Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: JT Toppin was so good and his 21 points led the way, even though he only played 22 minutes for the entire game. That’s what kind of foul trouble he was in, but he scored 21 on 9 of 15, 5 boards, and an assist. In retrospect, maybe this should go to Anderson, but potato-potato.
The Motion:
- That was pretty fun, but I’ll admit that I thought that Kansas and that “magic” was going to be a problem when Kansas was stacking up some pretty cheap fouls that put them in the bonus and Federiko and Toppin both being in foul trouble was an issue.
- Down the stretch was some great basketball. Hawkins drains 2 3’s when the game was pretty even and pushed Texas Tech ahead. An Anderson tip for a 50/50 ball to Hawkins for a fast break, beautiful pick-n-roll from Williams to Federiko, Anderson hits a 3, Williams hits a 3, and Federiko bodies Dickinson twice to stop him from scoring. They were all big plays and if anything, it’s an indication that this team really doesn’t get flustered.
- Kansas had no field goals the last 2:49 of the game.
- Christian Anderson is some sort of wonderful. This just isn’t normal for a freshman. Anderson makes 4 of 5, all deep, in the first half and he only made 1 more in the 2nd, but it was big. Add in the fact that he had 6 dimes as well and that’s pretty special.
- It was game-changing to have both Williams and McMillian back. They change how this team plays, Williams scored 14 and McMillian only scored 9, but they were both really good and it makes offense and spacing so much easier. Oh, and Williams had 9 boards and 4 assists.
- Federiko was outstanding. Stopping Dickinson is a tough thing to do and he had to play him pretty straight because he was in foul trouble too and Texas Tech could not afford to not have him be there for defense. He could have caved, but he didn’t and little parts from everyone is what makes this go.
- Kansas out-shot Texas Tech 48% to 45%, but Texas Tech was 35% from deep and Kansas was 22%. I mentioned before the game that Mayo was the only deep threat and he went 0-5 (he also received awful DM’s after the game and no one deserves that). KU out-rebounded Texas Tech 39-29 and did get on the offensive boards, 11 to 6. The Jayhawks also dominated the points in the paint, 44-20, thanks to Dickinson and Adams. If Adams had a jump-shot he’d be unstoppable, but he’s really good as-is. Texas Tech had 1.20 points per possession and Kansas was 1.159.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “Going into this game, I tried to be as genuine as I could with our team about how aggressive we’d have to be over the course of 40 minutes. You have to come out throwing the first punch. You can’t let this game get on top of you because of the way they compete, can score in transition and physicality. You have to start that way and finish it too.”
- Advanced stats had Anderson at +19.6, Toppin at +12.9 and Williams at +10.1. Hawkins was -0.1, McMillian was -1.0, Federiko was -4.5 and Overton was -10.1.
- Up next? Texas Tech hosts Colorado on on Wednesday, March 5th with tip-off at 7:00 p.m. and will be on ESPN+.
Highlights