Texas Tech fans have known for quite some time that nothing seems to come easy in the Big 12. That reality was on display again Wednesday night when the 14th-place team in the conference, Arizona State, came to Lubbock and took the Red Raiders to double-overtime before falling 111-106.
The game was a back-and-forth affair for the entire evening. It featured 18 lead changes and was tied 14 times as Arizona State refused to go quietly.
While beating a team that entered the game just 3-9 in Big 12 play is nothing to write home about, the Red Raiders were able to absorb the Sun Devils' best shot and come away with a win. As a result, Tech stays in third place in the Big 12 race right on the heels of first-place Houston and second-place Arizona.
Here are some quick thoughts about what transpired inside United Supermarkets Arena in what was a wild Big 12 shootout.
Texas Tech gets two monster performances from its stars
Certainly, there haven't been too many times in Texas Tech basketball history that a player scored 27 points but wasn't the team's leading scorer. That was the case on Wednesday night, though, when Darrion Williams set a season-high in points only to be upstaged by JT Toppin.
The sophomore transfer from New Mexico had a career night by scoring 41 points in addition to grabbing 15 rebounds, coming away with three steals, and blocking two shots. It was the type of performance that people will remember for quite some time.
Tech needed every bit of offense it got from Williams and Toppin because the team's leading scorer, Chance McMillian was held in check scoring just 14 points despite playing 49 of the game's 50 minutes.
While Toppin's huge offensive night will be the story, don't overlook the critical steal he came up with at the end of the second overtime. With 19 seconds to play and Tech leading 110-106, he and Christian Anderson combined to force a turnover that would essentially seal the game for the Red Raiders.
Toppin and Williams each played 44 minutes in the game. And thanks in large part to their efforts, Tech owned the lane by outscoring the Sun Devils by ten points in the paint. That was huge because the Sun Devils had a significant edge in another aspect of the game.
Texas Tech is out-shot from deep
Typically, it is Tech that out-shoots its opponent from 3-point range. However, on this night, Arizona State had the advantage in that aspect of the game making 13 shots from beyond the arc to the Red Raiders' 10.
Arizona State entered the game shooting a respectable 35.9% from deep, good for fifth in the Big 12. Wednesday, though, they were on fire shooting 48% from 3-point range.
To understand just how hot ASU was from long distance, keep in mind that backup guard Amier Ali was 4-5 from deep. Entering the game, he had made only 14 3-pointers all season and was shooting 25% from beyond the arc. It was that kind of night for ASU and yet, the Red Raiders were able to survive.
Texas Tech gets a favorable whistle at home
Typically, home teams in the Big 12 find themselves at the free-throw line more often than road teams do. That was the case for the Red Raiders in this game.
Tech went to the line 32 times making 23 of those attempts. Arizona State was just at the line 16 times and though they made 13 of their attempts, they still lost the free-throw battle by 10 points, which was crucial in such a close game.
Two of Texas Tech's key reserves continue to struggle
Here's hoping that this game doesn't have lingering effects on the Red Raiders. That could be an issue on Saturday when they play in Stillwater, Oklahoma against Oklahoma State because head coach Grant McCasland had to rely on just six players to get him through the vast majority of this game.
All five of Tech's starters and freshman backup guard Christian Anderson played at least 25 minutes with every one of those players but Kerwin Walton playing 36 or more. That heavy load was a result of the struggles of two key bench pieces, Kevin Overton and Federiko Federiko.
Overton saw only seven minutes of action. He scored just two points and had one assist. Meanwhile, Federiko played just eight minutes scoring no points and grabbing three rebounds while turning the ball over three times.
In his last three games, Overton has scored a total of just four points. Meanwhile, Federiko has now gone two games in a row without scoring a point. In fact, in his last four appearances, he scored one or fewer points three times.
Tech isn't the deepest team so outings like this from Overton and Federiko are less than ideal. Tech has to get more from those two players because asking guys like Toppin, Williams, and McMillian to log 35 minutes or more each game is unsustainable, especially if this team wants to make a deep run in March.