KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Arizona Wildcats defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 88-77, in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at T-Mobile Center.
While the Wildcats get ready to play in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals on Friday, here are three things I noticed while covering the game here in KC, including Arizona’s offensive rotations, Kansas’ maddening inconsistency and a great, new Big 12 fan base.
ARIZONA’S LINEUP SHIFT
On Thursday, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd shifted Trey Townsend back into the starting lineup after bringing him off the bench on Saturday against Kansas. In that game, he started Henri Veesaar and Tobe Awaka together. Arizona lost that game.
Veesaar went back to the bench on Thursday, and I think that suited the Wildcats. This has nothing to do with the individual abilities of Townsend, Awaka and Veesaar. It has to do with putting the right lineup together.
In watching Arizona on TV I feel like sometimes the floor gets too congested in the middle with Awaka and Veesaar on the floor together. Starting the game with Townsend and Awaka gives the Wildcats two athletic forwards to push defenses up the floor. That’s helped Arizona early in the game. It was part of the season the Wildcats got the lead.
When Veesaar comes in the game, he allows the offense to shift to a different gear. He’s a quality screen-setter, so Arizona can run high screen-and-roll or fake it. He understands floor spacing and how to follow a driving guard like Caleb Love and position himself for an assist, as he did late in the second half. He can also make his own offense under the basket and be physical with Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson in a style that is effective.
“I’m just a coach,” Lloyd said. “I felt it would be the right move today.”
Townsend is flexible enough to where he can play with either of them. His playing style complements both. But Awaka and Veesaar together? A little less so.
Veesaar got into a groove and played nearly 30 minutes to Awaka’s 11. Sometimes you ride the hot hand. Veesaar finished with 19 points and Townsend finished with 16 points. So, clearly, that combination worked.
That may not be the case against Texas Tech. Their big, JT Toppin, is more athletic and less of a traditional back-to-the-basket post. It’s possible a Townsend-Awaka tandem works better than Townsend-Veessaar did on Thursday.
But that’s why you have options and it’s good to have a coach like Lloyd that knows how to use them.
THE KANSAS CONUNDRUM
This piece is supposed to be about what I noticed. Well, with Kanas, I noticed what I’ve noticed all season. This is the most frustratingly inconsistent Kansas team I’ve seen in the eight years I’ve covered this league.
That inconsistency is embodied in AJ Storr.
He had his best game of the season on Wednesday against UCF, scoring 19 points. When the Jayhawks signed him out of the portal he averaged 16.8 points per game for Wisconsin. He’s only averaged 6 points this season. But the talent’s there, as Wednesday showed.
A scoring option like him is what Kansas has needed for a good portion of this season. KJ Admas Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr. aren’t quite consistent enough in that department. This is the time of year Kansas found itself when it won the 2022 national championship. I thought after Wednesday, “If Storr plays like that, they’ve got a chance.”
Storr didn’t score a point on Thursday.
Now Kansas’ inconsistency isn’t all on Storr. That additional option could easily be Rylan Griffin, another transfer. Or one of the talented freshmen on this team.
But what stood out on Thursday was what has stood out all season. For some reason, the talent Bill Self and his staff imported, outside of Zeke Mayo, hasn’t panned out.
Because of that, Kansas may win a game in the NCAA Tournament. But I don’t see them winning two.
THE ARIZONA CROWD SHOWED UP
One of the great things about the Big 12 Tournament is that you get to see how fan bases travel. Yes, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State show up in droves. We’ve learned the last two years that BYU travels well.
Well, Arizona travels well, too. Or, at the least, they’re quite loud.
Toward the end of the game, I headed down to the press conference area from the hockey press box. That area is well off the floor, insulated by concrete. All I could hear in the final two minutes of that game was “U-of-A, U-of-A.”
From this area you can hear cheering easily. But it’s much more difficult to pick up on chanting like that.
Welcome to the Big 12, Arizona fans. They’re glad to have you. Go spend some money in Power of Light. The business owners will be missing some of that Iowa State and Kansas money on Friday.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
