Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: I’m going with JT Toppin here who led the team with 25 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks, a steal and 1 turnover. The only reason that Toppin didn’t score and pay more is because of foul trouble, which some of those were really cheap fouls.
The Motion:
- This was a tougher game than I expected. Northwestern State was really athletic and deep and forced a lot of things. Because of their depth and Texas Tech’s lack of depth right now, Texas Tech only had a rebounding advantage of 3 (38-35) and Northwestern State was at the line 22 times and had they been able to hit free throws, this game would have been much closer, 13 of 22.
- If anything, this game revealed how small Texas Tech is inside because the only other inside player is Eemeli Yalaho so the depth is really tight. I’d also say that Devan Cambridge is going to be really important because he’s going to guard a lot of post players and Darrion Williams can play the post too, but his role is changing. And I don’t know how far this team can go without true point guards helping lead the offense. And that’s not to say that the offense is bad, but it’s obviously not complete. In fact, I love the spacing of the offense and think that looks really good and will translate when they do get healthy.
- Kevin Overton would have been my other choice for player of the game. He’s really smooth and can create his own shot, although I don’t know if he’s a shooter, just 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. Overton made just 5 of 13, but he made 8 of 9 free throws, had 4 boards and he’s really good defensively.
- Chance McMillian is proving to be really efficient and he’s not taking bad shots, but he’s so effective in so many ways. He scored 13 on just 7 shots, but he also grabbed 8 boards.
- It was asked after the game about Darrion Williams weird game, which it was weird, he made just 1 of 11, had 8 boards, 11 assists and 3 turnovers. The shooting was obviously an issue, but as a team, the team shot 51% from the field so if he would have just be average Texas Tech wins running away.
- Texas Tech’s offensive efficiency was really on display (again, despite Williams making 1 of 11) and had 1.3 points per possession. Northwestern State was at 1, so the defense could be better, but was burned by some terrific 3-point shooting, 44% for the Demons, but just 37% from the field overall. After the game, McCasland said that the team is disappointed with a 20-point win and that’s a good thing.
- Northwestern State had 40 bench points, to just 24 for Texas Tech. Texas Tech dominated inside, 42 points in the paint to 16, and also was way ahead on fast breaks, 17 to 3.
- Advanced stats said that Toppin was so good at +24.2, then McMillian at +7.4, then Overton +1.7, Federiko +0.7, and Walton at +0.5.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “I was thrilled with how our guys competed and finished the game when they cut it to 10 and we stretched it out,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “I love our team and we’ll keep getting better. Tonight was a figure-it-out type of game. Find a way to win the game in a gritty way and let’s get on to the next one.”
- Up next? Texas Tech hosts Wyoming on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
Highlights