During the final years of the Pac-12, by this point in the season Arizona would have already faced a few teams more than once. But in the age of super conferences, even a 20-game league schedule doesn’t provide many rematch opportunities.
When the 20th-ranked Wildcats (16-6, 10-1 Big 12) host No. 13 Texas Tech (18-4, 9-2) it will be the first time they’re facing someone for the second time in league play. They played West Virginia twice, but the first was at the Battle4Atlantis.
And it just so happens to be the only team the UA has lost to in the Big 12. The Red Raiders beat Arizona 70-54 in Lubbock on Jan. 18, and since then neither team has taken an L with Tech riding a 7-game win streak.
This will be the 12th time under Tommy Lloyd that Arizona gets a chance at revenge. It is 10-1 in those games, the only loss coming to Washington State last season, but this year it has already avenged a loss to West Virginia.
It’s also the seventh ranked opponent on the UA’s schedule, fifth in Big 12 play. The Wildcats only faced three ranked Pac-12 teams over the previous two seasons, and the five in conference play is their most since having six in 2008-09.
Here’s what to watch for when Arizona and Texas Tech battle on Saturday night (8:30 p.m. MT tip) on ESPN:
An actual familiar foe
Up to this point in Big 12 play, Arizona has gone into scouting the upcoming opponent in most cases with little to no prior knowledge of their play. Even fellow Pac-12 alumni ASU and Colorado had vastly different rosters from a year ago, but at least the coaches were still the same.
When the UA prepared for Texas Tech the first time it was going in mostly cold, and Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland may have had an advantage since when and Lloyd worked together on Team USA last summer it was Lloyd’s Arizona plays that the U18 squad were running.
Now the playing field is a little more level.
“I think the more times you play somebody, the more comfortable you get,” he said. “I think both teams now have a little more familiarity, just hands on experience. You kind of have an idea what worked for you and didn’t work, and your opponent does as well. You understand these are good programs, good coaches. And most good programs, good coaches kind of do things a certain way over an extended period of time. So I think you just get a little more comfortable.”
Lloyd said preparation for this game included a mix of watching the previous matchup but also what Tech has done in the five games since. Like Arizona, those are all wins, but as impressive as the Wildcats have been of late the Red Raiders have looked just as good, if not better.
“They’re probably the most disciplined team in the conference,” Lloyd said. “They don’t make mistakes, they’re really sound, and they’re very deliberate in what they do and organized. When you have a team that has discipline and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and gets to the things they want to, they’re going to give themselves a chance to win on the night to night basis, and that’s what they’ve been doing.”
Texas Tech has the only wins in Big 12 play over Arizona and co-leader Houston, whom it beat in overtime on the road last Saturday. The Red Raiders are 5-0 in league road games, while the UA is the only school yet to lose a Big 12 game at home.
About last time
Arizona shot a season-low 31 percent in Lubbock, the second-lowest rate of the Lloyd era, including 27.6 percent in the second half. Yet with five minutes to go the Wildcats only trailed 57-54.
They wouldn’t score the rest of the way, with Texas Tech finishing on a 13-0 run during which it hit 4 of 6 shots. Before that the Red Raiders were only shooting 33 percent and their 26.1 percent from 3 was their third-lowest of the season.
“It was kind of a game where maybe neither team felt like they played great,” Lloyd said. “They kind of were able to kind of control the game in the second half with a little bit of a lead. We tried to hang in there, and we did hang in there. The last four minutes or so got away from us a little bit. I necessarily don’t feel like we’re a drastically different team, hopefully we’re a better team. It’s been a few weeks, and we’ve had a lot of experiences and a lot of opportunities and practice our habits.”
The most glaring stat from that game was on the boards, with Tech finishing plus-16 overall and plus-8 on the offensive glass. Since then the Wildcats have won that battle in every game, including by 14 at ASU and 15 at BYU, and leads the conference in rebounding margin.
As far as the way that game ended, that continued a monthlong trend of finishing poorly, either by blowing big leads to UCLA and Cincinnati or having large margins shrink down the stretch.
Since then, however, Arizona has outscored its opponents 55-49 over the final five minutes of regulation.
Bench battle
Arizona’s backups are averaging nearly 28 points per game, and on Thursday Henri Veesaar was recognized by the Big 12 for his play off the bench in wins at AYU and BYU. Texas Tech is getting solid contributions from its three main bench players, too, with the Red Raiders winning that battle 21-14 in their first meeting.
Veesaar, KJ Lewis and Carter Bryant all have better plus/minus scores than starters Tobe Awaka, Anthony Dell’Orso and Trey Townsend, but Lloyd has no plans to adjust his lineup.
“I honestly have not put one ounce of thought into that,” he said. “I like where we’re at, I like the options they give us. I think we’re pretty settled. Our bench is really important to me, and it’s something I really value. As you get in these games and you’re trying to figure out what’s working, what’s not working, what gives you the best opportunity to win, you give guys opportunities, and you watch them play, and then you make kind of decisions on maybe how you’re going to sub or lineups you’re going to play in the second half based off of live action in that game. I think all those guys off the bench have had incredible moments and been, for the most part, really consistent.”
Veesaar was scoreless in 14 minutes against Texas Tech but since is averaging 9.8 points and shooting 65.5 percent.
Going the other direction is Dell’Orso, who had 20 against Colorado on Jan. 25 with six 3-pointers but in the three games since is 0 for 7 from 3 and has scored a total of six points.
“He’s finding his way,” Lloyd said. “He has moments where you feel like he’s really broken through. He has moments where he’s had some struggles. I mean, that’s part of it. We’re hanging with him. That’s what we do. I always feel like the next shot Delly shoots is going in. I know maybe he’s had some challenges on the defensive end here and there, but I don’t think he’s running away from those either. We’re going to continue to put him in position to be successful and we have faith at the end of the day that’s going to pay off for him and for us.”