With five consecutive wins under its belt, No. 11 Texas Tech will try to keep rolling against UCF on Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Last Saturday against No. 6 Houston, the Red Raiders (16-4, 6-1 Big 12) avenged their lone conference loss by holding the Cougars at bay, 90-86, using a double-double by All-American forward JT Toppin. He totaled 31 points and 12 rebounds in a full 40-minute effort.
“What I was most thrilled about is that we didn’t back down,” third-year coach Grant McCasland said. “It looked like they knocked us off-center when they got a lead in the second half and we looked tired. It looked like we were trying to figure out what was left in our tank to finish.
“There was a lot of resilience in our timeouts.”
After losing to the Cougars 69-65 in Houston on Jan. 6, McCasland’s squad squared the season series and rebounded by simply rebounding.
In the first meeting, Houston held a 36-35 edge on the glass, but the Red Raiders owned the paint at home last weekend. While outboarding the visitors 44-28, they scrapped for an amazing 21 on the offensive end.
With regard to points in the paint, Texas Tech created a 26-22 advantage — the margin of victory — to end Houston’s 11-game winning streak overall and its 16-game road streak that lasted nearly two full years.
Toppin, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, said the rematch had to go down that way.
“In a game like this with as physical as they are, you have to have the same mindset of being tough,” said Toppin, who earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors for the third time in a month.
The Dallas native averages a double-double (22.1 points, 10.9 rebounds) and also leads the Red Raiders in blocks (1.7). Guard Christian Anderson provides 19.8 points, a Big 12-best 7.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game
Winners of four of their past six contests, the Knights (16-4, 5-3) have another chance to make a March Madness-worthy statement. When top-ranked Arizona visited UCF on Jan. 17, the Knights trailed by just three at the break before falling 84-77.
If UCF hopes to upset Texas Tech, it likely needs to show the determination displayed in Tuesday’s incredible home comeback against Arizona State.
Down a dozen to the Sun Devils with 6:09 remaining and without any kind of spark, coach Johnny Dawkins’ group went on an 11-0 run. In the final 35 seconds, Jordan Burks sank a go-ahead 3-pointer and created a turnover to deliver a shocking 79-76 win.
“We kept competing,” Dawkins said. “You’re not going to make shots every night, and I try to instill that in our guys. … So you have to find another way. I’m glad these guys believed in the system enough to dig deep and find a way.”
Burks’ trey was the final of five in UCF’s shooting spree down the stretch. Chris Johnson made two while Riley Kugel and Carmelo Pacheco each drained one to craft the comeback.
“We preach every day before the game, you’re going to get some ups and down,” said Knights forward Jamichael Stillwell, who averages 12.5 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds. “You’ve got to fight adversity and stay together.”
Kugel tops UCF with 15.1 points per game followed by Themus Fulks’ 13.9 points and 7.2 assists.
