Though the Texas Tech basketball team picked up a win Thursday night over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament, it might have come at a high cost. Second-team All-Big 12 guard Chance McMillian did not play in the second half of the game due to what was deemed an "upper-body injury". Now, Red Raider fans are wondering if he will play in tonight's semifinal matchup against Arizona and if he'll be at full strength for next week's NCAA Tournament.
After the game, head coach Grant McCasland was asked about McMillian's health. While he explained why McMillian was held out of the second half, he didn't give any insight about when he might return to the floor.
"I've coached Chance enough to know when I feel like he's confident and when I feel like he can play," McCasland said, "because he's always going to say he can play. I mean, he was like, 'I'll go out there and play,' but you know, I just know the difference; we know the difference in regards to where we're going and what we need to do. And I felt like it was best for him to see if he could get feeling better tonight either way, no matter what happened."
For the game, McMillian only played 13 minutes. He scored no points and missed all three of the 3-pointers he attempted (including one airball) while grabbing one rebound and handing out a pair of assists.
Though he didn't contribute to the offense on the score sheet, Tech was still able to put up 52 points in the first half, the most the team has scored in any half this season. However, after the break, Tech mustered only 24 points.
Certainly, McMillian's absence was part of why Baylor was able to put the clamps on Tech in the second half. Without McMillian to worry about, Baylor could shift its better defenders to Tech's other top offensive guards, such as Christian Anderson and Elijah Hawkins.
What's more, after halftime, Baylor played a zone defense for most of the time. Against zone defenses, McMillian, one of the best 3-point shooters in America, is especially dangerous because he extends the area that the zone must cover, thanks to his ability to hit shots from way beyond the 3-point arc.
Also, McMillian is Tech's best guard when it comes to generating offense off of the dribble, another way to attack a zone. Without him, players such as Kerwin Walton and Anderson had to assume larger offensive roles and they are more likely to settle for outside shots rather than try to drive the ball. Thus, the Texas Tech offense grew stagnant as some one-dimensional guards had to try to fill McMillian's shoes.
Of course, just being without a capable body at the guard spot almost proved to be Tech's undoing. With both McMillian and backup big man Federiko Federiko out of action in Thursday's second half, the normal eight-man Red Raider rotation was cut to six players. Then, when Walton fouled out with over five minutes to play, McCasland had only five regulars from his rotation to close out the game.
Fortunately, Tech survived for a 76-74 win, but the toll that the game took on McCasland's squad might have been significant. Hopefully, McMillian's injury is not serious, and he will be back to his usual self quickly because this team won't realize its full potential unless he plays a major role in the postseason.