It’s just about time to watch Grant McCasland and the Texas Tech Red Raiders work to bounce back from two massive losses this past week. Well, there was only one loss on the court. The other loss involved Texas Tech star JT Toppin getting injured when playing against the Arizona State Sun Devils and then being sidelined for the remainder of the season.
That one is going to sting and could certainly impact the entirety of what the Red Raiders are capable of this season. And it’s going to be interesting to see what Texas Tech looks like when the Red Raiders don’t have Toppin available to them.
Largely because they’ve been so dang impressive when he’s been available. Statistically speaking, the Red Raiders are really, really good.
Examining the stats as the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders host the Kansas State Wildcats in Lubbock on Saturday
Looking at the stats, on the surface, the Red Raiders actually don’t look all that far off from what Kansas State is. Texas Tech is scoring 81.4 points per game while the Wildcats are averaging 80.6 points per game.
One of the biggest areas in which these two teams are different is on the defensive side of things. Texas Tech is allowing 72.3 points per game while Kansas State gives up 80.4 points per game. That yields scoring margins of +9.1 points per game for Texas Tech vs. a +0.2 points per game for the Wildcats.
Along with rebounding ability, ball control is also important and a noteworthy difference here.
Texas Tech is averaging 37.7 rebounds per game against Kansas State’s 34.7 rebounds per game. The Red Raiders have a +3.4 rebound per game margin while the Wildcats have a -2.1 rebound per game margin. And then on the turnover front, Texas Tech is giving the ball away 10.7 times per game while Kansas State has 13 turnovers per game.
And all of that said, it’ll be interesting to see how the Red Raiders play without having JT Toppin, who averaged a team best 21.8 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game. On top of that, he also blocked 1.7 shots per game, dished out 2.1 assists per game, and had 1.4 steals per game. How do the Red Raiders play without him?