Red Raiders remain unbeaten at home

Thursday, December 21

Lubbock, Texas

1 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

9-2,0-0Big 12

UT Arlington

6-5,1-1WAC

UT Arlington

Texas Tech

December 21, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Press Conference Highlights

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Joe Toussaint scored 19 points, Pop Isaacs added 18, and Darrion Williams went for 14 points, nine rebounds, and six assists to help lead Texas Tech to a 77-66 win over UT Arlington on Thursday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (9-2) jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead, were up by as many as 20 in the second half, and came away with the program's 28th straight non-conference home victory. Tech is now 6-0 at home this season with two more non-conference home games before starting Big 12 play, starting next week against Sam Houston with a 7 p.m. tip on Thursday, December 28 and then against North Alabama at 1 p.m. on January 1, 2024, at United Supermarkets Arena. Tech opens Big 12 play at No. 19 Texas on Saturday, January 6 at the Moody Center in Austin.

Tech will go into a weeklong break following a game against UTA (6-5) where it made 10 3-pointers, had a 30-24 scoring advantage in the paint, and a 37-32 rebounding advantage. Neither team took a single free throw in the second half before Tech went 11-for-13 in the second half and UTA was 10-for-13.

"Give UTA credit, thought they came out with a lot of energy," McCasland said. "They play the game with force and they caused us problems just with their ability to switch at times. We're not at 100 percent as a team, but I thought our guys had a gritty performance. We just got some guys under the weather that aren't feeling great and for them to come out and compete. I didn't do a good enough job as a coach of rotating us. I felt like we had some matchups that we wanted to keep and because we were turning the ball over so much, I tried to keep it consistent with some guard play, but it ended up working against us. I thought fatigue led to a lot of turnovers in the second half, not in the first, and then we didn't do a good enough job on the glass."

Warren Washington led the Red Raiders with 10 rebounds and also had eight points and four assists in the game, while Chance McMillian added 13 points with a team-best three 3-pointers. For Washington, it was his fourth game this season and 17th in his career with double-figure rebounding and he was just two points shy of his second double-double of the season. Williams was only one rebound away from his fourth double-double of the season but did record a single-season high with his six assists. He was coming off a five-assist game against Vanderbilt and now has 21 for the season. Toussaint is now averaging a team-high 15.0 points per game and is up to 957 points in his career. He made two 3-pointers in the game and was also 5-for-6 at the free -throw line.

"Playing at home is always good," said Toussaint who has led the team in scoring three times this season. "Obviously we're going to have a little bit more energy at home, but that should carry on to the neutral sites and when we're away, as well, for us to get some wins on the road."

Texas Tech took a 39-25 lead into halftime with Toussaint leading the team with 10 points and Darrion Williams at eight points, four rebounds, and three assists. Six players scored for Tech in a first half where it shot 17-for-29 (58.6%) from the field with five 3-pointers. Neither team had taken a free throw through 20 minutes. Williams and Toussaint had two 3-pointers each, while McMillian had one and was leading the reserves with seven points. Isaacs and Washington both had six points at the break. Tech led 10-5 early in the game with McMillian, Isaacs, Williams, Toussaint, and Washington each scoring baskets and they lead 27-21 with Darrion Williams hitting his first 3-pointer. Tech was on an 8-0 run and led 35-23 after Williams hit his second 3-pointer of a Toussaint assist. Warren Washington was leading Tech with five rebounds in a half where it had a 17-12 rebounding advantage over the Mavericks who were limited to 10-for-28 (35.7%) shooting. The Red Raiders had 10 assists on 17 baskets in the opening half.

Tech built on its halftime lead coming out of the break with Isaacs making a 3-pointer for a 42-25 lead that was followed by McMillian. The largest lead of the game was a 20-point lead at 53-33 on another McMillian 3-pointer before a 13-0 run by UTA kept it interesting in the second half. Toussaint stopped that run with a layup for a 55-46 lead with 11:55 to play and would hit another jumper for 72-60 lead 4:01 to play. Isaacs, who was coming off a 19-point game against Vanderbilt, hit his second 3-pointers to give Tech a 75-60 lead.

"The only thing I was disappointed in was how do we maintain more composure as the game gets loose," McCasland said. "But finding a way to win and you know going into the break, this is a difficult game to play at times, because guys are ready to go home. So, for us to finish the first part of this off, I thought was a good finish."