The Big 12 Conference does not allow a lot of time to bask in the glow of victory as No. 16 Texas Tech and red-hot Cincinnati get right back at it Tuesday at Lubbock, Texas.
Texas Tech’s first step without one of the program’s best players in recent history could not have turned out have much better this past weekend. Cincinnati just notched its biggest victory over the last several years with a road triumph at Kansas.
In its first game without star big man J.T. Toppin — whose season ended with a knee injury on Feb. 17 — Texas Tech (20-7, 10-4 Big 12) barreled past Kansas State 100-72 on Saturday.
Cincinnati (15-12, 7-7) won its fourth game in a row, the longest current streak in the conference, with a surprising 84-68 road romp Saturday against the then-No. 8 Jayhawks.
The Bearcats stumbled to an 0-3 start in league play, then dropped four of five in late January and their first game this month to stir up rumblings about coach Wes Miller’s job security.
Since that skid, Cincinnati has averaged 86.5 points in its four wins in a row to get its season back on track. It is an impressive turnaround for a team that ranks next-to-last in the league with 72.7 points a contest.
“This is a great moment for our program to win a game in a place like this against a team like this,” Miller said. “There hasn’t been a moment when guys on this team haven’t continued to work hard to figure things out.”
The Red Raiders are still in a similar phase as they adjust to how to operate without Toppin, the 2024-25 Big 12 Player of the Year and a consensus preseason All-American.
Demolishing Kansas State was a good first step and the recipe included a dominant rebounding performance (40-28), with six players chiming in with four or more. Texas Tech also got aggressive with the paint opened up without Toppin and cashed in by knocking down 19 of 23 free throws.
The Red Raiders didn’t stray too far away from the things that have helped them shine this season. Led by Donovan Atwell’s hot hand, Texas Tech drained 13 of 28 3-point attempts. Atwell was 6 of 9 on the way to 26 points, while Christian Anderson chimed in with 21 points and nine assists. Luke Bamgboye stepped into the starting lineup in place of Toppin and contributed 12 points, a team-high six defensive boards and three blocks.
“Our team came together and played for each other,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “It really says a lot about this group and how much they love each other and how competitive we were through a tough game and situation.”
Cincinnati could be a different kind of test for the revamped Red Raiders. As impactful as the offensive surge has been, the Bearcats’ strength is a defense that ranks fourth in the Big 12 at 67.0 points per game and fifth in both field-goal percentage defense (41.2%) and 3-point defense (31.6%).
Baba Miller leads Cincinnati with 13.9 points and 10.2 rebounds a game, while Moustapha Thiam has supplied 11.8 points and 6.2 boards a contest and pumped in a career-best 28 points in the win on Saturday.
After an 0-5 start in Big 12 road games, the Bearcats have won their last two.
–Field Level Media
