On Saturday afternoon in Lubbock, Texas, two Big 12 teams clashed in an exciting matchup.
Grant McCasland and the Texas Tech Red Raiders welcomed Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats to United Supermarkets Arena for the sixth game of the Big 12 regular season. Though the score ballooned out of control down the stretch, the matchup was a close back-and-forth battle that eventually stuck with the Red Raiders.
With that, here are the top three takeaways from Texas Tech’s 70-54 win over the Wildcats.
Williams Injury
A scary situation unfolded in Saturday afternoon’s contest, with Texas Tech star forward Darrion Williams suffering an injury.
The 6-foot-6 junior went to the ground in pain with five minutes to play in the second half, holding his left foot. When shown in slow motion by ESPN’s crew, it was revealed that an Arizona defender landed on Williams’ ankle at 4:17, prompting the California native to depart for the locker room.
He remained sidelined for the remainder of the game but did return to the bench after a short stint in the Texas Tech locker room.
No Love
One of the biggest storylines from the win was Texas Tech’s ability to keep Caleb Love from stuffing the stat sheet. In his previous seven outings, Love was averaging 17.8 points per game on 42.3% shooting from the field. In his matchup with Texas Tech, Love posted just nine points on 3-13 shooting from the field and 0-5 from three-point range.
The Red Raiders’ defensive game plan extended beyond just Caleb Love, as the entirety of Arizona’s squad was held in check. Their 54 total points tied their season-low set against No. 24 UCLA on December 14th.
Arizona finished the game shooting 31% from the field and 16.7% from three.
Big 12 POY Watch
While JT Toppin is no stranger to incredible stat lines, on Saturday, he recorded another Big 12 Player of the Year-worthy outing. The sophomore forward recorded a 20-point double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds in the win. He connected on 7-14 shots from the field, 1-2 from three, and 5-7 from the free throw line.
With the win in the books, Toppin is now averaging 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game on 55.6% shooting from the field. The outing is his fifth time this season crossing the 20-point threshold and his sixth time recording double-digit rebounds.
He continues to stack up impressive accolades as a young player, and as Big 12 Conference play continues, voters will have to keep a close eye on the star developing in Lubbock.
