Arizona’s Tobe Awaka gains recognition before all-Wildcat showdown vs Kansas State

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Despite becoming one of college basketball’s best rebounders, thriving with what Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd calls some “hard living” in the low post, Tobe Awaka can still manage to get overlooked sometimes.

That’s what happens when Caleb Love throws in a 60-foot buzzer-beater that led to Arizona’s Jan. 27 win over Iowa State, overshadowing the 17 points and 12 rebounds the Wildcats’ center had that evening. Or when versatile 7-footer Henri Veesaar rebounds around guys and also shoots over them as he’s done much of the Big 12 season.

But all that changed somewhat Monday, when Awaka was named the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Week award. It’s an award that can almost be considered a close runner-up to the overall Big 12 Player of the Week considering how many “newcomers” there are around the 16-team league between freshmen and transfers.

Awaka picked up the award because he averaged a double-double in the Wildcats’ wins over BYU and Texas Tech. He scored 14 points in both games while collecting nine rebounds in UA’s 85-74 win at BYU on Feb. 4 and 11 rebounds in the Wildcats’ 82-73 win over Texas Tech on Feb. 8.

But it was before last week when Lloyd, at least, tried to let everyone know what Awaka was really doing. Awaka ranks No. 2 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (19.1), after all, and ranks No. 23 in defensive rebounding percentage (26.9).

“You know what’s funny? A lot of times (on) rebounds guys are getting knocked down and you know who’s knocking them down?” Lloyd said after Arizona’s win over Iowa State on Jan. 27. “It’s Tobe. The dude’s a beast. Played his ass off tonight. … the dude’s crushing it, he’s playing clean and he’s doing great.”

Lloyd credited Awaka for keeping UA in the thick of a game it eventually pulled out in overtime, after Love’s memorable bomb, and last weekend Lloyd credited Awaka and Veesaar for their post production in UA’s wins over BYU and Texas Tech.

“The way Henri and Tobe played today was pretty…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizonas-tobe-awaka-gains-recognition-000412203.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2025-02-11 00:04:00

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