Latest news with #Awaka
USA Today
25-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Vols advance to Sweet 16 in 2025 March Madness
Former Vols advance to Sweet 16 in 2025 March Madness Two former Tennessee basketball players advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament with their new teams. Tobe Awaka and Arizona defeated Oregon, 87-83, in the second round at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. Awaka started for the Wildcats and totaled 12 points, 14 rebounds, one steal and one block. He played for the Vols from 2022-24. In two seasons with the Vols, Awaka appeared in 69 games. As a sophomore in 35 contests, he averaged 5.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game. In his first year at Tennessee, Awaka averaged 3.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest in 34 games. He was the Vols' leading rebounder in five contests and led Tennessee in blocks during four games. This season with the Wildcats, Awaka is averaging 8.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 0.7 points per game, while posting a .644 field goal percentage. Arizona will play Duke on Thursday at 9:39 p.m. EDT in the Sweet 16. The game will be contested at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Predicting winners for all Sweet 16 games Jonas Aidoo and Arkansas will play Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 10:09 p.m. EDT at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. Arkansas defeated St. John's, 75-66, Saturday at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island. Aidoo started for the Razorbacks and recorded seven points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block against St. John's. Aidoo played for the Vols from 2021-24. During his final season at Tennessee, he appeared in 36 games, including 36 starts. Aidoo was named First-Team All-SEC by the Associated Press. He received second-team all-conference honors by the league's coaches and was also named to the SEC All-Defensive Team. The former Vol averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.0 assist per game. This season with the Razorbacks, Aidoo is averaging 6.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game, while posting a .569 field goal percentage.
Miami Herald
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Caleb Love carries No. 4 Arizona past No. 5 Oregon
Caleb Love scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half and made several vital plays down the stretch to help fourth-seeded Arizona put away fifth-seeded Oregon 87-83 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night in Seattle. Love shot 6-for-7 with four 3-pointers in the second half and scored 10 straight Arizona points in crunch time to ensure the Wildcats (24-12) would beat their former Pac-12 rivals. They will face No. 1 Duke in the East Region semifinals on Thursday. "God gave me that ability to step up in those moments and my teammates back here, they trust in me," Love said. "I gotta step up for them and everything. I give my credit to them." Tobe Awaka collected 12 points and 14 rebounds for Arizona, which reached the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years under coach Tommy Lloyd. KJ Lewis, Anthony Dell'Orso and Jaden Bradley all finished with 12 points as well. Jackson Shelstad led Oregon (25-10) with 25 points, TJ Bamba had 17 and Nate Bittle paired 16 points with 11 boards. The Ducks squandered a 19-4 head start, fell behind before halftime and could not land the final blow after making it a one-possession game again. "Arizona did the things necessary to win the game," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "They outrebounded us, hit their free throws, and just made the adjustments that they had to to win the game. "Proud of our guys. They fought their tails off. We got down 11 in the second half and fought back. We put ourself in a position to maybe make a comeback." Love stormed in for a dunk with 2:37 left for a seven-point lead, and he added a trey to make it 80-73, but the Ducks weren't done. Arizona attempted and fumbled an alley-oop dunk and Oregon quickly took it the other way for a 3-pointer by Keeshawn Barthelemy. Arizona big man Henri Veesaar missed two free throws, and Bittle cut the deficit to two on a hook shot with 49 seconds left. The teams played free throw cat-and-mouse the rest of the way. Oregon twice got within one point, but Bradley, Dell'Orso and Love went a combined 7-for-8 at the line in the final 21 seconds. After Arizona led 42-38 at intermission, Awaka made two buckets early in the second half, and Love and Dell'Orso combined on an 8-0 run to give Arizona a 54-43 cushion. Awaka scored one more time before picking up his third foul and subbing out. Oregon took advantage and clawed back, drawing within 56-52 on Shelstad's third 3-pointer with 14:18 to play. Awaka got his fourth foul at the 8:40 mark and exited again, and Oregon twice pulled within three points before Shelstad made a long 2-pointer that cut it to 72-70. Love answered by drilling a trey on the next possession, starting his personal run. Arizona shot 1-for-6 with three turnovers in the opening five minutes while allowing three 3-pointers. Shelstad and Kwame Evans Jr. scored back-to-back fastbreak layups off takeaways, and when Evans scored around Carter Bryant with 14:49 still on the clock, it was 19-4 Ducks. The Wildcats didn't panic, as one-sided as it looked. "First off, you needed to relax in that media timeout," Lloyd told sideline reporter Andy Katz postgame. "I think we were down 14 eight minutes into the game, and we knew we were fine. Hey, we're a 'So what? Now what' type of team." Bradley stemmed the tide with a 3-pointer, the first of four Arizona treys that helped stoke a comeback. A 9-0 Wildcats run capped by Love's triple trimmed it to 26-23, and after Oregon scored a quick five, Arizona embarked on another nine-point stretch to take its first lead at 32-31. --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
New York Times
21-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How to watch Arizona vs. Akron: Odds, storylines for men's NCAA Tournament matchup
The Arizona Wildcats may not be built for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament this year, but they should at least make it through the first round as near 15-point favorites over the Akron Zips. We've got a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the matchup, plus odds and viewing info. Our game previews are a collaborative effort between The Athletic staff, The Field of 68 and Brad Evans' The Gaming Juice. Own your bracket pool with The Athletic Projecting the bracket | Best picks to win the title | Best bracket names Strengths: Generally speaking, you know what you're going to get out of a Tommy Lloyd-coached team. It's going to push in transition and look for early post seals, and if that fails, it's going to run some ball-screen continuity action until it can get a good shot. When center Motiejus Krivas (foot surgery) was lost for the season, the Wildcats didn't have a low-post presence to lean on. Enter Henri Veesaar and Tobe Awaka, their thunder and lightning duo at the five. Awaka is the physical, offensive-rebounding hoss, while Veesaar is a rim-running, floor-spacing five. With that duo, a potent backcourt and the emergence of potential lottery pick Carter Bryant, U of A has a lot of different ways to score. Advertisement Weaknesses: Arizona feels a bit like a team without an identity. On paper, the group doesn't look all that different from Lloyd's first three years in Tucson when the Wildcats won the Pac-12 twice and were a top-two seed all three seasons. He has some good guards. Awaka and Veesaar have been an impactful center platoon over the last three months. Jaden Bradley has his moments, and Caleb Love is capable of winning or losing a game all on his own. However, I'm not sure what they do well scares an opposing coach. They aren't some defensive juggernaut, and they aren't as good in transition as in years past. They beat who they are supposed to beat, and they lose the games they are supposed to lose. Outlook: 'Good but not great' is probably the best way to sum up what Arizona is in 2025. Its guards — Love, Bradley and Anthony Dell'Orso — are good enough to win a game or two in March, but I'm not sure the Wildcats are built for a deep run. Their bigs are capable of creating some matchup problems, but they're not even a top-four frontcourt in the Big 12. Bryant is good for a freshman, but he's not among the top-10 freshmen in America. Arizona is one of those teams that is unlikely to get upset in the first round, but it is also just as unlikely to advance to the Elite Eight. —Rob Dauster Outlook: The wonderfully bone-polished dome of head coach John Groce is once again in the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the season, Akron received multiple 'As' on offense. In its 34-game entirety, it ranks No. 31 nationally in effective field-goal percentage offense, scoring 55.8 percent inside the arc and 36.6 percent outside of it. In fact, over 38 percent of its points came on equalizers. Tavari Johnson, Shammah Scott, Sharron Young, Bowen Hardman and Isaiah Gray each converted at least 36.5 percent from the perimeter. Prolific. Over the final 10 games of the regular season, the Zips didn't exactly zap the competition on D, slotting outside the top 180 in effective field-goal percentage defense. At No. 361 in effective height, formidable frontcourts can bully them. However, given Akron's plus depth, arc execution and bouncy offensive glass energy, it's hardly a 'gross' double-digit seed. Ba-dum-tss! —Brad Evans Streaming and Betting/Odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Caleb Love: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
