Houston will be playing without 6'7 and 220=pound starting forward J'Wan Roberts for the second consecutive game in the Big XII Championship Game on Saturday in Kansas City. Arizona should have a significant height advantage over Houston who was already undersized without Roberts.
Despite losing 62-58 to Houston last month, Arizona had a 39-30 rebounding advantage and 11-6 in offensive boards. Henri Veesaar at 7'0 will be a player to watch for Arizona. Veesaar had seven points and four rebounds with one block in 25 minutes, but had four fouls in the last game versus Houston.
Veesaar has played when he started five of the next six games after Arizona lost to Houston last month. Veesaar has returned to coming off the bench with Trey Townsend starting three of the past four games. In the last eight games, Veesaar is averaging 12.6 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks.
Veesaar is also shooting 61.0 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent on threes in the last eight games. Veesaar has been critical for Arizona in the two Big XII Tournament games. In the quarterfinal win over Kansas, Veesaar had 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and shot 7-11 from the field and made two of his three three-point attempts.
Arizona’s head coach Tommy Lloyd had this interaction with a reporter when asked about the matchup with Houston in the Big 12 Championship game.
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) March 15, 2025
Q. Coach, tomorrow's game, you guys specialize on offense, Houston specializes --
TOMMY LLOYD: We're not that bad on defense.
Q.…
Veesaar helped Arizona hold Hunter Dickinson to 8-18 from the field with 19 points after he scored 33 on 15-23 in Kansas' 83-76 win over Arizona last Saturday. In the semifinal win over Texas Tech on Friday night Veesaar scored eight of his 10 points in the final 5:08.
Guard Terrenence Arcenaux started in place of Roberts on Friday versus BYU. That leaves Joseph Tugler as the only center or forward for Houston in the starting lineup. Despite BYU having a height advantage against Houston, they shot only 31.7 percent from the field and were 6-28 on three-point attempts.
Arizona has to be able to score inside to beat Houston. The strength of Jaden Bradley, K.J. Lewis and Caleb Love is penetration. Tobe Awaka and Veesaar add to Arizona being at its best scoring inside. Houston had a 36-26 advantage in points in the paint in their win in Tucson last month.
Houston is fourth nationally holding opponents to 38.1 percent from the floor and 43.5 percent on two-point shots. Defensively, Arizona has to keep Houston from taking threes where they are also fourth nationally making 39.8 percent of their attempts. If Arizona can win the game inside, their chances of winning significantly increase.