JT Toppin recorded a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds, Devan Cambridge eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone and Elijah Hawkins and Christian Anderson made their Texas Tech debuts to highlight a 96-49 win over Wyoming on Wednesday at United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (3-0) have now won 33 straight non-conference home games after a 47-point win where they forced 25 turnovers with 17 steals. Tech's offense remained highly efficient, shooting 63.9 percent form the field and going 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) on 3-pointers. The game saw a 14-0 run in the first half to build a 46-20 halftime lead and the team end the game on a 22-4 run.
"I thought for our team to have added Christian and Elijah it really showed how aggressive we can be defensively," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "The difference in the game for me was forcing turnovers. Our ball pressure ramped up and those guys just did a great job making it difficult for them. Our offense has a lot of guys who can score. As long as we keep sharing the basketball, this team can be really good. They're so much fun to be around and to coach."
Toppin's double-double was his first as a Red Raider and the 13th of his career. It came with him shooting 10-for-15 from the field and getting three offensive rebounds. Toppin, a sophomore who transferred from New Mexico, is now averaging 22.7 points and 9.0 rebounds through three games. The 24 points followed him scoring 25 against Northwestern State last Friday and now gives him five games in his career with 20-plus point performances.
"You can see he can really attack on both ends of the floor," McCasland said. "He's been tremendous. He really wants to know how to be better. He comes out of timeouts and is asking questions. I love that about him. He has a heart to learn. He's as good as anyone in the country. He really is. There's not a lot of things he can't do."
Chance McMillian was perfect from 3-point range in the game, going 4-for-4 and finishing with 16 points to go along with three assists and three steals. He was 6-for-7 from the field in the game and has now scored in double figures in all three games and is shooting 17-for-23 (73.9 percent) from the field, 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) on 3-pointers and is averaging 15.3 points per game. Darrion Williams added 14 points, three assists and four steals, while Cambridge finished with 10 points and now has 1,003 career points through 138 games in his career. Hawkins and Anderson both played for the first time this season after missing the first two games of the season and showed their talents right away. Hawkins finished the game with seven points, a team-high five assists and two steals, while Anderson provided nine points, four assists and three steals in his collegiate debut. Hawkins and Anderson combined for nine assists and only one turnover in their first game.
"It was a great experience," Hawkins said. "Good crowd which is huge for us. We feed off that. So yeah, there was great energy in there and it was good to play in front of them."
Tech led by as many as 49 points in the game with Federiko Federiko producing eight points and five rebounds, Kevin Overton adding five points and Kerwin Walton hitting one 3-pointer and finishing with three points. The Red Raiders were 39-for-61 from the field and finished with 21 assists as a team. Inside, Tech owned a 35-29 rebounding advantage and outscored the Cowboys by a 44-24 margin in the paint. The 25 turnovers by Wyoming turned into a 40-6 scoring advantage for the Red Raiders who only trailed once by a point early in the first half.
Texas Tech took a 46-20 lead into halftime with Toppin pouring in 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds, while McMillian scored 10 and Williams had six points and three steals. Cambridge added five points and the Red Raiders got three points each from Overton, Hawkins and Anderson in the first half. Toppin finished the half 7-for-11 from the field with three offensive rebounds. He scored the game's opening points and had 10 points to extend a run to 11-0 and the lead to 29-13. The Red Raiders finished with a 14-0 run during the stretch that ended on a Toppin free throw. McMillian drilled his second 3-pointer to push Tech's lead to 44-20 in a half where they went 5-for-11 on 3-pointers and shot 54.3 percent from the field while limiting Wyoming to only 26.3 percent shooting.
UP NEXT: Monday, November 18, 2024: Arkansas Pine-Bluff at Texas Tech
The Arkansas-Pine Bluff program will make its fourth trip to Lubbock where the Red Raiders own a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series. The Golden Eagles are 1-3 on the season with losses to Cincinnati, Tulsa and South Florida going into a Saturday matchup against Incarnate Word in San Antonio before travelling to Lubbock. Tech earned a 65-47 win on December 5, 2019, in the most recent game in the series. The Golden Lions went 13-18 overall and 8-10 in SWAC games last season under head coach Solomon Bozeman who has also coached at Oral Roberts, Abilene Christian and Arkansas-Little Rock.
