Can we give Grant McCasland the key to the city or something? Is that possible? Is that too early? That man should be commended for the fact that the Texas Tech Red Raiders were able to, without their leading scorer and their leading rebounder, take down one of the nation’s best teams in their own arena.
Texas Tech went on the road and just absolutely took care of business against Iowa State, handing the No. 4 team in the country a nine-point loss (that also happened to be the first home loss for the Cyclones).
This was such an impressive win and there’s so much to say about all of it. I have a ton of thoughts, so let’s just start going over them.
No. 1: Texas Tech was able to take advantage a massive 1st half lead to beat Iowa State, which is exciting
I don’t love that the Iowa State Cyclones were able to pretty much control things in the second half of this game, but Texas Tech had such a dominant advantage in the first half that it really didn’t matter all that much. The Red Raiders were surging early and built a 16-point cushion (45-29) by the time it was halftime. And then Texas Tech just cruised to victory.
That sort of dominant effort really shows just how good this Texas Tech basketball team can be. This is a team that can just eviscerate opposing defenses from even the best teams in the country. Let’s celebrate that, folks.
No. 2: Donovan Atwell is more than capable of thriving from behind the arc in just about any setting
Speaking of eviscerating defenses, the Iowa State Cyclones weren’t able to slow down one of the best and most effective three point shooters in the Big 12. On Saturday, Donovan Atwell looked like one of the best and most effective shooters in the country as he drained 6-of-10 from three point range, scoring 18 points for the Red Raiders. To do that in Hilton Coliseum is impressive.
No. 3: Texas Tech needed Josiah Moseley to step up and he definitely did that in a difficult situation
With JT Toppin out for the remainder of the season and Texas Tech needing to attack things a little differently, getting Josiah Moseley to thrive off the bench was huge for the Red Raiders. 10 points and nine rebounds and three blocks and a win over the No. 4 team in the nation. Just incredible stuff.