Nothing ever seems to come easy for the Texas Tech basketball program in the Big 12 Tournament, and that was again the case on Wednesday night. Despite making 15 shots from 3-point range (12 in the first half), the No. 2 seeded Red Raiders had to hang on in the closing seconds to squeak out a 76-74 win over No. 7 seed Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
JT Toppin led the way for Tech with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocked shots, while Darrion Williams added 14 points, and Kerwin Walton and Elijah Hawkins both scored 12. However, what looked like it was going to be an offensive clinic for the Red Raiders turned into a grind after halftime.
After posting 52 points in the first half (the most the team had scored in any half this season), the Red Raiders managed to score only 24 after the break. That was due in large part to foul trouble and injuries.
After starting the game, guard Chance McMillian, the team's second-leading scorer in the regular season, did not play in the second half due to what the broadcast crew called an "upper-body injury". He finished the game with no points on 0-3 shooting.
Additionally, backup big man Federiko Federiko also sat out the second half after playing in the first 20 minutes. He was seen with a wrap on his knee while sitting on the bench after halftime. He scored only two points and pulled down just two rebounds for the game.
Then, with Tech down to just six healthy players, senior guard Kerwin Walton fouled out with over five minutes to play. That left head coach Grant McCasland with only five members of his regular rotation to finish the game with.
What's more, point guard Elijah Hawkins was saddled with four personal fouls, making the final few minutes a wild ride for Texas Tech fans everywhere. Thankfully, Hawkins was able to stay in the game for the duration. And in the closing minute, he hit two clutch free throws to put his team ahead 76-72 with 11 seconds to play.
That didn't quite seal the deal, though. Tech allowed Baylor to score quickly on the possession after Hawkins' final free throws. Then, with 5.1 seconds to go, Christian Anderson missed a pair of free throws that could have put his team up four points. It was a quiet night for the freshman phenom as he managed only six points on 2-5 shooting.
Fortunately, though, Baylor had to run the length of the court to get a game-winning shot attempt away, and VJ Edgecombe's running heave at the buzzer was too strong, allowing Tech to escape with the victory.
This was a game that showed again just how resilient and tough this version of the Red Raiders is. However, the win might have come at a cost with McMillian and Federiko both sustaining injuries.
Now, it is fair to question how the Red Raiders will approach Friday night's semifinal matchup against either No. 3 seed Arizona or No. 6 seed Kansas. Will Tech sell out to try to advance to the Big 12 Tournament Finals for just the third time in program history, or will McCasland play it safe and hold McMillian and Federiko out of that game?
Either way, it was nice for the Red Raiders to find a way to grind out a win over a talented Baylor team and pick up a win in the Big 12 Tournament (another Quad-1 win, in fact). That's something that this program has never been able to take for granted.