It was never close, with Texas Tech going up 20-9 with 11 minutes to go, and never looked back. After allowing 106 points at home last game against Arizona State, the defense looked mich improved, allowing just 55 points in their 93-55 win.
JT Toppin provided another monster performance, while four other Red Raiders finished with double-digit scoring. For Oklahoma State, Marchelus Avery was the only player to crack that mark, scoring 13. Read below for three takeaways from today’s game.
The Big 12 Player of the Year race has been extremely exciting, with no clear top guy like we’ve seen in years past. Some have said Hunter Dickinson and Caleb Love, and others have given predictions like Javon Small or Red Raider teammate Chance McMillan, but with JT Toppin’s recent run, it might be his for the taking.
He finished today with 32 points on 12-17 shooting, to go along with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. This is after a 41 point, 15 rebound, 3 steal, and 2 block game on Wednesday, and 21 point, 13 rebound, and 2 steal performance the game prior. Toppin has been dominant on both ends of the floor this year, and his team is winning because of him. Still a few more games to go, but if he continues even a little bit like this, he will get what he deserves.
Oklahoma State came in today shooting 72.6% from the line on the season. Not great, but not terrible by any means. Today, they shot 11-20, but more notably 6-14 (42.9%) in the first half. Oklahoma State actually did a good job of drawing fouls and getting to the line, but when you leave that many points on the table, it’s hard to build any kind of momentum.
Texas Tech capitalized and expanded their lead where there was less pressure at halftime, but if Oklahoma State had kept this to a 10-12 point game, this could have been a different story. Oklahoma State isn’t a tournament team, but they can try to get a better seed in the Big 12 tournament and build a little momentum from there. If they shoot like this though, that won’t be the case.
Texas Tech didn’t have huge expectations for freshman Chris Anderson this year, but he has been a tremendous piece for this team, especially of late. He scored 16 points today on 4-8 shooting from deep and swiped two steals as well. He does a lot of the little things well and provides relief to Hawkins, who dealt with foul trouble today.
If he can continue to be that burst off the bench that he has been of late, the team’s ceiling improves even more than it was. We’ve seen so many freshmen this year get love around the country, and it’s important to acknowledge how good Anderson has been not just tonight, but all season.
at TCU (13-11, 6-7) – Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. EST)
vs. UCF (13-12, 4-10) – Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. CST (9 p.m. EST)
