Due to a sprained ankle, the Texas Tech basketball team was without star forward Darrion Williams for Wednesday night's home tilt with TCU. However, the Red Raiders were still able to put away the Horned Frogs 71-57.
Sophomore forward JT Toppin led the way with 18 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot as the Red Raiders moved to 16-4 overall and 7-2 in Big 12 play. Meanwhile, senior guard Chance McMillian contributed 16 points and three assists to the winning cause.
The Red Raiders entered the game as prohibitive favorites but found that TCU wasn't content to simply lay down. In fact, though the home team controlled the scoreboard for over 37 minutes in the game, it wasn't until the final two minutes that this game was finally put to bed.
After Tech took a 62-48 lead with 6:13 to play, the Red Raiders would go into a prolonged scoring drought allowing TCU to climb back into the game. By the time the clock was at the 3:56 mark, the Horned Frogs had cut their deficit to 62-55.
🖐️ STRAIGHT pic.twitter.com/hjeWRGlUnw
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) January 30, 2025
This was similar to Sunday's win over Oklahoma State. In that game, the Red Raiders let an 18-point second-half lead dwindle to just three points before closing the book on the Cowboys.
Thankfully, on Wednesday, it was a three-point jumper from Christian Anderson that proved to be the dagger putting Tech up 65-55 with 1:53 to play. Then, the Red Raiders sealed the deal at the free-throw line making six of their final eight attempts to close out the game.
Speaking of the free-throw line, that is where this game was won, or lost if one takes on the TCU perspective. While the Red Raiders were 15-21 (71.4%) at the line, the Frogs were just 12-22 (54.5%) as a team leading to the majority of the game's final point difference.
Texas Tech also had a 15-point advantage from 3-point range. The Red Raiders were not all the efficient from beyond the arc going 10-31 (32.3%) but TCU was worse shooting only 5-18 (27.8%) for the game.
Ultimately, this was a solid win for the Red Raiders despite the fact that TCU entered the game 10-9 overall and 3-5 in Big 12 play. That's because winning without Williams is never easy.
Averaging 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, he is the glue that holds the Red Raiders together on both ends of the floor. His presence is to the Texas Tech basketball team what running back Tahj Brooks' presence has meant to the Texas Tech football team over the last two seasons. Both players are who their team turns to for stability and productivity in critical moments.
We saw Tech go 0-2 on the gridiron without Brooks this fall losing to Washington State and Arkansas and looking completely out of sorts in both contests. Fortunately, the basketball team handled life without Williams in a more successful manner against the Frogs because the Red Raiders needed to pick up a win at home heading into a daunting three-game stretch against No. 6 Houston, Baylor, and Arizona with the first and third of those games being on the road.
The Red Raiders are now tied with Iowa State for third place in the Big 12 race. Now they turn their attention to the season's biggest test thus far, a road trip to Houston. Hopefully, they will have Williams back for that game because Tech will need all hands on deck on Saturday.