McCasland Media Session | Wyoming Preview

LUBBOCK – Grant McCasland returned to the dais on Tuesday following practice to preview playing against Wyoming at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at United Supermarkets Arena with local reporters. The Red Raiders and Cowboys have both opened the college basketball season with 2-0 records. Tech extended a 32-game non-conference home winning streak with lopsided victories over Bethune-Cookman and Northwestern State while Wyoming is unblemished with victories over Concordia-St. Paul and Tennessee State. Below are excerpts from his media session.

Opening statement: "Wyoming is a team that we have familiarity with and they are playing really well with two wins at home. We respect the way they play. They are playing in an efficient way right now. Our biggest deal is how we improve defensively. I thought we took a step in that direction in the first half and then had a stretch where we struggled offensively and it affected us defensively in our last game. I'm excited to get back out there and get better."

Question from Joe Yeager of InsidetheRedRaiders.com on Darrion Williams and his impact when Eljiah and Christian are able to play: "I think the role he's playing right now won't be that much different. The biggest thing is with those guys it will open the floor more in transition. In the halfcourt, we're involving him closer to the rim and dribble-down opportunities. He'll continue being utilized. The more you move him around there are more mismatches. He has really been efficient and has a great ability to see all five guys defensively. That's difficult to teach and is why we'll continue to involve him in just about every possession he's on the floor."

Question from Yeager on Chance McMillian getting to the basket and attacking: "The part I really love about our guys is that they all work really hard. They worked extremely hard on how do we get into the paint and make the right decisions. They learn. I'll tell you the biggest growth is the simple decision making where you decide if you'll go score or live another day and make a different play. His ability to get in there and score is something he's taking right now and taking advantage of. He's eliminating the low percentage ones."

Question from Cory Whitman of the Daily Toreador on Kevin Overton progressing on defense: "If you look at the last three or four minutes against Northwestern State, KO really locked in and guarded the ball. That's where we had our greatest separation. We struggled to defend on the perimeter, but his length and versatility and ability to not only be quick but also a problem because he can contain and contest shots. He can wall up smaller offensive players. We need to do that the entire game."

Question from Whitman on defensive philosophy: "We need to be aggressive and help. We can't let people get to where they want and we need to rotate. How do you play after the play. The rotation part is where we need to continue to improve as we get guys back healthy."

Question from Pete Christy of KCBD on Wyoming: "Coach Wicks is a really great game planner. I think he proved last year at Green Bay that he knows how to win games in a short amount of time. He has a knack of finding a way with the roster he has. They have talent. Their inside play has shown to be difficult to defend and they have a good plan. Taking away perimeter 3s. How well can we maintain physicality without fouling. I think their defense has been solid and physical. We have to handle the ball without fouling."

Question from Pete Christy on playing games at the USA: "It's been great to get our new guys reactions after our first couple home games. This is what it's really like. You can talk about it, but until you feel the energy of the USA, played in front of Raider Riot and all the Red Raiders, how exciting it can be. I think it did catch some of our guys off guard. It's a fun place to play and is always an advantage. We have to take advantage of it though. We have to keep creating energy by the way we compete. People respect that with our fans. They appreciate when you're playing hard."

Question from Justin Apodaca of RedRaiderSports.com on Jeff Linder being on Tech's staff after leading Wyoming: "Coach Linder is a pro. When it comes to coaching, the game, what it takes to prepare your team and run a program. He's a friend and someone I trust. He's made a significant impact on our program. His expectations for winning, execution and how you play this game is at the highest level. You can tell our guys respect him. He's a student of the game and loves this game. He knows what it means. He knows this is one game on the schedule. This is a step in the process of what we want to play for. He's a pro when it comes to this. He has a lot of respect for their program and their team. A lot of gratitude for the opportunities he had."

Question from Nathan Giese of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on playing games at home: "As the head coach at Texas Tech, I can tell you we need to play home games. We need revenue and opportunities to have our fans watch us play in Lubbock. But who wants to come to Lubbock and play? You don't want to give up opportunities to fill the arena to just go out and play on a neutral site game too much. Especially with 20 league games coming up. There is a numbers game we all play right now with revenue being so important. You have to put together the best schedule, revenue, giving your fans a great experience and put yourself in position to play in the NCAA Tournament. I love playing teams we respect. The game we had schedule with Texas A&M we had scheduled was a boost. DePaul is playing great and will be a great game for us. This is moving in the right direction. I think college basketball needs more home-and-home matchups, but I think the key is keep making this an exciting opportunity for our home fans."

Question from Giese on newcomers fitting into the team: "It's so early in finding lineups. We had a full group in our first scrimmage and have been limited since. It's such a small sample size against opponents who do different things well. I was excited to see Kevin Overton make a jump from the first game to the second. He settled in and attacked the basket significantly better. He provided a spark for us. I thought JT Toppin's patience and ability to score was impressive too. We have to continue finding ways to involve him in what we are doing. It's early to say we like pairings that work but we are finding sparks in Kevin and JT to help us continue to grow."

Follow the Red Raiders: Keep up with Tech men's basketball news at TexasTech.com and at the team's social media on Instagram, X and Facebook.

Texas Tech University Athletics

McCasland Media Session | Wyoming Preview

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Kevin Overton

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