Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: JT Toppin was terrific, 31 points on 12 of 24 from the floor (unfortunately 0-5 from deep), 12 rebounds including 6 offensive, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers. Toppin scored 17 in the 1st half and 14 in the 2nd and went 6 of 12 in each half.
The Motion:
- What a game. Definitely a 12-round fight, just like we sort of expected, but it was an offensive explosion in the first half that I didn’t expect. The crowd was electric and it looked like a blast of an atmosphere. I have a ton of respect for Houston, they are a heck of a program and it definitely feels good to get a win at home. I do feel that Houston players sort of intentionally flop at times, that’s not to say that Texas Tech was a bunch of choir angels, they were in for the fight as well, but they didn’t back down at all. It was a heck of a game, especially given that Kingston Flemmings had the best game for a freshman that I can recall (the leg kick out on the 3-point shot was obvious and the right call, but I don’t blame him for trying to get a foul, he’s trying to win a game).
- Maybe that’s where we should start, which is that Houston is an incredible team, but maybe they aren’t the “team” that they were last year. Texas Tech had double-figures from 4 of the 5 starters and even had guys like LeJuan Watts go 0-8 and Christian Anderson go 2-9 from the field, Petty, Atwell, and of course Toppin all stepped up.
- Anderson didn’t have a good shooting night, but he contributed and still had 12 points, including 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Anderson was not rattled by the consistent double-teams by Houston and was a huge part of that offensive onslaught in the 1st half as 7 of his 9 assists were in the 1st half.
- The ability for Texas Tech to make shots from the outside is pretty incredible. Donovan Atwell and Jaylen Petty are a huge part of that. Petty scored 14 of his 18 points in the 1st half and was unconscious, making 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Atwell scored 9 points in the 2st half, making 3 of 4 from deep, and then 2 of 4 in the 2nd half PLUS some pretty important free throws down the stretch. It takes everyone.
- Houston scored 1.344 points per possession and Texas Tech was just slightly better, 1.385. Texas Tech did clamp down in the 2nd half defensively, Houston shot 38% from the field and 24% from deep. It was only because of Flemings who scored 20 of his 42 points in the 2nd half. They were pretty much wholly dependent on him.
- Texas Tech had a huge advantage on the offensive boards, 21 to 11 for Houston, which then resulted in 22 2nd chance points to just 11 for Houston. Rebounds overall was also hugely in favor of Texas Tech, 44 to 28. Texas Tech had 26 points in the paint to just 22 for Houston.
- Sort of need to mention that Josiah Moseley played 10 minutes, scored 6 points which consisted of 2 3-pointers, and managed to grab 6 rebounds in that time. McCasland said that Moseley has practiced 2 times this year, Thursday and Friday. It will be nice to have some frontcourt depth.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “What I was most thrilled about is that we didn’t back down. It looked like they knocked us off center when they got a lead in the second half and we looked tired. It looked like we were trying to figure out what was left in our tank to finish this one. But no, there was a lot of resilience in our timeouts. It was awesome.”
- Advanced Stats: Atwell +5.9; Petty +5.0; Toppin +1.3; Moseley +2.8; Bryan -1.9; Anderson -4.2; and Watts -7.0.
- Up next? Texas Tech has a week off! No games until Saturday, January 31st, in Orlando, Florida to take on UCF with tip-off at 11:00 a.m. and the game on ESPN2.
Highlights