Texas Tech Athletics
13-4,4-2Big 12
Arizona
11-6,5-1Big 12
Red Raiders close out Wildcats
January 18, 2025 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – JT Toppin recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 16 rebounds, Elijah Hawkins dished out nine assists without a single turnover and Texas Tech finished on a 13-0 run to earn a 70-54 win over Arizona on Saturday at a sold-out United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (13-4, 4-2 Big 12) held their second straight opponent without a point in the final five minutes, limiting the Wildcats (11-6, 5-1 Big 12) to 0-for-12 shooting to finish the game and to just 31.0 percent throughout. Tech led 57-54 in a tight game when Jaden Bradley made a pair of free throws for Arizona with 5:16 on the clock before the Red Raiders closed it out with the game's final 13 points, starting with a Federiko Federiko layup a minute later before four straight points from Toppin who scored six of the 13 points in the run. Â
"We didn't have one of our best offensive nights but give Arizona credit," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "They are really physical. They wear on you with their physical nature and how physical they are over screens, how they screen you, how they rebound on every possession, it wore on us. We didn't shoot it well but that's because of the physical nature of the game and the way it fatigues you. But that's what I loved about this game. This was the grit I was hoping our team believes in. That we can win this way. It may not have been a fun one to watch, but it sure is a fun one to win."
Toppin, who now has 18 double-doubles in his career, finished the game shooting 7-for-14 from the field and 5-of-7 at the free-throw line. He secured six offensive rebounds in the game for the Red Raiders who had a 50-34 rebounding advantage over the Wildcats in the game. Chance McMillian added 14 points with two 3-pointers, Christian Anderson led the reserves with 10 points after also making two 3s and Hawkins finished the game with nine points to go along with his nine assists. Darrion Williams found himself in foul trouble, but still contributed six rebounds, six points and two assists while Federiko finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Tech was coming off a 61-57 win at Kansas State where the Wildcats didn't make a shot from the field after a jumper with 5:50 on the clock. The difference in the game against Arizona was the Red Raiders kept scoring. The game ended on a 13-0 run, but also with an extended run of 17-3 by the Red Raiders who staved off the comeback attempt which saw Arizona close to within one on two occasions. During that extended run, Toppin had nine points.
"I tell these dudes in the huddle, it's not if we're going to win this game, it's how are we're going to do it," McCasland said. "I could see our confidence starting to grow in this game. A lot of that is JT. He was a legit difference maker in the way he was competing. We were competing."
Tech went 16-for-18 from the free-throw line and owned the 16-rebound advantage to overcome a game where it shot below its season averages – going 24-for-66 (36.4 percent) from the field and 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) on 3-pointers. Kevin Overton added five rebounds to give the Red Raiders four players with five or more. McMillian added four to his 14 points and Anderson also had three. The 50 team rebounds were a season-high and the second most in a Big 12 game in program history – falling just behind 52 against Missouri in 2010 and the most since having 46 at West Virginia in 2022.
"When you can team rebound like this you can win in the Big 12, even on nights when you don't shoot it great," McCasland said. "Fifty rebounds to 34 says a lot about the grit our team played with."
Defensively, Tech limited Arizona to 18-for-58 (31.0 percent) from the field, 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) on 3-pointers and to only eight offensive rebounds. Tobe Awaka led the Wildcats with 14 rebounds and eight points, while Bradley finished with a team-high 11 points and Carter Bryant added 10 in a game with only two double-figure scorers. The Wildcats were only 1-for-12 (8.3 percent) on 3-pointers in the second half and got 15 of their 54 total points from the free-throw line. Â
Tech took a 33-26 lead into halftime after owning a 25-17 rebounding advantage (eight offensive) and making five 3-pointers. McMillian scored the first points for the Red Raiders with a layup and finished the first half with a team-high eight points, including going 2-for-4 on 3-pointers. Toppin added seven points and seven rebounds, while Williams went into the break with six points and four rebounds. Three of Toppin's seven rebounds were offensive. Anderson was leading the reserves with five points and also had two rebounds. Carter Bryant led Arizona with 10 points in seven minutes off the bench while Awaka, Bradley and Love had four points each.
The Red Raiders took a 17-11 lead with an Overton 3-pointer, led 22-16 on a Toppin make from deep and was up seven at halftime when McMillian drilled his second 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in the half. The Red Raiders went into the break shooting 12-for-33 (36.4 percent) from the field, 5-for-15 (33.3 percent) on 3-pointer and had seven assists on their 12 baskets. Arizona was at 34.5 percent from the field, just 2-for-6 from 3-point range and were 4-for-6 at the free-throw line.
Arizona started the second half on a 7-0 run to tie the game before a Toppin inside shot two minutes in followed by an Anderson 3-pointer to push the lead back to five. A Hawkins runner pushed Tech's lead to 49-43 eight minutes into the half before he made a layup that stuck on the rim for a second dropped to make it 51-45 on the next trip down. The Wildcats got their deficit down to 51-50 with a pair of free throws before McMillian made a layup on one possession and two free throws on the next to keep it at a three-point game with a little over seven minutes to play with teams exchanging blows.
Toppin gave the Red Raiders a 57-52 lead with 6:14 on the clock with a pair of free throws and pulled down a defensive rebound on the other end to give him 13 points and 13 rebounds. Tech's lead was at 59-54 with 4:17 remaining with a Federiko layup off a Williams assist followed by two Toppin free throws and a hook shot for a 63-54 margin. The Red Raiders led in double figures for the first time with Hawkins burying a pair of free throws for a 65-54 lead with 2:30 remaining before another Toppin basket made it a 10-0 run and 13-point game. Anderson pushed it to a 12-0 run and 15-point game with a layup before a Toppin free throw gave Tech a 13-0 run with 41 seconds remaining.
Texas Tech is back on the road where it'll take on Cincinnati (12-5, 2-4 Big 12) at 6 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday at the Fifth Third Arena in Ohio. The Bearcats are coming off a 67-60 win over Arizona State on Saturday to improve their home record to 8-2 overall. Cincinnati took a 75-72 win over Texas Tech last season in Lubbock in the only meeting.
ADDITIONAL GAME NOTES
JT Toppin: Finished with 20 points – the 11th double-digit scoring game of the season and 34th of his career… Alson had 16 rebounds which was his sixth double-digit rebounding game of the season and 23rd of his career
Elijah Hawkins: Recorded his sixth game in 15 played this season with nine or more assists... Is now averaging 6.3 assists and is at a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio... Has three Big 12 games with zero turnovers (5,10, 9 assists in those zero turnover games)
Chance McMillian: Recorded the 15th double-figure scoring performance this season and 63rd of his career… Has made two or more 3s in 12 games this season
Federiko Federiko: Finished with five offensive rebounds – His second time with five-plus offensive rebounds in a game this season
Kevin Overton: Finished with five rebounds – his eighth five-plus rebound game of the season
Christian Anderson: Recorded his sixth double-figure scoring performance of the season and is now averaging 8.9 points per game
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