Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
23-11,12-6Big 12
No. 4 Alabama
25-9,13-5SEC
No. 5 Red Raiders eliminated from NCAA Tournament
March 22, 2026 | Men's Basketball
TAMPA, Florida – No. 5 Texas Tech had its season end with a 90-65 loss to No. 4 Alabama in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region Second Round on Sunday at Benchmark International Arena. The Red Raiders (23-11) matched a season-low with only four 3-pointers while the Crimson Tide (25-9) advanced to their fourth straight Sweet 16 after making 19 3-pointers.
"What a tough night for our team," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "Alabama was awesome. I thought they were so much more aggressive on both ends of the floor. They got after us defensively. They disrupted us, and then they were downhill on every action. I just thought they were in attack mode. Ran into a team that I thought was more determined, that was tougher than we were, and that's always our standard for winning."
Tech, which came into the game fourth in the nation by shooting 39.7% on 3-pointers and making 11.5 per game, was limited to a season-low 16.0% after going 4-for-25. Â The Red Raiders trailed by 24 points at halftime and were only able to cut it to within 18 in the second half.
LeJuan Watts led Tech with 16 points and seven rebounds while Donovan Atwell had 12 points and Leon Horner scored 10 points in a reserve role. Christian Anderson finished with seven points, three assists and matched a career-high with four steals. An All-American and All-Big 12 First Team selection, Anderson finished his sophomore season averaging 18.5 points and 7.4 assists per game. He owns the Tech single-season record with 244 assists this season and is second in program history with 108 made 3-pointers this season after making one in the loss to Alabama. Through two seasons, Anderson now has 983 points and 321 assists in 68 career games. Atwell, an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, finished his senior season with a program record 130 made 3-pointers and averaged 13.5 points per game. Atwell went 2-for-5 on 3-pointers in his final game.
Jaylen Petty, who led Tech with a career-high 24 points in the NCAA Tournament First Round win over Akron, had nine points, five rebounds and three assists against the Crimson Tide while Josiah Moseley had six points and three rebounds after a career-high 16 points in Friday's win over the Zips. Tech finished the game shooting just 34.4% from the field and was 19-of-24 (79.2%) at the free-throw line. Tech was out-rebounded by a 47-35 margin and had only eight assists in the loss.
Despite the uncharacteristic 3-point shooting in the loss, Tech finished the season with a program record 384 made 3-pointers and shot 39.1%.Â
Alabama, which went 19-for-42 (45.2%) from beyond the arc and had 18 offensive rebounds, had seven different players make at least one 3-pointer including Latrell Wrightsell making 6-of-9 and Houston Mallette going 5-for-7. Wrightsell led the Crimson Tide with 24 points while Mallette finished with 15. Amari Allen added 12 points while Labaron Philon had 12 assists, nine points and six rebounds. Alabama advances to play No. 1 Michigan in the Midwest Region Sweet 16 at the United Center in Chicago next week.
"It started with offensive rebounding," McCasland said. "We actually made them miss a few times to start early in the game," McCasland said. "Mallette got an offensive rebound, dagger 3, and obviously Wrightsell got hot. But his was kind of on those second attempts also. And then once they saw the ball go in, you can just tell, their pace and attack really grows when those offensive toughness plays happen on offensive rebounds. We just couldn't grab the ball in a stretch there. It was impressive. It really was. You look at them and you know you're going to have a tough time on your hands. But the way they did it tonight was different."
Alabama took a 49-25 lead into halftime after making 11 3-pointers while the Red Raiders struggled by shooting just 2-for-13 from beyond the arc at the break. Tech trailed by as many as 26 points in a first half where it was also outrebounded by a 30-16 margin. Anderson went into halftime with five points, two assists and three steals while Horner led the team with six points in seven minutes off the bench. Petty went into halftime scoring five points and also having three rebounds and two assists while Watts had four points and four rebounds. Alabama was 11-for-27 (40.7%) on 3-pointers at the break, led by Mallette going 3-for-5 and scoring nine points. Sherrell led the Crimson Tide with 10 points while Wrightsell had nine and Philon had seven points, six assists and six rebounds. Alabama had a 12-6 offensive rebounding advantage and had scored 15 points off seven Red Raider turnovers.
"I told these guys, games like this make you kind of go, is it worth it," McCasland said. "I told them it is. It's always worth giving everything you have, no matter what. Especially being a part of a team like this, with guys that you love and that you care about. I mean, I love this team, and I'm extremely disappointed I wasn't able to do a better job helping us be ready to go tonight. But give Alabama a ton of credit, man, they were awesome. They were tougher than we were."
Follow the Red Raiders: Keep up with Texas Tech men's basketball news at TexasTech.com and at the team's social media on Instagram, X and Facebook.
