The Big 12 Conference got another shot on a national stage as one of its ranked teams took on another ranked team from a power conference.
The Top 25 showdown between No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 14 Illinois in Champaign, Ill., was the marquee game of the night and it didn’t disappoint, even though the Red Raiders didn’t get off to a great start.
Six men’s teams were in action on Tuesday while four women’s teams were in action, too, including a West Virginia team that is looking really good to start the season.
JT TOPPIN IS THE MAN
No. 11 Texas Tech got its first shot at a ranked team on Tuesday but lost to No. 14 Illinois, 81-77. The loss stung, certainly. But the performance of forward JT Toppin certainly didn’t.
What a game. He scored 35 points on 17-of-25 shooting, including 24 points in a near-perfect second half, along with 11 rebounds along with three assists and three blocked shots. Toppin has put up great numbers since he got to Tech. But this felt like a game where he had to strap the Red Raiders to his back. They were down 13 at the half and roared back behind Toppin and LeJuan Watts, who added 21 points.
Tech’s numbers looked good on paper. The Red Raiders shot 53% for the game, including 75% from the free-throw line. Tech held its own on the defensive boards (23 each) and outscored Illinois inside, 52-46. Tech also had 20 assists to Illinois’ five.
Given Tech’s furious comeback in the second half, the final minutes turned into one of those “run out of gas” moments. Tech led the game with 8:44 left on a 3-pointer from Watts, 65-64. From there, the Illini outscored the Red Raiders, 17-12. It was just enough to sneak away with the win.
There was plenty to like in the loss. One thing not to like was Christian Anderson going 0-for-6 at the 3-point line and the Red Raiders shooting 22% from the arc. Anderson will likely have a night like that on occasion. But he still had eight points and dished out a team-high 11 assists. He made an impact regardless. I still like Tech as a prime Big 12 contender. In the final analysis this will likely be a Quad 1 road loss, which won’t hurt the Red Raiders in the NCAA Tournament.
WEST VIRGINIA ROLLS
I got some time to check out West Virginia’s women for the first half before sliding over to watch Texas Tech (after Michigan-Wake Forest wrapped things up). Some of the names may have changed, but the Mountaineers are still the same.
Defense won the day in the 89-61 win over Temple. But that’s how WVU rolls — defense creates offense. Temple turned the ball over 19 times, WVU scored 24 points off those turnovers and shot 53% from the floor, some of that the result of easy shots created by those turnovers. The Mountaineers also connected on 10 3-pointers. WVU also set the tone by taking a 19-11 lead after the first quarter as Temple led the game for less than three minutes.
Life without JJ Quinerly will get more difficult. But, for now, WVU is distributing the ball with great balance. Sydney Shaw and Gia Cooke had 16 points each, Riley Makalusky came off the bench for 12 points and Jordan Thomas added 10 points. Jordan Harrison added nine points, but the guard had four rebounds and seven assists.
I suspect the Mountaineers will be in the Top 25 soon, especially if they keep winning. Beating Duke on Friday would make it a cinch.
ANOTHER ARIZONA FRESHMAN
The talk in Tucson is about Koa Peat, the talented freshman who had an incredible debut last week against Florida. But he’s not the only freshman on the Arizona Wildcats that can play.
The latest to make an impression was 6-foot-8 forward Dwayne Aristode, who played six minutes against Florida and didn’t score a point. He graduated to 23 minutes against Utah Tech last week and scored seven points.
On Tuesday against Northern Arizona, he played 25 minutes off the bench and scored 18 points in an 84-49 victory to push the Wildcats to 3-0.
The advantage of these buy games is it gives coaches a chance to play more players and work out rotations. Chances are, Aristode isn’t going to play much against high major teams right now, and the Florida game was evidence. But, as he gets more run against teams like Utah Tech and NAU, he’s showing he can score at this level and that builds confidence. Building that can help Arizona in Big 12 play.
Which brings us to Arizona’s next game — against UCLA on Friday night on Peacock. This will be a great opportunity to see if Aristode’s progress leads to more playing time.
