Texas Tech’s 15 triples help secure second-ever win over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse
By SAM LANCE
No. 10 Texas Tech attempted the most 3-pointers in school history to knock off Kansas, 78-73, for its second-ever win inside Allen Fieldhouse. The Red Raiders shot 15-of-43 (35%) from deep and had seven different players knock one down.
“When we we’re 1-on-1 in the post against KJ [Adams], against [Hunter] Dickinson, that’s not necessarily an advantage,” Grant McCasland said postgame. “So like, how do you create the advantage and then how do you get them into multiple actions. And they do get spread out eventually and you can get catch and shoot threes… Honestly I feel like those are our best shots.”
The 43 triples from Texas Tech was not only a school record, but a record for 3-point attempts against Kansas.
“We didn’t guard the arc whatsoever, and that was of course the difference in the game,” Bill Self said postgame.
Sophomore forward JT Toppin led Texas Tech in the scoring column with 21 points, 18 of which came in the first half. Toppin was in foul trouble most of the second half and fouled out with 1:47 to play. He played just six second half minutes. Behind Toppin in double-figure scoring was freshman guard Courtney Anderson (15 points, five triples) and junior forward Darrion Williams (14 points, nine rebounds).
The Red Raiders were out-rebounded 39-29 and outscored in the paint 44-20, but it didn’t matter. Texas Tech had 33 more points from beyond the arc.
“I don’t think we expected them to shoot 43,” Dickinson said. “We knew they were a really good 3-point shooting team coming in… We tried to trap [Williams] from different angles and I think that led to them getting a lot of good looks from three, especially early on.”
The biggest treys came from senior point guard Elijah Hawkins. When Kansas grabbed a 61-60 lead with 8:30 to play, Hawkins kept the crowd from exploding with an instant answer from deep. He added another on the next possession to go up 66-63, and the Red Raiders didn’t look back from there.
Kansas (19-10, 10-8 Big 12) didn’t hit a field goal the last 2:49 of game clock and have lost three league games in Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since the 1988-89 season. Texas Tech improves to 22-7 and 13-5 in league play, sitting in third of the Big 12 standings. What a job McCasland has done this season.
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