The Texas Tech Red Raiders continue to show why they’re one of the best teams in college basketball.
And the Arizona Wildcats (19-10, 13-5) suddenly have a lot of questions to answer.
Texas Tech went into Allen Fieldhouse and beat Kansas 78-73 on Saturday to improve to 13-5 in the Big 12, pulling into a tie with Arizona for second place.
The Wildcats lost 84-67 at Iowa State in a game that was never competitive. Texas Tech now has the inside track for the second seed in the Big 12 Tournament, with very winnable games against Colorado and Arizona State remaining.
Arizona, on the other hand, has to play Arizona State and Kansas to finish the season. And the Wildcats are stumbling to the finish line.
Updated Big 12 standings
Here’s a look at the top of the Big 12 standings with two games to play. The top four teams in the conference receive a double bye into the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Iowa State plays BYU at home and Kansas State on the road to finish the season. After the Iowa State road game, BYU finishes its season at home vs. Utah.
Arizona needs to win one more game to clinch the third seed, but Tommy Lloyd’s team has lost four of its last six games and is struggling to score from outside of 10 feet. The Wildcats shot 4-of-22 from the 3-point line in their loss to the Cyclones, which is line with how they’ve shot the ball over the past two months. The Wildcats came into the game shooting 31.7% from downtown, which ranks No. 306 out of 364 Division I college basketball teams.
According to the latest NCAA Tournament projections from CBS Sports, Arizona is expected to earn a No. 5 seed in March Madness. But if the Wildcats continue to lose games, they’ll quickly fall into the No. 7 or No. 8 seed range.
Arizona’s next game is Tuesday at home vs. rival Arizona State.