As it was looking like the Texas Tech men’s basketball team was hoping to find themselves in the top 10 in this week’s AP Poll courtesy of victories at Baylor and now #8 Houston, the Red Raiders fell short on the road to the UCF Golden Knights 88-80. Consequently, this dropped Tech to #13 overall.
How They Got Here
Texas Tech shot the Bears out of their own building from start to finish. Donovan Atwell finished the first half with 7 threes in his total of 21 points. With Christian Anderson leading all scorers with 26, and JT Toppin with 22. As well as a relentless bounce back defensive performance from Tyree Bryan following the disappointment from the BYU game.
Then came a pound-for-pound fight at the United Supermarkets Arena for vengeance to the first program Tech dropped to in Big 12 play this season. Even though Kingston Flemings was dropping dimes like it was second nature to him finishing with 42 points, the Red Raiders responded with a collective defensive effort and dynamic scoring from their All-Americans propelling them to hand the Cougars their first loss in league play.
Because Tech had no mid-week game, Head Coach Grant McCasland wanted to use this extra time for recuperation since the brawl with Houston for what was a dogfight last Saturday in Orlando.
The Red Raiders ended up on the wrong side of a rebounding fight, and individual defense or lack thereof brought Tech’s 5-game win streak to a screeching halt after the humbling defeat to the Golden Knights.
What’s Next For Texas Tech
The Red Raiders are gearing up for an immediate 48-hour turnaround hosting one of the prestigious programs in all of college basketball in the Kansas Jayhawks tonight.
Under the McCasland regime, Texas Tech is undefeated against the Jayhawks (2-0). Tipoff for tonight’s contest gets underway at 8 o’ clock.
Looking Around the Big 12
Here is where other Big 12 schools ranked in this week’s AP Top 25 poll:
Arizona – No. 1
Iowa State – No. 7
Houston – No. 8
Kansas – No. 11
BYU – No. 16
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