Arizona fended off pesky Texas Tech and now must try to take down the most dominant team in the Big 12 — Houston — in the conference tournament championship game Saturday at Kansas City, Mo.
The No. 3 Wildcats (22-11) will play No. 1 Houston (29-4) at 3 p.m., Tucson time, on ESPN.
Caleb Love scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the first half and Henri Veesaar overcame a sluggish start with eight of his 10 points in the last 5:08 of the game in Arizona’s 86-80 victory Friday night over Texas Tech in the semifinal game.
KJ Lewis also had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists off the bench.
“We had a goal this year to get to this point, and we’re going to do our best and execute a game plan to try to go win tomorrow,” Lewis said.
Trey Townsend had another solid performance with 12 points and five rebounds.
Jaden Bradley played efficiently with 10 points, four assists and no turnovers in 37 minutes.
“We’re going to try to win tomorrow,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “We could get our ass kicked tomorrow. I don’t know. We’ve got to come out and play tomorrow.
“It’s great coming down here and getting two wins against two really good teams. You beat Kansas in Kansas City. That says something. You beat a Texas Tech team that found a way to take second in the conference. That says something. Now, we’ve got the champ. We’re staring down the champ. Let’s see what we’ve got.”
Texas Tech (25-8) played without guards Chance McMillian (upper body strain) and Darrion Williams (lower-leg injury).
ESPN reported during the game that Texas Tech post player JT Toppin was ill and had to leave the floor temporarily in the first half. Toppin, who lacked his usual intensity, finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
“They beat Houston without Toppin at Houston,” Lloyd said about not underestimating the shorthanded Red Raiders. “They didn’t have the two guys (Williams and McMillian) when they played Houston at home and played them tough.
“So I knew it was going to be a hard game. Our guys did a great job finding a way. It wasn’t easy. They were tough. They fought us every step of the way.”
Love had 17 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range, leading the Wildcats to a 47-39 halftime lead.
Love’s consecutive 3-pointers put Arizona ahead 57-43 with 16:54 left.
“I think it was just the energy of the game,” Love said of his 10-of-15 shooting performance from the field, 5 of 8 from 3-point range. “I started off hot. I just wanted to give that spark to my team. I knew they were going to follow up with that.
“I had it going, but as the game was flowing, KJ chipped in, big numbers from Trey, and, you know, it went on from there.”
As they have done most of the season, the Wildcats failed to maintain a healthy lead or pull away.
But at least this time, they played tough at the end behind Veesaar’s production and Lewis making three free throws in the last 42 seconds.
Although it appeared Texas Tech could take the lead after a threat, Arizona always had an answer.
Texas Tech went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 64-59 with 9:08 remaining.
Kevin Overton scored the last five points of that run, including a 3-pointer. Overton finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, 4 of 7 from 3-point range.
“Just a gritty game for us,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “We didn’t find a way to win, but that’s a credit to Arizona and how talented they are and how physical they are.”
A layup and then dunk by Veesaar on consecutive possessions gave Arizona an 82-74 lead with 1:28 left.
Lewis’ two free throws with 42 seconds left increased Arizona’s lead to 84-77.
Toppin made a free throw and Elijah Hawkins made a layup but Bradley and Lewis each made at least one of their two free-throw attempts in the waning seconds. Arizona was 16 of 21 from the line.
Bradley and Tobe Awaka each had four fouls and Carter Bryant fouled out, symbolizing Texas Tech’s ability to get to the free-throw line.
The Red Raiders attempted 30 free throws but made only 19 of them.
“They did a really good job of putting foul pressure on us and getting to the free throw line,” Lloyd said. “They were great on the offensive glass (14 offensive rebounds).
“All in all, I’m proud of our guys for hanging with it and making enough winning plays to come out on top.”
Arizona’s balance extended to the last player off the bench — Conrad Martinez. He played two minutes in the first half and had a steal and a layup late in the first half after Bradley was whistled for his second foul.
The Wildcats, embattled from beyond the arc all season, also battled with Texas Tech with their long-range shooting. Arizona was 8 of 16 from beyond the arc while the Red Raiders were 9 of 28.
“Our guys did a good job of being attentive,” Lloyd said. “They probably missed a few (3-pointers) they wish they wouldn’t have, but I thought our guys did a good job of being attentive and not overhelping in situations.”
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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