Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Just the 1st half for Christian Anderson was something to behld, but for the game Anderson was 8 of 13, 4 of 9 from deep, perfect from the line with 9 attempts, 6 boards, and 5 assists, with a steal and 3 turnovers.
The Motion:
- Winthrop ended up living up to their game partly, they were a terrible defensive team and that was accurate because Texas Tech had their way with the Eagles. In that 1st half, Texas Tech shot 66% from the field, 60% from deep, and 89% from the line. The second half, Texas Tech sort of returned to a bit of normalcy, but that’s to be expected in the game of basketball, to revert to the mean a bit. Wintrhop also played better, making 21% in the 1st half and 41% in the 2nd. Also to be expected, but for the game, to see Texas Tech hold the Eagles to just 32% for the game is still impressive. The defensive rotations were really good. Really good and much better than against Duke.
- Before the game I asked: 1) whether or not Tyeree Bryan would start? 2) is Luke Bamgboye healthy? 3) Is Akuentok healthy yet? 4) What about Moseley? The answers we got were maybe pretty telling. Bryan sat at the end of the bench and did not play (thus, he did not start). After the game, McCasland said that Bryan tweaked his ankle the the day before the Duke game, tried to go against Duke and just wasn’t right, and is still nursing that. Bamgboye, Akuentok, and Moseley are all apparently still injured so much so that they cannot suit out or even warm up.
- Because of the above injuries or players simply out, Texas Tech played 7 players for the most part. Not only that, but Jaylen Petty got the start. I can’t remember where I heard this, but against Duke Petty didn’t understand what he needed to do to set a screen for Anderson and they had him planted in the corner against Winthrop in some of those offensive sets. That did him just fine as he scored 20 on 6 of 8 with 6 boards. A pretty good first start.
- Toppin was terrific in the 1st half of the game, scoring 11 points and grabbing 9 boards. He didn’t start the 2nd half, but he did play, but just 13 minutes. He didn’t look like anything was wrong, but it was interesting.
- LeJuan Watts is looking good for me. He didn’t try to do too much and played within himself. He had just 3 field goal attempts and scored just 4 points, but had 5 assists, which him being able to set people up is more important than anything else. He can score and he was deferring to Anderson.
- Toppin’s defense deserves some mention, Winthrop’s leading scorer Duncomb was just 4 of 13 for the game, 3 of 10 in the 1st half and just 3 shots total in the 2nd.
- I think that McCasland is going to harp a bit on the offensive boards. Winthrop had 16 for the game and that’s probably too much. Also a few too many turnovers, 14 for the game.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “We probably played some of the best basketball we have all season in the first 20 minutes. We were competitive, shared the ball and made the right plays. We’ve got a lot to grow from but it was the most deflections and stops we’ve had in a game. Playing against a great offensive team like Winthrop and to separate like we did was tremendous. We’re excited for conference play.”
- Advanced Stats: Anderson +17.7; Petty +16.3; Atwell +11.0; Watts +5.7; Groves +3.0; Horner -2.1; and Toppin -5.3.
- Up next? Texas Tech starts Big 12 play against Oklahoma State on Saturday, January 3rd at 12:00 p.m.
Highlights