Playing without star guard Chance McMillian, the Texas Tech basketball team got off to a sluggish start Saturday in Lubbock. However, the Red Raiders put their foot on the gas toward the end of the first half and never looked back to race past the West Virginia Mountaineers 73-51.
The win moved Tech to 21-6 overall and 12-4 in Big 12 play. What's more, the Red Raiders got back on the winning track after a disappointing loss at TCU on Tuesday night in Fort Worth.
Here are some quick thoughts on how the Red Raiders secured their latest win.
Christian Anderson powers Texas Tech in the second half
With McMillian out due to a foot or ankle issue that had him in a walking boot, the Red Raiders needed another guard to step up. The player who answered that call was true freshman Christian Anderson who made his first career start.
Scoring a career-high 21 points, the 6-foot-2 guard from Atlanta, Georgia was lethal in the second half when he scored 16 points. That was thanks in large part to four of his five three-point makes coming after the break.
It was great to see the youngster return to form after playing poorly against TCU. Tuesday night, Anderson scored only five points while turning the ball over four times and fouling out in what was his worst game of the season. Saturday, though, he was at his absolute best on a day when he needed to come up big with McMillian sidelined. The kid is going to be a star.
Texas Tech gets a lift from Kevin Overton
Another Red Raider guard who helped lift the team to the win was Kevin Overton. Though his 10-point, six-rebound performance doesn't quite open eyes as Anderson's big day did, he was a key piece in helping Tech overcome its slow start.
With 4:09 to play, Tech was struggling to keep its head above water trailing 27-20. That's when Overton took over, though.
First, he drove to the rim for a layup in traffic after passing up what would have been a contested 3-pointer. Then, after a JT Toppin layup, Overton hit a pair of free throws to pull Tech to within one point a 27-26. On the next possession, Overton connected on another layup to give his team 28-27 advantage, the first time the Red Raiders led on the afternoon.
That personal six-point spurt seemed to awaken the Red Raiders. Prior to that, Tech had been content to settle for a ton of 3-point shots, most of which didn't fall. As a result, the team was not playing aggressive basketball on either end of the floor.
However, when Overton took control and put his nose down to get to the rim, the rest of his teammates followed his lead. After that, the Red Raiders dominated the game in a huge way.
Texas Tech makes life difficult for WVU's leading scorer
With McMillian unavailable, Tech was without the guard that head coach Grant McCasland likes to put on the other team's best perimeter player. That was frightening given that WVU's junior guard, Javon Small, came into the game averaging 18.3 points per game making him the second-leading scorer in the Big 12.
Fortunately, Small struggled all game scoring just 10 points on 3-14 shooting. He was just 1-6 from 3-point range and he had one of his least efficient games of the season.
Much of the credit has to go to Elijah Hawkins and Anderson, both of whom spent significant time checking Small. In this game, WVU needed to take advantage of McMillian's absence on both ends of the floor but that didn't happen because Anderson got hot on offense for Texas Tech and because Small was not able to take over the game on offense.
Texas Tech now turns its attention to Monday night's huge home game against Houston. It will be the biggest game of the season in Lubbock and an opportunity for the Red Raiders to make another national statement. Hopefully, the Red Raiders will have McMillian back and ready to go because McCasland will need all hands on deck for that batle.