Caleb Love helps Arizona topple short-handed Texas Tech in Big 12 semifinals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Caleb Love scored 27 points and Arizona took advantage of injuries that left Texas Tech short-handed for an 86-80 victory over the No. 9 Red Raiders in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals Friday night.

COMING IN HOT!

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/MPsppTCtcS

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 15, 2025

KJ Lewis added 15 points and Henri Veesaar scored eight of his 10 in the closing minutes for the Wildcats (22-11), who advanced to the championship game against No. 2 Houston on Saturday night in their first season in their new league.

2 down. pic.twitter.com/UJcn44kR6I

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 15, 2025

Kevin Overton had 20 points and Christian Anderson scored 19 for the Red Raiders (25-8), who played without Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams because of injuries, and then watched star forward JT Toppin throw up in the arena tunnel.

Toppin made it through the game, but the All-Big 12 forward managed just 11 points in 25 minutes.

Compounding problems short-handed Texas Tech, point guard Elijah Hawkins picked up his fourth foul with 14:56 to go, leaving coach Grant McCasland with precious few options on his bench in the second half.

The Red Raiders trailed by as much as 14 before nevertheless mounting a comeback, closing to 78-74 on two free throws by Anderson with 2:40 to go. Veesaar answered with back-to-back baskets and Arizona held on from there.

Love, who tied his second-most points in a game this season, said postgame that his shot really fed off the “energy of the game.”

“I started off hot, but I just wanted to give that spark to my team. I knew they were going to follow up with that,” Love said. “I had it going, but as the game was flowing KJ chipped in, big numbers from Trey, and, you know, it went on from there.”

Takeaways

Arizona: The Wildcats were 8 of 16 from beyond the 3-point arc and shot 51% from the field overall.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders couldn’t overcome the fact that their three leading scorers were ill or absent. McMillian missed the second half of its quarterfinal win with what the school called an “upper body strain,” while Williams was wearing a walking boot on his right foot after he appeared to aggravate an injury that has bothered him the last few weeks against the Bears.

Key moment

Veesaar was quiet until the closing minutes, when the 7-footer made a series of big baskets.

Key stat

The Red Raiders were missing a combined 28.5 points per game with McMillian and Williams unavailable.

Up next

Arizona will play Houston for the Big 12 Tournament title.

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