TAMPA, Fla. (KCBD) – After two frustrating weeks, the No. 5-seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders (23-10) surged ahead in the second half and beat the 12th-seeded Akron Zips 91-71, snapping a three-game losing streak.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s head basketball coach Grant McCasland says while pre-tournament seeding may become a hot discussion topic this time of year but is still something he makes sure his team pays no attention to.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you put the (seeding) number by somebody\u2019s name and you try to determine how hard you\u2019re going to play by a number, then you\u2019re dumb. To me, let\u2019s look at what they do well and let\u2019s try to take it away and let\u2019s talk about what we do well that they can\u2019t handle and let\u2019s really focus on that,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, ours was really focused on game plan effort and how do we execute on every possession and let y\u2019all talk about all these seeds and numbers because we saw their jersey and it was blue and ours was white and we wanted the white team to win and that\u2019s the way we approached it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With JT Toppin out for the rest of the season, the team has been looking for ways to readjust on both sides. On Friday, five Red Raiders scored double figures. Jaylen Petty led with 24 points, which includes a run late in the game where he scored 11 points in less than three minutes. While point guard Christian Anderson had 18 points, Josiah Moseley came off the bench to land 16. Shooting guard Donovan Atwell had 15 points and was 4-for-6 in three-point shots. LeJuan Watts scored 14 before he fouled out with 9:42 left to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a matter of not losing our intensity and our competitiveness because, I love this team and we all want each other to be better. So, every day in practice and whatever we talk about is what\u2019s the next steps to get better and how can we still compete,\u201d Petty said.<\/p>\n
The Red Raiders also outrebounded the Zips 32-25, including 25 on defense. Akron\u2019s point guard Tavari Johnson came entered Friday\u2019s contest averaging 20.1 points per game and was limited to only four. Many experts from around the country were anticipating his point guard showdown with Anderson.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got to start with Johnson for Akron,\u201d McCasland said. \u201cI thought he was arguably the best player in the MAC, and the way he scored, the way he was their motor. We really tried to key on him to make it as difficult as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas Tech will move on to the round of 32 and play fourth-seeded Alabama Sunday back at the Benchmark International Arena, tip-off set for 8:45 p.m. CT. The game will be on TBS, and on the Texas Tech Radio Network.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Crimson Tide came back to defeat Hofstra 90-70.<\/p>\n
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