The third contest of a four-game homestand for the Texas Tech men's basketball team this season is on tap for Wednesday night at United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders have started the season with a 2-0 record for the ninth straight time and won 32 straight non-conference home games after rolling through Bethune-Cookman and Northwestern State during the opening week of the college basketball season and will now host Wyoming at 7 p.m. in their only game this week. Tech (2-0) comes into the game averaging 90.0 points, are shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 22-for-49 (44.9 percent) on 3-pointers and are at 16.0 assists and only 10.5 turnovers per game. The Cowboys (2-0) earned an 81-66 win over Tennessee State on Sunday afternoon after beginning their season with a 108-85 win over Concordia-St. Paul.
JT Toppin leads the Red Raiders by averaging 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game after going off for 25 points and seven rebounds in the win over Northwestern State. Darrion Williams is coming off a career-high 11 assists and is averaging 12.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 9.5 assists through two games, while Kerwin Walton is at 16.0 points per with a season-high 21 in the season-opening win over Bethune-Cookman where he made a career-best seven 3-pointers. Chance McMillian is adding 15 points and 6.5 rebounds and Kevin Overton is fresh off a 19-point performance against Northwestern State in a reserve role. The Red Raiders have not dropped a non-conference home game since an overtime loss to Kentucky back on January 25, 2020 which snapped a 54-game winning streak in non-conference home games.
The Cowboys are averaging 94.5 points per game with four players in double figures and two at 9.5 per. Obi Agbim leads the Cowboys with 24.5 points per game after scoring 24 on Sunday by shooting 4-for-4 on 3-pointers and finishing 10-for-13 from the field. Jordan Nesbitt added 15 points and seven rebounds against Tennessee State and comes into Lubbock averaging 13.0 points and 11.5 rebounds through two games. Agbim is currently 7-for-9 on 3-pointers this season for the Cowboys who are 15-for-39 (38.5 percent) as a team.
Wyoming is 7-5 all-time against the Red Raiders with the most recent matchup coming on December 14, 2002, with the Cowboys taking a 67-62 win in Casper, Wyoming. The Red Raiders are 3-2 against the Cowboys in games played in Lubbock – most recently on January 1, 2002, with a 90-84 win. The programs will be meeting for the 13th time with the first-ever meeting on December 28, 1940, in Oklahoma City. The Cowboys are coming off a season where they went 15-17 overall and were 8-10 in Mountain West games. The program is led by head coach Sundance Wicks who took over for Tech assistant coach Jeff Linder who departed Laramie to join the Red Raider staff this season.
Grant McCasland improved to 236-100 in his career with the 86-65 win over Northwestern State last Friday and is now 25-11 overall and 17-2 at home leading the Red Raiders. McCasland's roster has 14 players on it this season, including three fifth-year seniors (Devan Cambridge, McMillian, Walton), two seniors (Elijah Hawkins, Federiko Federiko), three juniors (Jack Francis, Corbin Green, Williams), three sophomores (Overton, Toppin, Eemeli Yalaho) and three freshmen (Christian Anderson, Jazz Henderson, Leon Horner). Five players made their Tech debuts against Bethune-Cookman, including Toppin, Overton, Federiko, Green and Horner. The Red Raiders were without Anderson, Hawkins, Henderson and Yalaho due to injury in the first two games.
Tech's 16 3-pointers in the opener against Bethune-Cookman matched the program record that was most recently accomplished against Kansas back on February 23, 2019 and also against UNC-Asheville (2004) and New Mexico State (1996)… The Red Raiders finished last season with 11 games of 10 or more 3s, including a season-high 15 against Sam Houston and then making 14 at TCU in Big 12 play...Texas Tech was second in the Big 12 last season by shooting 35.9 percent on 3-pointers and third with 8.5 made per game… Last season, Tech led the Big 12 at the free-throw line shooting 78.0 percent and are coming off a season opener where it went 6-for-10… The Red Raiders dominated the glass with a 44-21 rebounding advantage with Toppin having eight rebounds and Cambridge grabbing seven… The 94 points were the most in a season opener since a 101-58 win over Northwestern State in the 2020-21 season and was the fourth time over 90 under McCasland… Tech improved to 8-0 all-time against Northwestern State with the win… Tech's largest run of the season was a 17-0 run to end the first half against Bethune-Cookman… The team is 2-0 when leading at halftime with the largest margin being 50-28 against Bethune Cookman… Tech has been led in scoring by two players this season, Toppin with 25 against Northwestern State and Walton with 21 against Bethune-Cookman.
Williams recorded a career-high 11 assists and nearly became the third Red Raider in history to have a triple-double after adding eight points and eight rebounds in the win over Northwestern State. He started his junior season off with 17 points, six rebounds and a career-high eight assists in the win over Bethune-Cookman. He was 7-for-12 from the field, including going 2-for-4 on 3-pointers. He's now at 653 points and 502 rebounds through 68 career game. Williams is the leading returner with 11.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and nine double-doubles after a sophomore season where he earned All-Big 12 Third Team and All-Big 12 Newcomer Team honors. He made 33 starts last season, scoring in double-figures in 19, including a program-best performance where he went 12-for-12 from the field and scored 30 points in a 79-50 home win over No. 6 Kansas. A California native who played his freshman season at Nevada, he finished his first season at Tech shooting 131-for-265 (49.4 percent) from the field and 44-for-96 (45.8 percent) on 3-pointers along with providing 82 assists, 38 steals and 11 blocked shots. In Big 12 play, Williams averaged 13.1 points per game and was 23-for-44 on 3-pointers which is the second best in program history for percentage at a 52.3 percent. He established a career-high with 14 rebounds in a non-conference win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and had his ninth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Baylor in the regular-season finale. His 19th double-figure scoring performance came with 10 points against NC State in the NCAA Tournament. Through two games this season, Williams is averaging 12.5 points, 9.5 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Walton is third nationally in active 3-point percentage at 43.2 percent which is only behind Koby Brea (Kentucky) who is at 44.3 percent and Cade Tyson (North Carolina) at 44.1 percent. Walton made a career-high seven 3-pointers and led the Red Raiders with 21 points in the season-opening win over Bethune-Cookman before making three 3-pointers and finishing with 11 points against Northwestern State. His 21 points in the opener was his second career game with 20 or more points in his career only being surpassed by his career-best 22-point performance last season against Omaha. The seven 3-pointers were the most for a Red Raider since McMillian made eight last season at Butler and two off from Alan Voskuil's program record of nine against Kansas back on March 4, 2009. Walton is now 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) on 3-pointers this season. He is the longest tenured Red Raider in his third season in the program and fifth as a collegiate player who now has 752 points and 179 made 3-pointers in his career. A Minnesota native, Walton is coming off a senior season where he averaged 8.5 points per game and finished 65-for-136 (47.8 percent) from beyond the arc. His percentage was second nationally and second in program history. He scored a career-high 22 points in a non-conference win over Omaha where he was 6-for-7 on 3-pointers and 8-for-9 from the field. In Big 12 play, Walton started all 18 games last season with a pair of 18-point scoring performances in road games at Houston and UCF. He finished the season with 11 double-figure scoring performances with 12 points against BYU in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinal win in Kansas City. He had eight games with three or more 3s, with a 3-for-4 outing against NC State in the NCAA Tournament First Round being the final one. Walton is now 176-for-414 (43.2 percent) in his career beyond the arc. Starting his career with two seasons at North Carolina, Walton has now played 62 games with 35 starts at Tech where he is 98-for-211 (46.4 percent) on 3s.
McMillian is coming off his 50th career double-figure scoring performance after going for 13 points and eight rebounds in the win over Northwestern State. He also drilled four 3-pointers and went off for 17 points, five assists and five rebounds against Bethune-Cookman in the season opener. He was 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc in the game and was only one assist shy of matching his career-high. Against Northwestern State, McMillian was 5-for-7 from the field with one 3-pointer and 2-for-2 at the free-throw line. He enters his third game of his second season at Texas Tech with 1,057 points, 194 assists, 80 steals, 374 rebounds and 50 double-figure scoring performances. McMillian averaged 10.8 points per game and was 65-for-168 (38.7 percent) on 3-pointers in his first season as a Red Raider where he recorded 18 double-figure scoring performances that included a career-high 27 points at Oklahoma where he went 6-for-8 on 3-pointers. A California native, he scored 17 points in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinal win over BYU and had 15 points against Houston in the semifinals. McMillian was selected as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice during the season, the first time against going off for 24 points at Butler where he went 8-for-10 on 3-pointers. He finished the year 40-for-44 at the free-throw line, including going 26-for-28 in conference play. McMillian is currently averaging 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game to start the season.
Toppin continued showing why he is on the Karl Malone Award Watch List and was one of the top gets out of the transfer portal by recording 25 points and seven rebounds in his second game with the program after going for 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots in his debut. He was 10-for-11 from the field against Northwestern State after an 8-for-12 shooting performance against Bethune-Cookman. Toppin is now 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) from the field this season and is averaging 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 1.5 steals through the two wins. Toppin transferred to Tech after being named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year last season following a freshman season at New Mexico where he averaged 12.4 points and 9.1 rebounds. He also provided 68 blocked shots, 38 steals and recorded 12 double-doubles which was tied for the 38th most in the nation. A Dallas native, Toppin returned to his home state after a season where he recorded 23 double-figure scoring performances in 35 games. His first career double-double came with 15 points and 10 rebounds against UT Arlington and was highlighted by him going for a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds against Toledo. Averaging 1.9 blocks per game, he had a career-best five blocks in games against San Diego State, San Jose State and UNLV. He also had 25 points and 13 rebounds at Air Force and 21 points at Boise State. His 12th double-double of the season came with him going off for 13 points and 11 rebounds against San Diego State in the MWC tournament. Toppin finished his first collegiate season going 193-for-310 (62.3 percent) from the field with 11 3-pointers. He was ranked No. 12 in ESPN's transfer rankings and was the third-best transfer still available when he signed on May 28. Toppin enters Wednesday's game with four games of 20-plus point scoring performances and 25 double-figure scoring games through 38 career games.
Overton recorded his second straight double-figure scoring performance to begin his sophomore season after providing 19 points in a game against Northwestern State where he was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line. He also scored 10 points from the starting lineup in his Red Raider debut against Bethune-Cookman with one 3-pointer. Overton, who is currently averaging 14.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, joined the Texas Tech program this season after a freshman year at Drake where he provided 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists as a starter in 35 games (29.9 minutes per game). An Oklahoma City native, he scored in double figures in 19 games with a career-high 23 points coming against Murray State in his freshman season. Overton finished his first collegiate season shooting 62-for-179 on 3-pointers and contributed 21 steals. He scored 20 or more points in three games with 22 against Oakland and 21 against Saint Louis before his 23-point performance against Murray State where he was 8-for-11 from the field with five 3-pointers. Overton played one prep season at Sunrise Christian before beginning his collegiate career. He has 423 points and 123 rebounds through 37 games in his collegiate career.
Cambridge needs only seven points to reach the 1,000-point milestone in his career after he had five points in the win over Northwestern State last Friday night. He made his return from an injury-shortened season by contributing seven rebounds and five points against Bethune-Cookman in just over 21 minutes of time on the court. Cambridge has now recorded 993 career points, 524 rebounds and 71 blocked shots through 137 games. A starter in the first eight games last season, Cambridge suffered a lower body injury that forced him out the remainder of the season. He was averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in his first season at Texas Tech before the injury, including a season-best 17 points in a win over Michigan in the Bahamas and going for 16 points at Butler. His injury occurred at home against Omaha where he had nine points in 18 minutes. Cambridge began his career by playing three seasons at Auburn before playing the 2022-23 season at Arizona State where he averaged 9.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in 36 games played (35 starts). A Tennessee native, he is now 362-for-825 from the field for his career which includes going 1-for-1 on 3-point attempts this season and making 117 overall. Cambridge, who played as a reserve in the opener and started against Northwestern State, is currently averaging 5.0 points and 4.5 rebounds through two games this season. His 137 games played are the fifth most in the nation among active players with Dajuan Harris of Kansas at 142 for the most.
Hawkins is on the Bob Cousy Award Watch List after he transferred to Texas Tech as a senior having already produced 1,077 points, 588 assists and 169 steals through 92 games in his career. His 6.39 assists per game in his career leads all active players in the nation while his 588 career assists are the fifth most for an active player with Djuan Harris of Kansas atop the list with 684. Hawkins has missed the first two games of the season with a lower body injury. A Washington, D.C. native, Hawkins was second nationally last season with 7.5 assists per game at Minnesota where he also averaged 9.5 points and had six double-doubles as an All-Big 10 honorable mention selection. Hawkins scored a career-high 24 points against Ohio State and had a 17-assist performance against IU Indy in a non-conference win. For his career, Hawkins is 134-for-357 (37.5 percent) on 3-pointers and has made 265 free throws. He began his collegiate career with two seasons at Howard before playing one at Minnesota. Last season, he had eight games with double-figure assists, including dishing out 15 assists and scoring 11 points in a win over Butler in the NIT and also having double-doubles against Nebraska (12p/11a), Maine (12p/10a), Northwestern (13p/10a) at home, Illinois (12a/10p) and at Northwestern (14p/10a).
Federiko provided five points in both games last week and is currently averaging 5.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in a reserve role. He had a career-high three steals in the win over Northwestern State to lead the Red Raiders who had seven steals in the game. He is a senior in his first and final season at Texas Tech following two years at Pitt. A Finland native, Federiko is coming off a season where he averaged 4.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and had 43 blocked shots as a starter in 26 games. He had a career-high 22 points against North Florida last season and finished with eight games in double-figure scoring as a sophomore and two last season. In 2022-23, he went for 13 points and eight points at Florida State and produced his only double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds against Sacred Heart. Last season, he had a double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks against North Carolina A&T. As a sophomore, Federiko recorded 18 games with two or more blocks, including having four blocks in games against Miami, Vanderbilt and North Carolina before having six games with three or more blocks last season. Federiko was a NJCAA All-America as a freshman at Northern Oklahoma. He now has 398 points, 366 rebounds and 103 blocks through 70 games at the NCAA level.
Yalaho missed both games last week to start the season with a lower body injury. He enters his sophomore season after playing in 17 games last season as a freshman, including scoring a career-high 10 points against Houston in the Big 12 Championship semifinals. A Finland native, Yalaho was 16-for-33 from the field and averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He had a career-best six rebounds at UCF where he also had eight points. Against Houston in Kansas City, Yalaho scored in double figures for the first time in his career after he also provided seven points and three rebounds in the regular-season finale win over Baylor. Over the summer, Yalaho returned to Finland where he participated in workouts with his national team.
Green played two minutes in the season opener but did not play against Northwestern State after he joined the Texas Tech program as a walk-on in September. He played the previous two seasons at Air Force. A Midlothian native, Green returned to his home state having played in 36 career games and produced 46 blocked shots. As a freshman in the 2022-23 season, Green started 12 games and played in 24 at Air Force where he averaged 6.5 points and had 34 blocks. Last season, he played in 12 games where he averaged 2.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and had 12 blocked shots. His career-best came with 17 points and 12 rebounds against USC Update on November 21, 2022. Green is a junior with two years of eligibility remaining.
Francis played two minutes in the season opener, making his sixth appearance on the court as a Red Raider. He is a walk-on who played in five games last season for the Red Raiders. He scored his first career points with a pair of free throws against Sam Houston in a non-conference win and had two rebounds against Kansas and Oklahoma State in Big 12 play. An Austin native, Francis was a practice player during the 2022-23 season before earning a spot on the roster. He was a 1,000-point scorer at Anderson High School.
Anderson missed both games last week with a lower body injury. He signed with Texas Tech on May 21 as a four-star recruit following one season at Oak Hill Academy where he averaged 19.1 points and 4.6 assists per game. Originally a Michigan signee, Anderson opened his recruitment and joined the Red Raiders who he practiced with in June before going overseas in July to lead Germany to the 2024 FIBA U18 Eurobasket Championship this season. He averaged 20.3 points and 5.0 assists per game in the tournament, including going off for 31 points and five assists in the finals against Serbia. An Atlanta, Georgia native, Anderson played at The Lovett School where he averaged 23.7 points in his high school career with 2,038 points. As a junior The Lovett School, before Oak Hill, Anderson averaged 26.1 points and 4.1 assists with three games of 40 or more points.
Horner made his collegiate debut on Tuesday night with two minutes of playing time. He is a freshman who joined the Texas Tech program after playing at Dynamic Prep and Frisco Memorial. As a senior at Dynamic Prep, Horner averaged 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He was a McDonald's All-American nominee and helped the program to the Texas Christian Athletic League 6A State Championship. He earned T-CAL All-State Second Team honors. At Frisco Memorial, Horner was a three-time all-district selection who had 889 points, 419 rebounds and 121 assists in three seasons.
Henderson will be out of action for an extended period as he recovers from a lower body injury. He joined the program as a walk-on this season after being a three-time state champion at Oak Cliff Faith Family in high school. A Dallas native, he averaged 14 points and 7 assists as a senior after going for 10 points and 7 assists as a junior.
COACHING STAFF
McCasland's staff includes assistant coaches Luke Barnwell, Matt Braeuer, Jeff Linder and Achoki Moikobu along with Kellen Buffington (general manager), Andrew Wright (strength & conditioning), Chris Nottingham (player development), Jardon Powell (director of administration and operations), Cooper Anderson (operations) and Brian Pete (video coordinator). Linder joins the staff this season after being the head coach at Wyoming (2020-2024) and Northern Colorado (2016-2019) while Pete was at Vanderbilt last season. Braeuer, Moikobu and Wright are in their second season at Tech and all worked with McCasland at UNT.
RANKINGS
• Tech remains unranked in the AP Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll but is just outside of both... The team is 27th in the AP Poll and 26th in the Coaches Poll with the most votes not in the poll... Tech is currently No. 12 in KenPom... The Red Raiders started the 2024-25 season unranked in the preseason polls after being at No. 22 in both national polls going into the NCAA Tournament last season; The Red Raiders were at No. 25 in the final USA TODAY Coaches Poll and received votes in the final AP Poll
• Texas Tech was picked 7th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and did not have a player selected in the 2024 preseason awards
• Last season, Tech was at No. 15 (Jan. 29) for its highest ranking of the season; Tech came into the 2023-24 season unranked in the AP Preseason Poll and remained unranked in the Nov. 13, Nov. 20, Nov. 27, Dec. 4, Dec. 11, Dec. 18, Dec. 25, Jan. 1, and Jan. 8 polls; The team received votes for the first time last season with 62 in the January 8 poll after the win over the Longhorns in Austin to begin conference play
• The No. 15 national ranking was the highest since the program was No. 12 in the AP Top 25 at the end of the 2022 season
• Tech's highest AP ranking in program history came at No. 6 in February of 2018 (16th Week Poll)… The 2018-19 team was No. 8 in the final week of the regular season and No. 7 throughout the postseason that led to the 2019 National Championship Final