To say that the Texas Tech basketball team needed a bounce-back performance on Saturday against Utah would be an understatement. That's because what the Red Raiders showed in their 87-83 home loss to UCF was unacceptable by any measure.
In that game, Tech allowed the Knights to shoot 51.8% from the floor as a team. That included 10-23 (43.5%) shooting from 3-point range. What's more, Tech forced only 14 turnovers as they dropped their Big 12 opener.
Against Utah, the Red Raiders were improved on defense letting the Utes shoot only 42.3% overall and 26.1% from 3-point range. Following the road victory in Salt Lake, City, McCasland seemed pleased with the defensive effort, especially in the second half.
"Well, I thought it was a great atmosphere and a great college game," he said, "and give them a lot of credit for the way they came out, and they're really difficult to defend early, and we had some confusion on taking away three-point shots. But as the game went on, I thought our defense really settled in, and we got great offensive players, we're growing as a team defensively, and I thought to finish the game the way we did to start the second half, the way we finished the first half and extended the lead.
"And then, man, our urgency and our ability to take away who I thought was great perimeter shooting, I thought was a difference in the game. And then, you know, their scrap was there. They beat us to a few loose balls. They got offensive rebounds that we needed to come up with, that we didn't. But for the most part, man, this team really loves each other. They're competing. We're competing the right way, and we're growing and getting better and I thought the second half was a great indication of that."
In the loss to UCF, it felt like Tech didn't bring the type of fight needed to win in the rugged Big 12 conference. McCasland said that his team's mentality was better on Saturday night.
"Yeah, man, to be honest, we just played one of the worst defensive games we've played, maybe since I've been coaching in Division I, to open conference play," he said. "And they're obviously a good offensive team, especially if they can get you in space, talking about UCF, and then to start the game the way we did, and [Utah was] shooting 75% I think, through 10 minutes maybe. And you're right, the physicality that they play with, the way they screen, the way they rake, help to how physical they are gardening, the paint, you know, they really were ready, you could tell.
"But in this league, you got to love, you got to love just the constant fight of it. It is true. I mean, you got to enjoy it. You can't look at this as, like, very difficult. And you got to actually love the difficulty if you were going to have success in this league. And that's what I did see with this team. And I thought Federiko [Federiko] was a big part of that coming in the game, you know, like he came in and gave us a huge lift offensively. And I thought his presence defensively really caused some problems in space, and he was able to rebound and put pressure on the rim when they were taking away three-point shots, you know, to in that stretch.
"And then JT, to get foul trouble and come back in and help us make that run. We're always going to be anchored with Darrion Williams, but Elijah Hawkins being in here, I thought his tone setting and the way he was moving and the way he made shots early, just really gave us a lift. It was fun to see our team really play for each other with six guys and double figures to start the game, we did making as many shots, but really to finish it defensively and to score down the stretch, I thought said a lot about our team's enjoyment of it being difficult, and Utah did make it difficult on us."
Next, McCasland was asked about the fact that his teams at Texas Tech have been playing with more pace on offense than his teams at other schools typically did. He said that was an intentional decision to make life more difficult for Big 12 opponents.
"Well, I will say we've got more depth," he said, "and we also have more guys at different positions that I feel like put pressure on teams offensively. And if you don't get into actions quickly in the Big 12, you can't take advantage of that. And so I think really, more than anything, it is about putting pressure on people constantly. And the way we used to put pressure on people was make them guard us longer and maybe come down and move this.
"You put pressure on people because you got six guys that can go in double figures, and [Kevin Overton] probably would have been seven if we'd have played him more minutes. And then Kerwin Walton, one of the best shooters in the world, you know, he played 10 minutes, and he got off the snide today...So I just love this team because we've got a lot of depth in different areas, and the real big push for us is, how do we create more physicality and make the possessions harder defensively? And that's what we're learning."
Finally, a reporter asked McCasland about the message he gave his team ahead of the game and specifically how his team defended Utah's dangerous 3-point shooting guards. McCasland said that one of his senior guards was key in that effort.
"Yeah, well give Chance McMillian credit," he said. "I mean, Chance has been one of those guys who's been great for us offensively, but he played 35 minutes, and he comes to us probably with six minutes or eight minutes to go, and like, Coach, can you get me out?
"It's the first time I've ever heard him ask for a sub. But I mean, that just shows you the energy that it takes. And we made it clear to our team that we felt like this was going to be an endurance race. Like, honestly, who can stay the course with the energy and physicality not over the course of the entire game, but over the course of possessions, offensively and defensively?
"I think our team took that to heart. Kevin Overton was a big part of that, too. Christian Anderson, Elijah Hawkins, I mean, that guard group that the way they were flying around, and we were able to play so many guys to stay connected, and then we made guys that probably weren't their leading scorers the leading scorers in a game and I thought that was pivotal. I mean, when you've got, you know, Wallen and Dawes, and Keller as their leading scorers I mean...we wanted to make those guys see if they could beat us with twos around the basket and we were pretty consistent in the game plan."