{"id":171132,"date":"2026-02-19T09:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/171132\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:25:15","slug":"jt-toppin-injury-update-texas-tech-star-diagnosed-with-season-ending-torn-acl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/171132\/","title":{"rendered":"JT Toppin injury update: Texas Tech star diagnosed with season-ending torn ACL"},"content":{"rendered":"

The diagnosis is in on Texas Tech<\/a> star JT Toppin<\/a> after he suffered an injury late in the second-half during the Red Raiders\u2019 72-67 loss to Arizona State<\/a> on Tuesday. According to the team\u2019s X account<\/a>, he\u2019ll miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season with a torn ACL.<\/p>\n

\u201cInjury Update on JT Toppin: An MRI has confirmed that Texas Tech junior forward JT Toppin sustained a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee Tuesday night in the game at Arizona State,\u201d Texas Tech Basketball on X posted on the site<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a major loss for Texas Tech and the college basketball world as a whole. With 6:03 remaining and the Red Raiders trailing by five, Toppin drove toward the basket before collapsing to the floor. Immediately, he grabbed for his right leg, and all of Lubbock held their collective breath.<\/p>\n

The preseason All-America selection needed assistance to leave the court and did not return, casting a shadow over the closing minutes of the game. Head coach Grant McCasland<\/a> confirmed afterward that the injury involved Toppin\u2019s lower leg, but said the program would need further evaluation before determining its severity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say until we get it looked at closely,\u201d McCasland said<\/a> via his postgame press conference. \u201cBut I just know he\u2019s really disappointed. He\u2019s such a competitor. We\u2019ll get back and get him looked at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before exiting, Toppin once again showed why he has been one of the nation\u2019s most productive players this season. The star forward finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks, continuing a dominant campaign in which he entered the night averaging 21.9 points per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But his absence immediately shifted the momentum. Texas Tech trailed 61-56 when he went down and quickly fell behind by double digits as Arizona State capitalized during the emotional stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt knocked us on our heels a little bit,\u201d McCasland added. \u201cBut, man, we\u2019ve got a competitive group and found a way to get it to a one-possession game. Gave ourselves a chance late, which is what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, the Red Raiders did begin to respond late, cutting the deficit to 70-67 in the closing seconds after regrouping defensively. However, a turnover by Christian Anderson<\/a> prevented a potential tying three-point attempt and sealed the upset loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The defeat snapped a three-game winning streak for Texas Tech, which was coming off a statement overtime victory at then-No. 1 Arizona<\/a>. McCasland praised his team\u2019s resilience, but he acknowledged the urgency of improving consistency throughout the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had done that for the previous 38, 37 minutes, then we would have put ourselves in better position,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Now, the focus shifts entirely to where Texas Tech goes from here without Toppin. With conference play intensifying and postseason positioning looming, Texas Tech\u2019s outlook has changed after losing their centerpiece star. Time will tell if they can bounce back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The diagnosis is in on Texas Tech star JT Toppin after he suffered an injury late in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8175,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-171132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-jt-toppin-23-waxahachie-faith-family-academy","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-texas-headlines","11":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}