Utah showed an intention to stick close to the 15th-ranked Texas Tech in the opening minutes Wednesday night. Once the Red Raiders’ dominant dynamic duo kicked into high gear, though, the Utes’ hopes faded away quickly.
Sparked by stars JT Toppin and Christian Anderson, Texas Tech broke away from Utah with a huge run heading into halftime and weathered a brief rally early in the second half on the way to an 88-74 victory in Lubbock, Texas.
Toppin and Anderson, regarded as one of the best tandems in the country, were at their best in the victory. Toppin led the Red Raiders (13-4, 3-1 Big 12 Conference) with 31 points and 13 rebounds, along with seven assists and five blocked shots. Anderson burned Utah (8-9, 0-4) for 26 points and 10 assists, buoyed by six 3-pointers. Texas Tech connected on 13 of 31 from beyond the arc, its 12th game this season with 10 or more.
Keanu Dawes and Don McHenry paced the Utes with 18 points apiece, and Terrence Brown contributed 17. That trio combined to hit 18 of 34 shots from the field; the rest of the Utes were a combined 7 of 24 (29.2%).
Coming off a game when it pushed ninth-ranked BYU to the edge in a four-point loss on Saturday, Utah climbed out of an early 12-3 hole to pull even at 17-17, then pulled in front 20-19 on Obomate Abbey’s 3-pointer at the 10:45 mark of the first half.
The Red Raiders responded with Toppin hitting second-chance basket and a 3, but Dawes’ 3-pointer closed the gap to 24-23 just past the midway juncture of the opening period.
Toppin dampened the Utes’ momentum with a put-back and Anderson cranked in a 3-pointer, triggering an 18-1 surge over the ensuing 3:37. When the dust settled, Texas Tech was on top 42-24.
After trailing 50-38 at halftime, Utah crept within 52-43 when Dawes hit another 3-pointer with 18:29 on the second-half clock. But Red Raider guard Donovan Atwell responded with consecutive daggers from outside the arc and Texas Tech’s lead never fell below 12 points the rest of the night.
Brown heated up after a rough first half and scored 12 points in the final 12 minutes, but the Utes never figured out a way to slow down Toppin, who scored 13 of his team’s 38 second-half points.
Led by Toppin, the Red Raiders dominated the backboards 41-28, with 13 offensive boards leading way to 14 second-chance points.
–Field Level Media
