Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: JT Toppin was amazing and especially so in overtime where it was Toppin 8, Arizona 9. Thankfully, Texas Tech had 2 other players score to secure that win. Toppin was amazing for the entire game, 31 points and 13 rebounds on 13 of 22 from the floor and of those 13 boards, 7 of them were offensive rebounds (I don’t know how many put-backs), 3 assists (one of them was the Atwell 3), 2 steals, 1 block, and 0 turnovers.
The Motion:
- What a game. Sometimes I’m not even sure where to start, so much drama, so many small things and for most of the game, it felt like someone else other than Toppin and Anderson would need to step-up and contribute something offensively because it had felt like the two of them playing against Arizona for most of the game. And that’s exactly what happened. Small things where players stepped up and helped the team to an overtime win in Tucson.
- That scene at the end of regulation where McCasland was upset at Anderson for not dropping the ball off to Toppin for the win rather than taking a contested jumper. Part of me was thinking that Toppin was on the wrong block, I think he’s better on the left side, but I agree and that scene is sort of seared in my mind. Anderson is not a perfect player and has to learn from this situation and McCasland holding his best player to the highest of standards is terrific. Since we are discussing Anderson, he didn’t have the best shooting game, 6 of 18, and of that 6 of 15 was from deep, 1 of 2 from the line, 19 points, 6 boards, 8 assists, 3 turnovers, and a block.
- Arizona did a great job of denying Atwell and it almost feels like that was the plan. Toppin and Anderson are going to get their points, but to try to not let anyone else, particularly Atwell, isn’t a bad plan. Unfortunately, he only needs half a second to load a shot and he made 2 big 3’s in the 2nd half and 1 big 3 in overtime. He was just 3 of 11 for the game, but it doesn’t matter, you always want him to feel like he can shoot and he does. Atwell always has green lights.
- Watts feels like a bit of a passenger and I’m not sure about his place in the offense where it is Toppin and Anderson dominating the ball. I sort of get that. With that being said, Watts has tremendous joy and love for this team. You can see it in his reactions to the big buckets that his teammates are hitting. He’s not feeling it right now, but I think he will at some point.
- I think this is what you are going to get with Bamgboye, maybe he’s going to struggle against guys with size and can’t move them out of the way. In watching him, he’s very in tune to trying to get the block, which he can do really well, but then that can leave him in bad spots defensively and he’s fouling behind a player. For the night, he played 13 minutes, 5 fouls, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. No blocks.
- I couldn’t write this without mentioning Leon Horner. He played 26 minutes, and that offensive rebound in overtime and some nice buckets in the 1st half. In a game where you lose Jaylen Petty because he fouls out in 12 minutes (yes, that’s right) Texas Tech needed someone to get those minutes and Horner was ready. The stat line won’t be great, but 5 points, 5 boards, just 1 turnover, and that key rebound was so big
- On the road, Texas Tech had 1.13 points per possession to just 1.087 for Arizona. Texas Tech was able to keep pace on the rebounds, 41 to 39 for Arizona and 13 to 12 to Arizona on the offensive boards. Texas Tech also matched Arizona with 26 points in the paint. This was an incredibly low-turnover game, 8 for Texas Tech and 7 for Arizona.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “I love the fight of this team. JT and Christian weren’t going to let us lose. JT Toppin was not going to be denied at the end of this game. You don’t come into this building and win unless you’re fighting and competitive. I love being part of this team.”
- Advanced Stats: Toppin +12.3; Anderson +2.8; Atwell -0.8; Bamgboye -1.3; Horner -1.7; Petty -3.1; and Watts -5.6.
- Up next? Texas Tech is bussing to Tempe this morning as they’ll face Arizona State on Tuesday, February 17th with tip-off at 10:00 p.m. (yes, that’s CST) and the game on ESPN2. I am positive I won’t watch this game.
Highlights