LUBBOCK, Texas — BYU’s Richie Saunders had drained a 3-pointer to cap a 16-2 BYU run that handed the Cougars a 61-52 lead with 9:25 left. Exasperated, Texas Tech men’s coach Grant McCasland called a time out.
Things weren’t dire, but they clearly weren’t going the Red Raiders’ way and another chance to beat a Top 25 team seemed to be slipping through their fingers.
Well, then the game ended Texas Tech had an 84-71 win over BYU and a 32-10 run to end in the final nine minutes of the game at United Supermarkets Arena. So, what happened?
Final Nine Minutes in Texas Tech vs. BYU
BYU coach Kevin Young said that he didn’t see Texas Tech do anything different on defense. Yet, his team went ice cold.
What did Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland think?
“In the last 10 minutes at a game we probably played the best defense we played this year,” he said.
And Red Raiders forward JT Toppin?
“Every huddle we got into we just said, ‘We’re gonna win this game,” he said.
What was another Top 25 matchup in the Big 12 turned into a gut check game of sorts for the Red Raiders (14-4, 4-1 in Big 12). McCasland has asked for better defense from his players at times this season and on Saturday he got it. How else does one hold a team like BYU to 10 points in nine minutes?
You start by getting your best player, Toppin, to buy into playing defense. It’s not that Toppin hasn’t played defense in his time in Lubbock. But the level he’s getting to, in McCasland’s opinion, is rubbing off on his team two months after he said “we couldn’t get a stop” in a loss to Illinois.
“JT has been, honestly, he’s been the voice of this team in the last couple of weeks,” McCasland said. “He’s been the one that’s commanding everybody’s attention with what we need to do defensively and anchoring with the way he’s blocking shots.”
Texas Tech’s Top 25 Games
The Red Raiders’ record against Top 25 teams has been awful this year, too. Texas Tech was 1-4 in those games coming into the game, the worst among the Top 5 teams in the league. The win against Duke was a great one, but that was a month ago. With Houston coming to Lubbock for a rematch next Saturday, Texas Tech needed the boost a Top 25 win could give them.
Records against Top 25 teams aren’t necessarily indicative of how a team like Texas Tech might perform in the NCAA Tournament. After all, the Red Raiders made the Elite Eight last season with a 1-5 record against AP Top 25 teams. But it sure sticks out in mid-January, especially after losses to Illinois, Purdue, Arkansas and Houston.
Tech’s defense in the final nine minutes was an accelerant for the offense, which turned into a runaway train. With every Anderson 3-pointer or Toppin turnaround the crowd at United Supermarkets Arena exploded. Tech made its final seven shots of the game while BYU made one of its final 10 field goals. Defense fueled that, too.
“Our ability to get stops and rebound, and when we did, we were able to not have to play against such a set defense,” he siad. “But our guys’ awareness down the stretch and our composure level on offense, I thought was what it needed to be.”
Texas Tech and BYU had the two top-scoring trios in college basketball entering the game. Tech won out there. JT Toppin had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Christian Anderson had 22 points and seven assists, and Lejuan Watts had 20 points. BYU’s Robert Wright III had an incredible game with 28 points. Saunders had 18 points and highly touted freshman AJ Dybansta was held to 12 points.
The Red Raiders paid plenty of attention to Dybansta, frustrating him all night. Toppin said they were willing to give him mid-range jumpers, but nothing else.
“I think they did a good job of defending AJ without fouling,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “They did a good job of putting him in positions that weren’t good for him.”
By game’s end, the USA was loud. More than 15,000 who came for what was expected to be a close game that turned into one of the Red Raiders’ most dominant stretches of the season.
Texas Tech needs to bottle up the final nine minutes of Saturday’s game. Incredible defense combined with three of the best scoring players in the country could carry this team deep into March. It was a glimpse of what Texas Tech could really be.
