The Texas Tech basketball team wrapped up its 2024-25 regular season in fantastic fashion Saturday night in Tempe, Arizona. Thanks to huge performances from sophomore forward JT Toppin and freshman guard Christian Anderson, the Red Raiders pulled away in the second half for an 85-57 win over a depleted Arizona State team.
Toppin poured in 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to further strengthen his candidacy for Big 12 Player of the year. It was his 14th double-double of the season and the 26th of his college career.
Certainly, Arizona State fans have to be tired of facing Toppin. In two games this year against ASU, he has averaged 33 points and 12.5 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Anderson put up 21 points and grabbed three rebounds. He was 4-8 from 3-point range, including a deep bomb from the edge of the center-court logo to beat the first-half buzzer to give his team some much-needed breathing room at 36-32 after an uninspiring first half.
Playing in an arena that was devoid of energy and only half-full, Tech got off to a bit of a sleepy start. Though the Red Raiders led for most of the first half, ASU was able to keep the game close thanks to a huge edge at the free-throw line.
However, down two regular members of their rotation, the Sun Devils ran out of gas after halftime while the Red Raiders put their foot on the gas. Tech owned a 49-25 edge in the second half and pulled away to pick up their 15th conference win of the season.
Given that the Red Raiders just went through the first season in history that forced teams to play 20 Big 12 games, it isn't ridiculous to suggest that this is the most impressive regular season that Tech has ever experienced.
No, the Red Raiders didn't win the Big 12 title like they did in 2018-19 when they shared the crown with Kansas State. However, they did set new program records for conference wins and conference road wins this season.
What's more, the Big 12 is a tougher league in 2024-25 than it was six years ago when the Red Raiders won a share of their only conference title in the Big 12 era. Thus, this year's performance is one that Tech fans should not take for granted.
Texas Tech gets a scare with Darrion Williams
One interesting sidebar to this game was the availability of Darrion Williams. The junior forward started the game as usual but played only two minutes in the first half. While he sat out, he went to the locker room with the Texas Tech training staff, and though he did return before halftime, he didn't play until several minutes into the second half (Federiko Federiko started the second half in his place).
When Williams did return, though, he was effective. He wound up playing a total of 16 minutes, and though he scored only two points, he grabbed five rebounds and handed out a pair of assists.
Though it was obvious by the way he moved that Williams was not playing at 100%, he was still on the court for the majority of the second-half barrage that pushed the Red Raiders to their double-digit lead. Certainly, the fact that Tech was comfortable putting him back into the fray of a game that was somewhat meaningless (at least in the conference race) is a good sign. Now, here's hoping he makes the most of the four days off before the Red Raiders play their first game of the Big 12 tournament.
Texas Tech sets a new season standard in a critical category
Going inside the box score, one number jumps out. The Red Raiders gave the ball away only twice for the entire game.
That is the lowest turnover number of the season for the Red Raiders. What's more, Arizona State only committed six turnovers, making this one of the lowest-turnover Big 12 games imaginable.
Tech has done a nice job of taking care of the ball in recent games. Against Colorado on Wednesday night, the Red Raiders only lost the ball six times. Meanwhile, a week ago, Tech lost it only eight times while beating Kansas on the road. That's an area in which a team wants to be executing well heading into the postseason.