For the first time since reaching the 2019 NCAA championship game, Texas Tech owns a spot in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll for the third consecutive week.
That ought to inspire a resounding reception from the fans Wednesday night in Lubbock, Texas, when the No. 9 Red Raiders host Colorado in their home finale.
Texas Tech (22-7, 13-5 Big 12) is 14-3 at home while outscoring its opponents by 18.9 points per game. The Red Raiders are coming off a 78-73 win at Kansas and are 4-3 in their past seven games with losses to then-No. 20 Arizona, TCU and then-No. 4 Houston.
Colorado (11-18, 2-16) lost Saturday at Kansas State, the Buffs’ third loss in their last four games. The Buffs’ two Big 12 wins — both at home against UCF and Baylor — came after they started 0-13 in league play.
JT Toppin led the Red Raiders against the Jayhawks with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Christian Anderson had 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the 3-point arc.
“Credit to our guys on how aggressive we were,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “It felt like even late, when we weren’t making shots and started to wear down, there was still a physical approach and we didn’t get discouraged. It says a lot about the culture of our program and what we fight for every day. We have a group that loves being around each other and I hope people saw that.”
Texas Tech is tied with Arizona in second place in the Big 12. Houston has clinched the regular-season conference title.
Julian Hammond III, Colorado’s leading scorer at 12.4 points per game, left the Buffaloes’ loss at Kansas State early with a lower back injury. His status is unclear for Wednesday’s game.
The last-place Buffs struggled from outside at Kansas State. They missed their first nine 3-point attempts and finished 4 of 23 behind the arc to drop to 32.1 percent for the year.
“At some point you’ve got to be able to make some shots,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said after the Kansas State game. “And we’re really struggling making shots right now for whatever reason. We missed a lot of open looks … if you’re going to miss a bunch of shots, you better get some offensive rebounds. We had five at halftime. We had one in the second half, so if you’re going to miss shots, you better go try to find second shots or get to the free-throw line.”
RJ Smith led Colorado with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Bangot Dak and Sebastian Rancik each scored 10 points.
Elijah Malone had three of the Buffs’ six blocked shots. Dak’s 41 blocks are seventh-most in the Big 12.
Texas Tech and Colorado close their regular-season schedules Saturday as the Red Raiders travel to Arizona State and the Buffaloes host TCU.
–Field Level Media
