Federiko Federiko recorded a double-double with a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds while Chance McMillian scored 20 points and had five assists to help lead Texas Tech to an 86-50 win over Oral Roberts on Monday and extend a 37-game non-conference home winning streak at United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (8-2) started the game on a 10-0 run and used a 17-0 run in the first half to ease to the 36-point win over the Golden Eagles (3-8) who were held to only 18 made baskets throughout the night. Federiko finished the game 11-for-13 from the field and McMillian was 8-of-9 with three 3-pointers. Tech went 34-for-64 from the field with 10 makes from 3-point range to improve to 7-0 on their home court this season. Darrion Williams led Tech with nine assists and added 10 points while Elijah Hawkins had four assists and seven points. The team finished with 26 assists on 34 made baskets while also forcing 15 turnovers.
"I think our ability to guard in the middle of the floor and do it consistently was the difference," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "Guarding over the course of the game showed growth. We just played better on that end that led to early baskets in transition to open the game up. We started great. I was thrilled with that. Fede was unbelievable tonight, his composure, aggressiveness. His floor game. Tremendous and solid in every area."
Federiko's double-double was his first this season and the third in his career. He had a 22-point scoring performance last season while playing for Pitt and is now averaing 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season. He had a previous season-high of eight points in wins over Wyoming and DePaul before going off for his 23 points where he also established a new career-high with his 11 makes and also five assists. McMillian recorded his third straight game with 20 or more points after he had 22 against DePaul and a season-high 23 in the loss to Texas A&M last Sunday. He was 3-for-4 from 3-point range against ORU and is now averaging 16.1 points and 2.2 assists per game this season.
"I said this to the team, you don't want to take it for granted," McCasland said of McMillian's offensive production. "We all know he can shoot, but my favorite part was he had five assists and one turnover. That's where he's really put his imprint on this team. He's making the right play when they do put two people on him and he's not overdribbling and trying to take hard twos. His feel and understanding is there. He's been unbelievable offensively."
Tech owned a 46-10 scoring advantage in the paint despite playing without JT Toppin who missed his third straight game with a lower body injury. Federiko scored most of those points while the team turned the 15 turnovers by ORU into a 24-4 scoring advantage off turnovers. Christian Anderson led the Tech reserves with 11 points after making three 3-pointers, while Kerwin Walton added two 3s and finished with six points. The Red Raiders were 10-for-29 on 3-pointers to give them six games this season with 10 or more makes from beyond the arc.
Texas Tech took a 41-19 lead into halftime after shooting 58.6 percent from the field and limiting ORU to just 21.4 shooting. McMillian led Tech with 15 points after going 6-for-7 from the field while ORU was shooting 6-for-28 overall. Federiko already had 14 points and seven rebounds at the break for the Red Raiders who owned a 22-13 rebounding advantage and a 24-4 scoring advantage in the paint. Williams had seven points and six assists through 20 minutes while Anderson had three points to lead the reserves. McMillian scored the game's first points on a 3-pointer to spark a 10-run to start the game and a 17-0 run that ended with a McMillian fastbreak layup had the Red Raiders leading 31-13 with five minutes to play in the half. Tech began the game 5-for-5 from the field and would go into the break shooting 17-for-29.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech will host Lamar at noon on Saturday in its final non-conference game of the season. The Cardinals are currently 5-5 this season with a four-game winning streak going after a 74-45 win over Louisiana last Saturday. Lamar will play at Southern Mississippi on Tuesday before its road trip to Lubbock. Tech is 4-1 all-time against Lamar after an 89-57 win back on November 27, 2021, in the most recent game and an 83-68 win on December 13, 1979, in the first game of the series. The lone loss for the Red Raiders came in 2008 with Lamar taking an 85-79 win in Beaumont. Tech is 4-0 all-time against the Cardinals in Lubbock. Lamar is led by Alvin Brooks who was an assistant coach at Texas Tech during the time when McCasland was the program's director of operations. Brooks has also coached at Houston, Kentucky, Texas A&M, UTEP and North Texas. The Cardinals are coming off a season where they went 19-14 overall and were 12-6 in Southland Conference play. Brooks is in his ninth season as a head coach that includes five as the head coach at Houston (1993-98) and three in Beaumont. The Red Raiders will open Big 12 play against UCF (7-2) at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31 at United Supermarkets Arena before playing at Utah (Jan. 4) and BYU (Jan. 7) in their first conference road games.
