, who single-handedly led Texas Tech to victory. Toppin had 31 points and 13 rebounds as the Wildcats’ defense had zero answers against the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year. That 30-point and 10-rebound game was also the second time in conference history a player dropped that stat line against a top-ranked team.
Toppin’s performance was almost topped by his own teammate, Christian Anderson, who was raining threes. He hit 6 threes and finished with 19 points and 8 assists, showing off how versatile a threat the sophomore is on offense. Anderson’s shooting has served as the difference in many of Texas Tech’s wins this season. He is shooting 44% from beyond the arc so far this year.
Although Toppin and Anderson were stuffing the stat sheet, the Red Raiders‘ hero in this game came from Donovan Atwell, who hit some clutch shots down the stretch to secure the win. Atwell hit a three-pointer with 25 seconds in regulation to give the Red Raiders a 66-64 lead. He would hit another dagger three in overtime to give Texas Tech a 75-71 lead with 2 minutes remaining in the extra period.
Koa Peat Leaves With Injury As Arizona’s Offense Collapses Again
In what’s been a gut punch of a week for both Wildcats fans and players, the team received another set of bad news with an injury to freshman phenom Koa Peat. The former McDonald’s All-American left the game after playing 11 minutes in the first half and would not return due to a lower leg injury. This injury to Peat not only hampered the Wildcats offense, but it also thinned the frontcourt as backup Forward Dwayne Aristonde was ruled out due to a sickness before tip-off.
One of the main reasons for Arizona’s struggles on offense was due in part to the continued poor play from their team leader, Jayden Bradley. The Alabama transfer scored just 11 points on a poor 4-of-14 shooting from the field in the loss. That shooting performance marked the second straight game that Bradley has shot under 30% from the field. The Wildcats shot just 39% from the floor as a team, and 25% from the three-point line.
The only positive performances for Arizona came from Tobe Awaka and Mo Krivas, as both big men put together a nice outing for the Wildcats in the loss. Awaka had 16 points and 12 rebounds while filling in for the injured Peat. Krivas dropped a double-double as well with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Wildcats were outrebounded 38-37, which marked the first time this season that Arizona was outrebounded in a game.
Wildcats Slip In Conference Standings
The Wildcats’ reign atop the Big 12 officially came to an end with the loss tonight, as No. 3 Houston moved into the top spot in the conference. The win not only allows Houston to take the lead in the Big 12, but it also gives the Red Raiders a shot at claiming the Big 12 regular-season title, as the race has now become a five-team race.
The Red Raiders are now tied for the 3rd-place spot in the Big 12 with a 9-3 record, alongside No. 9 Kansas and No. 5 Iowa State. This game will also severely hurt Arizona’s chances at acquiring the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, as No. 2 Michigan now slides into that spot according to Joe Lunardi’s latest March Madness bracket projection.
