Texas Tech basketball puts the clamps on Arizona for critical Big 12 win

Finally, the Texas Tech basketball team has won a home conference game in 2024-25. And finally, this version of the Red Raiders has a signature win on its resume after beating Arizona 70-54 on Saturday afternoon.

Entering the game, Tech was only 2-2 in Quad-1 games with no marquee wins to bolster their postseason case. However, by taking down an Arizona team that entered the day at No. 12 in the NCAA NET Rankings, head coach Grant McCasland saw his team pick up its best victory of the season thus far.

The Red Raiders controlled play for most of the afternoon holding the lead for over 36 minutes of play. However, it wasn't until a 13-0 run to close the game that the home team was able to breathe easy.

Let's go inside the box score for some rapid reactions to what we saw in the latest Big 12 battle in Lubbock. And we'll start by giving JT Toppin all the flowers.

JT Toppin powers Texas Tech with a huge double-double

In a game featuring two teams that average over 83 points per game, neither was efficient on the offensive end. Instead, this game resembled a cage match with both teams shooting below 37% from the floor. Fortunately, in the physical battle, Texas Tech sophomore JT Toppin was the best player on the court.

Scoring 20 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, the transfer from New Mexico led all players in both categories. He did all of that in just 26 minutes of action.

The last time we saw Toppin, he was under the weather when he scored only six points and grabbed just four points in 15 minutes of action against Kansas State. Thankfully, he didn't show any signs of being less than 100% against Arizona.

With forward Darrion Williams giving Tech only six points and six rebounds while shooting 3-12 from the floor, Tech needed Toppin to be at his best and that's what he was on Saturday. Against a physical Arizona team, Toppin brought his "A" game to the table down low and had one of his best showings of the season. That's what you need your best players to do in huge games.

Texas Tech benefits from Arizona's poor decision-making down the stretch

This game was a tight affair until the final five minutes. That's when the Red Raiders pulled away thanks in large part to some terrible decisions by Arizona on offense.

The Wildcats are not a good 3-point shooting team. They average just over six made threes per game and shoot only 32.6% as a team from beyond the arc.

So the fact that the Wildcats fell in love with the 3-pointer as the game wound down was a great development for Tech. Once Arizona scored their 54th and final point of the game with 5:16 to play, they attempted ten shots to end the game. Nine of those shots were 3-pointers. That's not the Wildcats' game.

For the day, Arizona was just 3-18 (16.7%) from downtown. That included being just 1-12 on 3-pointers in the second half. Certainly, the Wildcats' decision to fall in love with the 3-pointer despite not being able to hit many of them was a huge factor in the Red Raider win.

Texas Tech wins the rebounding battle in a big way

One of the ways Arizona has beaten teams this year has been by owning the glass. The Wildcats came into Saturday ranked 17th nationally in total rebounds per game averaging 40.7, the most in the Big 12.

However, the Red Raiders absolutely dominated in that category. McCasland's team out-rebounded Arizona 50-34 to help the Red Raiders control the action.

Tech was especially strong on the offensive glass with a 16-8 edge. That led to a 15-5 advantage in second-chance points.

We already discussed Toppin's big day on the glass. But don't overlook what fellow big man Federiko Federiko did with eight rebounds to go along with eight points in 23 minutes. The senior forward continues to play his role at a very high level and give his team meaningful minutes off of the bench.

Is a change coming to Texas Tech's starting five?

One interesting development from this game is that Grant McCasland made a change to his starting lineup after halftime. Instead of beginning the second 20 minutes with the same five he began the game with, McCasland put freshman guard Christian Anderson on the floor in place of senior guard Kerwin Walton.

Could that be a sign that Anderson is about to be Tech's newest starter? Given how the two players have performed in Big 12 play, that would not be a surprise.

In the last six games, Anderson has averaged 8.3 points per game while Walton has averaged just 1.6. Saturday, Anderson outscored Walton 10-0.

Essentially, Anderson has already supplanted Walton in Tech's rotation averaging 28.5 minutes per game to Walton's 9.1 in conference games. Against Arizona, Anderson was on the floor for 34 minutes while Walton played just five. Don't be surprised to see a change to the starting lineup the next time the Red Raiders take the floor. That's a move that's long overdue.