It was a late night in Big 12 basketball on Wednesday, with TCU and BYU closing the book on the evening well after midnight on the east coast.
For those college basketball tastemakers on the east coast that stayed up late, they got a good one. The Horned Frogs and the Cougars played a fun one, with BYU pulling away at the end. The Horned Frogs haven’t won in Provo since 1997. Yikes.
The No. 1 Arizona Wildcats were also in action at home, taking on in-state rival Arizona State and that one went down to the wire, too. The Wildcats started slowly and were bailed out by their scintillating sixth man, Tobe Awaka.
Men’s Results
UCF 82, TCU 73
Cincinnati 77, Colorado 68
Texas Tech 88, Utah 74
Arizona 89, Arizona State 82
BYU 76, TCU 70
Women
TCU 51, West Virginia 50
Oklahoma State 85, Kansas 76
Cincinnati 63, UCF 59 (OT)
Baylor 61, Utah 45
Colorado 68, Iowa State 62
Here are three thoughts on Tuesday’s action.
That Awaka Energy
It’s safe to say that the Arizona Wildcats don’t beat the Arizona State Sun Devils without forward Toba Awaka.
Koa Peat got off to a slow start. Brayden Burries had trouble scoring all night. Big man Motiejus Krivas was in foul trouble most of the game. So Awaka, who has settled into a sixth man role, stepped up big time.
While his teammates struggled and the Sun Devils played a great first half, Awaka thrived. He scored, he defended, he protected the rum and he avoided mistakes. By game’s end he had a career-high 25 points, five rebounds and one blocked shots.
His value showed up in the first half, when he scored 15 points. Peat started the game 1-for-6 from the floor and Burries had one basket. The Sun Devils led most of the first half, but it was a slim lead. That lead was slim because of Awaka, who was a consistent force the entire half.
The Wildcats picked things up in the second half. At one point Arizona made 11 straight field goals and Peat revived his offensive game, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
The emergence of Peat and Burries, both freshmen, threaten to siphon off his playing time. But head coach Tommy Lloyd knows Awaka’s value. The energy he brings, the two-way ability he possesses and the “I’ll do whatever is asked of me” attitude makes him a prime candidate to be the league’s Sixth Man of the Year in March.
He’s another reason why Arizona is one of three remaining undefeated teams — and why the Wildcats were able to withstand a solid performance from their in-state rival. The Sun Devils made it close, too. They had it down to a three-point lead inside of a minute. But Arizona’s Jaden Bradley hit a huge basket inside of 30 seconds to push the lead back to five points. That was the game.
But Awaka was the one that helped the Wildcats get there.
Texas Tech’s Supporting Cast
Once again, JT Toppin and Christian Anderson had huge games for Texas Tech. Toppin blew up for 31 points and 13 rebounds. He even had seven assists. Like Toppin, Anderson had a double-double with 26 points and 10 assists.
We’re used to the pair having big games. But how far Texas Tech can go this season will depend on the case around them. That means leaning on the other three starters — LeJuan Watts, Jaylen Petty and Donovan Atwell. They combined for 29 points and Atwell drained four 3-pointers.
For the season the trio is averaging about 35 points per game. But I was curious about how the trio are doing in Big 12 play after four games:
Watts: 11 ppg
Petty: 12 ppg
Atwell: 14.25 ppg
That’s a combined 28.5 ppg in four Big 12 games. Atwell is the only one that has been in double figures in each game, though Watts and Petty have hit double figures in five combined games. I think that’s a solid average, especially with Toppin and Anderson averaging a combined 40 points per game. That complementary basketball will make a difference in March.
Oh, and the students are truly back in Lubbock. Can’t wait till Saturday when they face BYU. I’ll be there.
TCU Women Proves Something
For most of the season, the TCU Horned Frogs have looked dominant. But, since that loss on the road to Utah, the Horned Frogs had a three-game gauntlet against some of the top teams in the league. If the goal was to prove TCU could bounce back from that loss to the Utes, then mission accomplished.
The stretch started with an eight-point win over Oklahoma State last week, followed by blowing out Arizona State. Both games were at home, however. Wednesday’s game with West Virginia was on the road, however, and it turned into a big test for the Horned Frogs. The Mountaineers were coming off a big road win at Iowa State. The game went down to the wire.
West Virginia’s Jordan Harrison gave the Mountaineers the lead with two seconds left with a jumper. TCU took a time out to advance the ball and then TCU’s Marta Suarez did this as the buzzer sounded.
This was an atypical game for TCU. Olivia Miles led with 14 points, but she didn’t score a point in the fourth quarter. WVU forced TCU into 24 turnovers and scored 22 points off them. West Virginia even outrebounded TCU by six, significant given the Horned Frogs’ height advantage.
Yet, TCU won by forcing WVU into 23 turnovers, scoring 20 points off those turnovers and holding the Mountaineers to 28% shooting, including 13% from the 3-point line.
Getting out of Morgantown with a win is hard. That kind of defensive effort made it a bit easier for TCU and is something to build on later this season.
By the way, Iowa State lost its fourth straight game and Colorado picked up a win that could help them at NCAA Tournament time — assuming Iowa State gets things turned around.
