I was at the Texas Tech-Arizona State game on Tuesday night, and I didn’t want to believe that JT Toppin’s injury was that serious.
Unfortunately, it was. And it overshadowed a solid night of Big 12 basketball that featured a matchup of Top 25 teams in Arizona and BYU.
Toppin tore his ACL in the second half, the second torn ACL suffered by a high-profile Big 12 men’s player in four days. BYU’s Richie Saunders tore his over the weekend. As Saunders’ injury dampens BYU’s hopes in the NCAA Tournament, the same could be said for Toppin’s.
Meanwhile, there were three men’s games and a solid slate of women’s games to choose from on Wednesday night. Here are takeaways from the night, including my analysis on Toppin’s injury, his future and Tech’s title hopes at the end.
Arizona’s Depth Shows Up
Arizona is going through it, too. Koa Peat is out for the next week with a lower body injury he suffered against Texas Tech last weekend. Dwayne Aristode was out due to an illness for the second straight game. The Wildcats were trying to snap a two-game losing streak as BYU came into McKale without Saunders.
I’ve maintained that one of the reasons Arizona is a national title contender is because it’s a deep team. If one player is out or isn’t sharp, another tends to step up. Well without Peat, the Wildcats leaned into their guards, with Anthoy Dell’Orso scoring 22 points and Ivan Kharchenkov scoring 18 points in a 75-68 victory over BYU.
The pair also combined for six 3-pointers while Brayden Burries added a trio of 3-pointers for 11 points. Guard Jaden Bradley had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. When you’re that balanced you can overcome an injury like Peat’s.
Without Saunders, BYU had to get creative with its defense. The Cougars packed the paint, mixed in some zone and did everything possible to frustrate Arizona inside. It’s part of the reason the Wildcats committed to the perimeter. But unlike Arizona, BYU does not have much scoring depth beyond AJ Dybansta and Robert Wright III and it’s why the Cougars may lose in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Saunders was that important.
Dybansta had 33 points. Wright had 13. Kennard Davis Jr. added 10 points. The rest of the Cougars had 10 points combined. That won’t get BYU far in the Dance.
Still, the Cougars nearly made it a one-possession game before Mo Krivas poked the ball away from Wright on a drive and Dell’Orso dunked it on the other end.
Arizona got its footing back after losing Peat on Saturday. Aristode could be back Saturday for the Houston game. In a league where no one feels sorry for you, the Wildcats showed there’s no reason to. They’ll figure it out. They showed how on Wednesday.
By the way, why was Boban Marjanović in Tucson? And why was he playing triangle in the Arizona band?
West Virginia’s Horrible Timing
I’ll be diving into the bubble hopes of four Big 12 teams on Thursday. One is West Virginia, which isn’t in the NCAA Tournament field per ESPN but is one of the teams that is Next Four Out. The Mountaineers are on the bubble, and they have a pathway to the Dance.
Or maybe they HAD a path. Everything was set up for the Mountaineers to claim a win over Utah, which had won one league contest. The game was in Morgantown. Just go play your game.
Utah was up 18-3 early in the game. The Utes had a 15-point lead early in the second half and despite a frenetic WVU comeback, the Mountaineers lost, 61-56. It wasn’t their night. One play encapsulated it.
With six seconds left, the Mountaineers had everything fall into place to tie the game. They fouled Utah’s Seydou Traore, who missed the front end of a one-and-one. West Virginia’s Jasper Floyd grabbed the rebound and tried to pass it to Honor Huff. But Floyd threw it well past Huff and out of bounds. That was the Mountaineers’ last realistic chance to tie.
it was a bad night to have a bad night. One of the things the Mountaineers had going for them was that they didn’t have a single Quad 3 or Quad 4 loss per NCAA NET. That is, until losing to Utah. That was a Quad 3 loss at home. I’ll write more on Thursday about how much that may have damaged WVU’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
The Path is Clear for TCU Women
We’ll get into Big 12 Tournament seeding scenarios for the women later this week, as there are three games left in the regular season. But the path is now clear for TCU to claim the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed.
TCU beat Houston, 72-50. At the same time, Texas Tech blew out Baylor, 87-56, in Lubbock, a result that really surprised me considering the Lady Raiders beat the Bears by a point in their first matchup in December.
Those results put the Horned Frogs one game clear of the field with three games left. Now, TCU still must play Baylor in the season finale. But TCU can repeat its regular season title and claim the No. 1 seed if it wins out.
Meanwhile, Addy Brown is back for Iowa State and the Cyclones blew out Arizona State. She started and only had six points. But the Cyclones are healthy and that could be a problem for everyone in March. She was clearly emotional about her return after the game.
The JT Toppin Fallout
First, there’s the rest of Texas Tech’s season. Toppin and guard Christian Anderson are magic together. One without the other is tough. But I think I can make the case that Toppin is more important. ESPN Insights made it for me.
That’s great company. Without Toppin I think we can remove the Red Raiders from national title contention. He’s that important to what they do every night. Texas Tech will still make the NCAA Tournament. But I can see them not getting out of the first weekend now. Who’s going to fill Toppin’s shoes? That’s what head coach Grant McCasland must figure out the next few weeks.
As for Toppin’s future, his career isn’t over. Plenty of players have come back from ACL tears and had productive college and professional careers. The decision ahead is whether to take his chances and submit his name for the NBA Draft, knowing it’s a risk he won’t get drafted, or return to college and either redshirt or play late next season.
From my perspective there’s really no decision. There’s too much risk in going to the NBA now. Toppin’s best path is to return to Tech — he has a year of eligibility remaining — rehab and return to the Red Raiders in the second half of next season. It gives him a chance to prove to scouts he’s fully recovered and gives McCasland and his staff to build a roster that can play with — and without — Toppin effectively.
