Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Kerwin Walton gets this for me, but you could pick a handful of players. Walton was 7 of 14 from the field, including 7 of 12 from beyond the arc, 4 boards, a steal and 2 turnovers.
The Motion:
- Everything looked really good despite both point guards, Elijah Hawkins and Christian Anderson, being out with injuries (maybe not significant injuries). Point guard duties were shared by Chance McMillian, Kevin Overton and Darrion Williams and combined they had 13 assists and 3 turnovers. Also note that Jazz Henderson and Eemeli Yalaho were also out with injuries and it should be noted that Hawkins, Anderson and Yalaho participated in warm-ups and were game-time decisions.
- The JT Toppin debut was pretty great, an array of hooks and post moves proved to be too much for the Wildcats. Toppin scored 19 on 8 of 12 from the floor with 8 boards, 2 steals, 4 blocks, an assist and a turnover. He looked really good and for me, Williams was playing his spot last year, trying to be a low-post presence, where it makes more sense for Williams to be a more outside player that can work inside if needed.
- Williams and McMillian each scored 17 points and were great. McMillian was 6 of 9, including 4 of 7 from deep, 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 block and 1 turnovers. Williams was 7 of 12 from the floor, 2 of 4 from deep, 6 boards, 6 assists, and 1 turnover on the night.
- McCasland said that he thought that last year’s team was a really good shooting team, but took a handful of games to get their feet underneath them. And I don’t like talking bad about players, but Pop Isaacs was billed as a shooter, but his efficient games were few and far between, he shot 35% from the field and 29% from deep last year. He would single-handedly kill good shooting performances and it will be interesting to see how/if this team shoots better without what was billed as your best player. Personally, yes, I think this was an addition by subtraction situation, the fit wasn’t right and Isaacs maybe needed a fresh start. I think there are going to be plenty of guys who can drive the offense this year.
- Texas Tech dominated the boards, 44 to 21, including 12 offensive boards to just 5 for B-CU. Fast break points were also pretty well in favor of Texas Tech, 24-6 and second chance points were 18-4 as well.
- Very happy to see Devan Cambridge out there, he looked like his former self, springy and bouncy, had 7 boards in 21 minutes. I am sure he’s going to be on a minutes restriction to an extent and 21 minutes less than a year after blowing out his knee is really a great recovery.
- Kevin Overton was the other starter at guard, and although he scored 10 points and was very fluid offensively, I like the way he goes to the rack to score, I think his real benefit will be defensively. Overton had 10 points on 4 of 10, 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and a turnover.
- The advanced stats say that Toppin was the most impactful, +18 in BPM, followed by McMillian at +12.7, Williams at +10.7, Walton at +5.9, and Federiko at +3.9. Both Cambridge and Overton had negative figures for what that’s worth.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “This group has no problem scoring in spurts,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “I think with all the space that these guys provide for each other it will come down to can we share the ball and keep attacking with paint touches first or do we settle. I love this team. They are so much fun to be around and really love each other. They believe in each other’s ability. It’s a matter of growing and get better where 17-0 runs are more common than playing even.”
- Up next? Hosting Northwestern State at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night.
Highlights