Texas Tech basketball isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore. Fresh off a dramatic 78-75 overtime win over then-No. 1 Arizona, the No. 13 Red Raiders head west again Tuesday night for a late 10 p.m. CT tip against Arizona State in Tempe.
Tech (19-6, 9-3 Big 12) enters on a three-game winning streak and with momentum that could define the stretch run of the Big 12 race. The headline continues to be JT Toppin.
The junior forward earned his fourth Big 12 Player of the Week honor this season after torching Arizona for 31 points and 13 rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
It was his 16th double-double of the year, and he remains the only player in the country averaging a 20-point double-double.
Toppin leads the nation with 226 made field goals while pacing the Big 12 in rebounds (11.0 per game) and offensive rebounds (4.3 per game). He’s also ninth nationally at 21.9 points per contest.
Christian Anderson has been equally vital. The point guard poured in 19 points with eight assists and six rebounds in Tucson, hitting six 3-pointers. Anderson now averages 19.1 points and leads the Big 12 with 7.7 assists per game, ranking third nationally in that category.
Donovan Atwell, who owns 301 career three-pointers, has knocked down 90 this season at a 44.6 percent clip - both marks among the best in the conference.
As a team, Tech leads the Big 12 with 11.5 made threes per game and shoots 38.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Red Raiders have hit double-digit 3s in 20 of 25 games.
Arizona State (13-12, 4-8 Big 12) presents a different challenge.
Maurice Odom leads the Sun Devils with 17.0 points and 6.0 assists per game, while Massamba Diop anchors the paint with 53 blocks this season. ASU is 7-5 at home and coming off an 85-76 win over Oklahoma State.
A victory would give Texas Tech its 19th 20-win season in program history and keep the Red Raiders firmly in the conference title hunt.
After Tempe, Tech returns to Lubbock for games against Kansas State and Cincinnati, where it holds a dominant 12-1 home record this season.