Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland knows his team has to find a way to get physical as the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments approach.
The No. 10 Red Raiders (22-8, 12-5 Big 12) have struggled inside since junior forward JT Toppin tore the ACL in his right knee Feb. 17 against Arizona State.
Tuesday’s game was the latest struggle for Texas Tech, which was outrebounded 39-25 in a 73-65 loss to TCU in its home finale.
The loss dropped the Red Raiders from a projected No. 3 seed to a No. 4 seed in CBS’ bracketology projection
Texas Tech will try to get back on track Saturday when it travels to Provo, Utah, to take on BYU (20-10, 8-9) in both teams’ Big 12 regular-season finale.
“I do think that when you play a really physical team, it does take a lot out of us because we have skill,” McCasland told SI.com. “If you were to characterize our players, you wouldn’t say that we’re a physically imposing team. Even though we have physical talent, we have great scoring and shooting in the perimeter and the guard spots.”
The Red Raiders can light it up from the outside, making 11 of 32 3-point attempts on Tuesday, but they scored only eight points on second-chance opportunities and were outscored 38-22 in the paint by TCU.
Texas Tech won its first three games with Toppin out, but the Red Raiders need to figure out the inside play soon.
“They’ve been rebounding and getting to the free-throw line,” McCasland said. “I love that we can get exposed now so that we can learn from it. That’s what I’m excited about. This has been our deal. When we’re scrappy on the glass and can get 50-50 balls and come up with the in-between plays, we’re awesome. And when we don’t, this is what we get.”
Toppin was leading the Red Raiders with 21.8 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game.
Sophomore guard Christian Anderson now leads the team with 19.1 ppg, while junior forward LeJuan Watts leads with just 5.9 rebounds per game.
A major injury has also put the Cougars in a tailspin as they are 1-4 since losing senior guard Richie Saunders in mid-February.
BYU has dropped out of the Top 25, and Tuesday’s 90-68 loss at Cincinnati didn’t help matters. CBS still projects the Cougars as a No. 7 seed despite their 4-9 record after starting 16-1.
“We got ourselves in a hole to start the game with bad offense, 13 points off turnovers in the first half,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “Less than two weeks ago, we beat Iowa State, a good team, one of the best in the country. I just think our confidence is a little shook. We have to play with more inner belief. We have to manage the ups and downs during the season.”
The Bearcats led by 12 at halftime, outshot the Cougars 50% to 41.4% and only committed seven turnovers. Cincinnati had 10 steals, while BYU had only 2.
Freshman AJ Dybantsa led the Cougars with 23 points, six rebounds and six assists. He also became just the third freshman to play more than 1,000 minutes at BYU.
