Arizona (11-5, 5-0) at Texas Tech (12-4, 3-2) | United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, Texas | Noon Saturday | ESPN2 | 1290-AM
PROBABLE STARTERS
ARIZONA
G Jaden Bradley (6-3 junior)
G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)
F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 junior)
F Trey Townsend (6-6 senior)
C Tobe Awaka (6-8 junior)
TEXAS TECH
G Elijah Hawkins (5-11 senior)
G Chance McMillian (6-3 senior)
F Kerwin Walton (6-5 senior)
F Darrion Williams (6-6 junior)
C JT Toppin (6-9 soph.)
How they match up
Series history: Arizona trails the series with its old Border Conference rival 28-24, though the Wildcats have won the past seven in a row, dating back to the 1973-74 season. The teams last met as part of a two-year series in which UA won 85-57 in Lubbock during the 2012-13 season and 79-58 during the 2013-14 season.
Texas Tech overview: After turning around Arkansas State and North Texas, Grant McCasland led the Red Raiders to 23 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth last season and may pull off a similar finish this time. TTU went 9-2 during a weak nonconference schedule, beating Syracuse and DePaul but losing to St. Joseph’s and Texas A&M. So far in Big 12 play, they are curiously 3-0 on the road and 0-2 at home, where they lost to UCF in a conference opener and to Iowa State in overtime on Jan. 11. TTU swept a road swing at Utah and BYU, while also winning 61-57 on Tuesday at Kansas State.
TTU runs the nation’s 10th-most efficient offense mostly by going through post players Darrion Williams and JT Toppin, while often kicking it out to perimeter shooters Chance McMillian (48.1% from 3) and Christian Anderson (40.7%). Point guard Elijah Hawkins is also a long-range threat, taking half of his shots from 3-point range and hitting them at a 38.5% rate.
Inside, Toppin has the 10th-best offensive rebounding percentage in Division I, collecting TTU’s missed shots 17.2% of the time when he’s on the floor, while he and Williams do a lot of damage getting to the free throw line. Williams draws 4.5 fouls per 40 minutes and hits 83.1% of his resulting free throws.
He said it: “They're a pretty paint-dominant team. They like to post up (Toppin) and Darrion Williams, he's a problem. He's kind of in that Jaime Jaquez mold. They run a lot of stuff for him, like postups, and they'll also give him the ball and put him in a ball screen. They have a diverse offense. I think the shooters kind of play off of those two but they are great shooters — their point guard, Hawkins, (while) McMillian, and the freshman guard that comes off the bench, Anderson, is also a great shooter. So it’s a great challenge for us.
“I think you’ve got to first take away their bread and butter, scoring in the paint. We’re lucky we’ve got some solid five men on our side who all bring different things. We really got to showcase that against Baylor, especially with Trey (Townsend), he was able to guard their big guy. So it starts there, and the more one-on-one we can play and stay out of rotations, it will be a big benefit for us.
“(Toppin) loves to shoot with his left hand. He loves to dribble with his left hand and drive with his left hand. He’s able to score in the post, but also score as a roller, a deep roll or even a short roll. Those are going to be all great challenges for us to find a way to contain him, and he’s a great offensive rebounder.
“In the beginning of the possession, (Hawkins) is more of a setup guy ... just making sure everybody's in the right position, and everybody's getting the ball where they're supposed to be getting the ball. But later in the possession, he gets really aggressive. He's really, really quick. Not the biggest guy, but super quick. He can drive you off the dribble and and he can shoot off catches, shoot 3s, too. We definitely can't sleep on him.
“(Walton) is more of a utility guy. He'll shoot and catch 3s but when he's in the game, he's usually the primary screen setter, setting screens for Williams and (other) guards. McMillian is more of a focal point of the offense. He’s a shooter and he’s really, really quick. They run stuff for him to get shots off. And sneaky thing about him is he's a great offensive rebounder. He ends up in the corner a lot and gets a lot of rebounds diving from the corner.
“(Anderson) is kind of a hybrid of Hawkins and McMillian. He's their backup point guard. But Hawkins plays so much that (Anderson) ends up playing like the two guard, and McMillian at the three. Anderson is a sniper. He can shoot off catches, shoot 3s, he can shoot 3s off the dribble. So we definitely want to make him drive.”
“Defensively, they go man and mix up the coverages with their five man. They don't really switch much, and they're heavy gap team. I think their main principle is just to protect the paint because they're always in there trying to get steals and deflections.” — UA assistant coach Ken Nakagawa, who scouted the Bears
Key players
Texas Tech — Darrion Williams
The protagonist in the matchup nightmares of most TTU opponents, Williams was the Red Raiders’ top returning scorer last season and is now doing a little bit of everything this season, leading them in scoring (15.8) and assists (4.3) in Big 12 games while he’s also one of three players with a team-high 5.4 rebound average.
Texas Tech guard Darrion Williams passes the ball as Kansas forward Parker Braun, left, and guard Elmarko Jackson, center, defend during the first half of a 2023-24 game in Lubbock, Texas.
Arizona — Trey Townsend
A center of sorts by necessity during his Oakland career, the Wildcats’ fifth-year transfer has quietly made strides defensively under the basket while guarding bigger guys at an even higher level. He’ll likely be asked to chase Williams all over the place Saturday.
Arizona Wildcats forward Trey Townsend (4) defends Eastern New Mexico’s Jaden Clarke in the second half during an exhibition game at McKale Center on Oct. 21. Arizona won 117-54.
Sidelines
Krivas starts rehab
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas didn't make the Wildcats’ trip to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State because he is continuing with a rehabilitation program that started after he had ankle surgery earlier this month in New York.
Arizona did not announce Krivas’ surgery but it had been widely expected after he was declared out for the season earlier this month. Krivas had accompanied the team to Cincinnati for its Jan. 4 game with the Bearcats, then took off for New York while the Wildcats played West Virginia on Jan. 7.
Krivas is expected to be fully recovered by the summer, and his injury actually increases the odds that he will return to play for the Wildcats next season.
Krivas went into this season as a projected first-round NBA Draft pick by ESPN, but started feeling pain in his left foot/ankle area in August with what appeared to be a stress-related injury. He then missed most of the preseason and, after playing in the Wildcats’ first eight games, started sitting out for good before UA played UCLA on Dec. 14.
Lewis’ homecoming
While KJ Lewis set a goal of playing for the Wildcats as a 10-year-old at Mesquite Elementary School in Vail, he’ll actually be going almost home this weekend.
Lewis said he moved from the Tucson area in fourth grade, then lived in Midland, Texas, just over 100 miles south of Lubbock, until eighth grade. After that, Lewis attended high school in El Paso before spending his senior year in the Dallas area, giving him plenty of Lone Star cred.
“I’m a West Texas kid,” Lewis said.
As such, Lewis said he expects to have about 50 friends and family attending Saturday’s game, many of whom will be driving north from Midland, where Lewis said his mother, grandmother and cousins from that side of the family still live.
Exhibitions could get tougher
A new NCAA rule announced this week allowing Division I teams to play any other four-year school for up to two exhibitions could increase the Wildcats’ preseason competition — and the value of Arizona season tickets.
Through this season, Division I teams weren’t allowed to play each other in exhibitions unless proceeds were given to charity, and the NCAA now says D-I teams can play any other four-year school and divide the revenue as they wish.
Arizona usually has faced two Division II opponents for its exhibition games, which are included in the school-minimum 18-game season ticket packages. However, it’s too early to tell if UA will face other D-I teams during the next preseason.
“We had a 30-second conversation on it” Thursday, Lloyd said. “We're 100% focused on this road trip, so we didn't make any phone calls or talk about potential, but I do appreciate the flexibility. I think you should have some flexibility because as a coach, you'd like a little freedom to do what's best for your program, to prepare your team for the season.”
Numbers game
3.193: Arizona’s team grade-point average in fall 2024, the highest in recorded program history.
32: Texas Tech’s ranking in Division I experience, a Kenpom measure of the average number of full D-1 seasons played by the current roster, weighted by minutes played.
68: Years since Arizona and Texas Tech played a conference game against each other (a Border Conference affair at Lubbock in 1956-57).
— Bruce Pascoe
