Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Chance McMillian was fantastic and a 9-0 run by himself punctuated on either side by Federiko Federiko lobs. McMillian scored 19 points on 7 of 18 from the floor, 5 of 11 from deep, 4 boards, 1 assist and just 1 turnover. As an aside, McMillian scored 10 points in the 1st half and was more efficient, 4 of 8, while in the 2nd half he was 3 of 10.
The Motion:
- This game will be about some offensive explosiveness, but Texas Tech’s defense never really allowed Baylor to breathe. Baylor shot 36% in the 1st half, 32% in the 2nd , while holding the Bears to 27% and 29% from deep in each half. The only way that Baylor stayed in the game was 12 offensive boards in the 2nd half and 10 2nd chance points, but it wasn’t because Texas Tech wasn’t locked in defensively and contesting shots.
- The last 4:41, Darrion Williams took over the game (as did the defense) and Williams started that run by making 2 free throws and then proceeded to match a Baylor 3-pointer with one of his own, a couple of free throws (Federiko made free throws as well), then 2 more free throws, and another layup. McCasland said after the game that he’ll continue to trust Williams late in games because his feet are always moving towards the basket, rather than fading away, and that’s pretty good advice for any young player as I think the tendency is to fade away.
- JT Toppin may not be fully healthy and that’s a bit of a concern. I should add that on the first bit of highlights, at the 0:35 mark you can see a Toppin dunk and see how his right leg kicks out as he dunks with his left hand. For anyone saying that the incident in Houston was intentional, I think it’s clear that this is a natural movement for him. He played just 21 minutes, but McCasland said that they are optimistic and didn’t think it was an issue.
- Luckily, Federiko is playing really well and I don’t think he’ll be that open on those lobs, but they are beautiful to watch and the 3 blocks were all huge, especially the last one.
- Elijah Hawkins got off the turnover train, he had been on a bit of a heater and the team had just 8 turnovers with Hawkins having just 1 with 7 assists and made 5 of 11 with 3 of 7 from deep.
- Not a ton of help from Overton, Anderson or Walton. They were a combined 3 of 11 from the field, but Overton had 7 boards in just 16 minutes.
- Some comparison numbers. Baylor had 12 turnovers to just 8 for Texas Tech. Texas Tech had a slight advantage at points in the paint with 28 to 24. Texas Tech had 14 offensive boards to just 13 for Baylor and that resulted in 16 2nd chance points for the good guys and 10 for Baylor. Baylor managed just 8 assists and 12 turnovers.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “I just love the grit of this team. We keep finding a way to separate when it matters. I thought Darrion was tremendous down the stretch, Elijah Hawkins controlled the game and ultimately, Chance McMillian broke the game open. His will to win is tremendous. We got great team defensive possessions. We can still improve a lot, but I love seeing our team play together and for each other.”
- Advanced stats say that Toppin was the best player at +15.3, Anderson at +9.0, Hawkins at +8.2, McMillian +7.6, Williams +7.0, Overton +6.9, and Federiko +6.5. Overton was the only negative at -5.9.
- Up next? Texas Tech hits the road to face Arizona on Saturday, February 8th at 9:00 p.m. with the game on ESPN.
Highlights