Seven-game winning streaks are tough to accomplish, especially in Big 12 play. That's what the Texas Tech basketball team has done, though, thanks to a 73-59 victory over Baylor on Tuesday night in Lubbock.
Chance McMillian scored 19 points to lead all scorers and Darrion Williams added 17 points while grabbing eight rebounds to help Tech fend off the Bears' attempt to fight back from a 34-24 halftime deficit.
With the win, Tech moved to 9-2 in Big 12 play to remain on the heels of the Houston Cougars who moved to 10-1 in conference play Tuesday by beating Oklahoma State in Houston. At the time of this post, Arizona sits at 9-1 in the Big 12 with a chance to draw even with Houston by winning at BYU, a game that is in progress.
The Red Raiders led the game from the 12:21 mark of the first half and never trailed again. However, Baylor would make things tight in the second half.
With 11:12 to go in the game, Baylor had cut a 13-point deficit to just three points at 45-42. That's when McMillian took matters into his own hands.
Arguably the best 3-point shooter in the Big 12, the Red Raider senior drilled 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to push his team's lead back to 54-44. From there, the Red Raiders were able to fend off all of the Bears' charges.
It was another impressive win for the Red Raiders given that they found a way to follow up Saturday night's emotional win at Houston with another solid effort. Tech didn't allow its fresh No. 13 national ranking and all of the positive press that it has received since knocking off the Cougars to go to its head as head coach Grant McCasland found a way to get his team focused on beating the Bears.
Here are some quick thoughts on the Red Raiders' latest win.
Texas Tech lived by the 3 again
It seems as if almost every Texas Tech game has a common theme, the Red Raiders dominate the opposition from beyond the 3-point arc. That was how the Red Raiders took down Houston in the previous game and it was how they beat the Bears on Tuesday.
For the game, the home team was 11-29 (37.9%) from deep. Meanwhile, the visitors were just 5-18 (27.8%). Anytime the Red Raiders have an 18-point edge from beyond the arc, they are going to be extremely difficult to beat.
Texas Tech sees JT Toppin go down
One reason that McMillian and Williams had to be heroes was because the Red Raiders' leading scorer and rebounder JT Toppin rolled his ankle in the first half and though he returned after halftime, he played only 21 minutes scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds.
In the second half, Toppin played only a few minutes before exiting the game for good. That had to be frustrating on the heels of playing just four minutes against Houston before being ejected after a bogus Flagrant-2 foul.
Baylor was also without a star player, though. Former five-star recruit, VJ Edgecombe did not play in the game after he sprained his ankle on Saturday vs. Kansas. He averages 14.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and is one of the best true freshmen in America.
Thus, with each team missing a star player for much of the night, the scales were somewhat balanced. Fortunately, Texas Tech was able to prevail without a full game from Toppin for the second game in a row.
Texas Tech wins the battle of the benches decisively
Finally, don't overlook the importance of the Texas Tech bench in this game. Three Red Raiders reserves combined to score 13 points. They were led by eight points from big man Federiko Federiko who had to play 28 minutes because of Toppin's injury.
On the other end of the spectrum, Baylor played only two reserves. In 26 combined minutes, that duo was held without a point going a combined 0-5 from the floor. Being as this game was decided by 14 points, Tech's 13-0 edge in bench scoring proved to be massive.