Saturday afternoon, the season will continue on for the No. 13 ranked Texas Tech men’s basketball team (19-7 overall, 9-4 Big 12) as Grant McCasland and his Red Raiders welcome the Kansas State Wildcats (11-15 overall, 2-11 Big 12) to Lubbock.
And it feels weird. To be completely honest, it just does.
We’re about to find out how deep this roster is for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech, fresh off a road loss against an underwhelming opponent in the Arizona State Sun Devils, is having to play while the Red Raiders’ star JT Toppin is sidelined with a season-ending knee injury.
Prior to his injury, Toppin was thriving and was clearly one of the best players in the country. This season, Toppin averaged 21.8 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game. Oh, and 1.7 blocks per game. He was unstoppable and also pretty solid when it came to stopping other folks.
Now Texas Tech needs to figure out how to play without him.
Texas Tech to play its first game without JT Toppin as the No. 13 ranked Red Raiders host the Kansas State Wildcats
Here’s what you need to watch the Red Raiders welcome the Wildcats to Lubbock:
- Who: Texas Tech Red Raiders (19-7 overall, 9-4 Big 12) vs. Kansas State Wildcats (11-15 overall, 2-11 Big 12)
- When: Saturday, February 21 at 1:30 p.m.
- Where: Lubbock, Texas
- Venue: United Supermarket Arena
- TV channel: FOX
- Live stream: FOX Sports
Thankfully, Texas Tech is put in a solid position to be able to win this game. The Red Raiders are 12-1 at home this season and Kansas State has managed to struggle its way to a 1-7 road record. The Wildcats are the perfect sort of team to use to get something that resembles momentum going against.
Or at least it seemed that way until the Wildcats made a coaching change to move on from Jerome Tang and then they beat the Baylor Bears by 16 points to snap a six-game losing streak.
Now, you know, who knows what Kansas State might do?
Texas Tech needs this win. The Red Raiders just flat out need this win. Something has to go right for this team after losing Toppin. Otherwise, it’s certainly possible that another underwhelming performance might truly make this season spiral for the Texas Tech men’s basketball team.