Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: JT Toppin gets 41 on 17 of 22 (that’s insane) with 6 of 11 from the line (he missed the same amount of shots from the line as he did from the field) with 15 rebounds, 7 of them offensive, an assist, 2 blocks, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers.
The Motion:
- A really fun game and a late night. I thought that this game looked wonky before the game, that Arizona had too many good stats for this not to be close and that’s exactly what happened. Arizona State was really good and a heck of an offensive team, I was impressed with them for sure, but Teas Tech rose to the occasion every single time and was finally able to answer the bell in the 2nd overtime.
- Christian Anderson was unbelievable down the stretch. His ability to force a 5th foul on point guard Alston Martin may have been one of the more important things to happen because consider all of the turnovers that happened in the 2nd overtime because Arizona State was less secure with the ball and you can consider that some of this was the defensive pressure, but the other part is that ASU didn’t have their point guard to get the ball where they needed it and it was a thing of beauty. Add in Anderson’s ability to find Toppin and Williams and it’s amazing that he’s just a freshman. Anderson had just 10 points on 3 of 7, 3 boards, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, and 3 steals.
- Kerwin Walton tipping the ball to force overtime was a thing of beauty. I didn’t think about it until after the game, but Walton had 13 points, all of them in the 2nd half, and was 5 of 6 from the field.
- One more note about the turnovers for Arizona State, they had 3 in the 1st half, 3 in the 2nd half and finished with 12 for the entire game, which means that they had 6 turnovers in the 2 overtimes and in 10 minutes. Yeah, Mason fouling out was huge. Oh, and Texas Tech had 14 turnovers, 8 in the 1st half, 4 in the 2nd, so that leaves just 2 in the 2 overtimes.
- Darrion Williams was pretty well unstoppable offensively, 10 of 18 from the floor and 27 points, including 2 of 4 from deep and 5 of 6 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists, and just 1 turnover. Williams’ defense still needs work, I thought that ASU was looking for him to go at and score (which they did) as he had a tough time keeping up at times.
- Arizona State shot 56% from the field, including 48% from deep, while Texas Tech shot 57% and 38% from deep. How did Texas Tech end up winning? 14 2nd chance points to just 7 plus all of the free throws as Arizona State kep fouling, 23 of 32 from the charity stripe.
- The Chance McMillian and-1 and the offensive board to get to the line were both hugely significant plays. He played 49 minutes, so he took 1 minute off the court, scored 14 points on 3 of 5 with 7 of 7 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and no turnovers.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “This is what makes this fun. You play against the best teams and teams that have this kind of firepower and can you find a way to win. That’s fun. I go into the locker room and timeouts saying this is what you do this for. I loved our team’s fight to find a way. We have a lot of ways to win.”
- Advanced stats had Toppin with +13.9, Walton +8.8, McMillian +6l9, Anderson +5.7, Williams at +5.3 and the only real negative was Hawkins at -8.1
- Up next? Texas Tech is in Stillwater to face Oklahoma State, who lost a heart-breaker to TCU last night, game time is 2:00 p.m. and will be on ESPN+.
Highlights