Arizona Wildcats Beats TCU to Claim Victory in Inaugural Big 12 Game
The Arizona Wildcats won their first Big 12 Conference men’s basketball game as they outlasted the TCU Horned Frogs, 90-81 at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday night.
The victory allowed the Wildcats (7-5, 1-0 in Big 12) to extend their winning streak to four games. It also gave Arizona its first win over a high-major team this season. The Wildcats were 0-5 in those games during non-conference action, including a loss to new Big 12 rival West Virginia.
TCU (7-5, 0-1) entered the game having won two straight games, but lost one of their leading scorers, Frankie Collins, for the season in a loss to Vanderbilt three weeks ago.
Arizona got off to an incredible start after the opening tip, building its biggest lead 10 minutes into the game, 24-10, thanks to a shooting clip at 60%.
But, that shooting tapered off and the Horned Frogs, who got off to a bad shooting start, began to warm up and trim the lead. By halftime, Arizona had just a four-point lead, 41-37.
The Horned Frogs were never able to take the lead because while Arizona’s shooting percentage didn’t taper off much. The Wildcats finished the game shooting 57% from the floor, 32% from the 3-point line and 81% from the free-throw line.
Both teams maximized each other’s mistakes and neither made many. Arizona committed seven turnovers and TCU committed eight. Arizona scores 15 points off turnovers and TCU scored 16 points off turnovers.
Leading that charge was guard Caleb Love, who scored a season-high 33 points. He also had seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Henri Veesaar scored 15 points and missed just one shot from the floor. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists. Jaden Bradley added 10 points and six assists.
KJ Lewis, who scored eight points, also had a season-high eight assists.
Noah Reynolds led the Horned Frogs with 23 points, along with a team-high seven assists. Center Ernest Udeh Jr. had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds.
Vasean Allette poured in 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and had a team-high two steals. Micah Robinson added 10 points off the bench.
With the victory, the Wildcats improved to 43-1 when they scored 90 or more points under coach Tommy Lloyd.
The Wildcats will host No. 16 Cincinnati on Saturday. The Bearcats lost their Big 12 opener on Tuesday to Kansas State.
