Published Dec 31, 2024
RECAP: Arizona starts the Big 12 season off with a 90-81 win over TCU
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Troy Hutchison  •  GOAZCATS
Staff Writer
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@THutch1995

Monday night marked the inaugural game in the Big 12 conference with a opening home game against TCU. The Wildcats were able to jump out to a 20-8 lead thabks to a quick 10 points from start guard Caleb Love. From that point on UA never looked back and secured it's first win in its new conference locking things down 90-81 against the Horned Frogs.

After struggling during the non-conference season, Love had his best game of the year against TCU scoring a season-high 33 points while going 11 of 17 from the field.

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Not only was Love able to make an impact with his ability to put the ball in the hoop but he stuffed the stat-sheet adding seven rebounds, seven assists and two steal to his elite-level performance.

Love had seven assists to zero turnovers in the game. It was his best assists to turnover game of the season.

As a team, Arizona had its third-straight game with high assist numbers racking up 28 as a unit.

Arizona struggled to move the ball as a team during most of the non-conference, which has been a staple of Tommy Lloyd led teams. However, over the last three games now, the Wildcats have stacked up 79 assists to 31 tunovers for a ratio of 2.55 assists to one tunover.

It wasn't just Love that got in the act Monday night as it was somewhat of a coming out party for foward Henri Veesaar, who was averaging 6.2 points per game going into the night.

Veesaar dropped 15 points while totaling six rebounds and four assists. It was an efficient effort as he went 6 of 7 from the field with his only miss being a 3-point shot.

Although giving up 81 points on paper and allowing your opponent to shoot 46% from the field doesn't look good, the defensive effort was a scrappy, gritty and hard fought from start to finish.

Arizona extended its defense at the perimeter with Love, KJ Lewis and Carter Bryant getting their hands in the passing lane. The Wildcats managed to cause eight tunrovers, which led to 15 points on the other end.

Plus, it helped the team getting out into transition with Arizona scoring 15 points in the fastbreak.

However, at the end of the day, Arizona had its bread buttered in the paint by winning 34-29 on the glass and dominating 42-34 in points in the paint.

The Wildcats will now hit the road in a game against No. 16 Cincinnati with a tip off time set for 12:30 p.m. (MST) on ESPN2.

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