Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Darrion Williams and Chance McMillian were both fantastic, McMillian was 7 of 10 from the field including 5 of 7 from deep, 4 boards, 1 assist and 1 turnover. Williams wasn’t great defensively, but he got his shot back on 9 of 15, 3 of 7 from deep, 2 boards, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, and 2 steals.
The Motion:
- This will sound like sour grapes, but I didn’t like how this game was officiated for either team. It is almost as if this game was officiated as if it was 5 years ago rather than letting some things go and playing through a bit of contact. That’s not how things have been called pretty much the entire year. That’s not to say that Texas Tech didn’t do some things that led to all of this, but this game wasn’t called like a normal Big 12 game. And because of that this game favored the team that had gotten to the line more than Texas Tech, TCU was 140th in free throw rate while Texas Tech was 288th. If Houston had played in this game, they would have fouled out 5 players.
- The roll player defending TCU’s pick-and-roll, which was often Udeh, was often open for a dunk and that was a problem. Toppin, Federiko and Williams were many times on the other end of losing their man or being in no-man’s land. I thought that the defense was the problem at the end of the day. TCU made 1.150 points per possession to just 1.100 for Texas Tech. They were just slightly better, but they were better.
- Based on how the entire game was called, that last second 3-point attempt by Toppin was a foul.
- Other than McMillian and Williams, who hit 8 3’s between them the rest of the team was 1 of 11 from beyond the arc. That’s pretty much an aberration.
- TCU also was also slightly better than their year-long averages, making 35% from deep and 68% of free throws while their year-long averages were just 31% and 65%. Again, just slightly better than what they’ve been all year.
- Christian Anderson was not his normal self, in foul trouble and not really very good, soo many turnovers (4 overall). He was pushed off by TCU’s defense (again, it was a bit weird that TCU wasn’t called for fouls, but whatever).
- TCU out-rebounded Texas Tech 37-29 and on the offensive boards, TCU at 15 to 7. TCU also only had 9 turnovers to 13 for Texas Tech. I’ve already mentioned it, but Texas Tech some way some how only shot 8 free throws to 22 for TCU. Given how touchy the whistles were, that’s just odd. And some refs have it out for you and some don’t.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “I felt like our guys had the understanding of what it took to win this game but we ran out of gas and weren’t able to finish it. We took the lead in the second half with about seven minutes to go and I felt like we put our stamp on what we wanted to do and how we were going to do it. But we just didn’t have the grit that it takes to win on the road. I thought TCU got a lot of rebounds and 50-50 balls at the end of this one and that’s how you lose on the road.”
- Advanced stats had McMillian at +14.5, Williams +12.0, Toppin at +6.6, Hawkins at +3.7 and Federiko at +3.1. Anderson was -12.8 and Walton at -8.6.
- Up next? Texas Tech finally gets home on Saturday, February 22nd to host West Virginia with a noon tip-off and the game on ESPN+.
Highlights