Texas Tech Athletics
25-7,15-5Big 12
Baylor
19-14,10-10Big 12
Red Raiders knock off Bears to advance
March 13, 2025 | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY – No. 9 Texas Tech jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead and hung on to advance to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship semifinals with a 76-74 quarterfinal win over Baylor on Thursday at T-Mobile Center. The Red Raiders, who are on a four-game winning streak, now play Arizona at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals after the Wildcats advanced with an 88-77 win over Kansas. On the other side of the bracket, BYU and Houston play at 6 p.m. to set up the Big 12 Championship Final at 5 p.m. on Saturday.Â
The second-seeded Red Raiders (25-7) recorded a program record in the Big 12 tournament with 15 3-pointers, making 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) in the first half before cooling off in the second. The Bears (19-14) were limited to only 4-for-16 from 3-point range in their exit from the tournament. Tech's 12 3-pointers were the most at halftime by any Big 12 team this season and the third time the Red Raiders have made 10 or more after 20 minutes.Â
"Tournament time, honestly, you don't get pretty points for winning, you just win and find a way to move on," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "Give Baylor a lot of credit because I thought their physicality and their zone caused us problems in the second half and we got a little stagnant. But, man, I loved the competitiveness of our team and I loved the fight of our team. That's kind of what's carried us throughout this season, and even when we weren't great offensively. I told them we had enough points at the end of the game when there was about four minutes left. Finding ways to win with our defense is what makes us when we are at our best."
JT Toppin led Tech with 26 points and 10 rebounds, recording his 15th double-double of the season in a game where he was 10-for-19 from the field and 2-of-3 on 3-pointers. He also grabbed six offensive rebounds for the Red Raiders who finished the night with 17 offensive rebounds and had a 40-38 overall rebounding advantage. Elijah Hawkins also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists while Darrion Williams added 14 points and eight rebounds. Williams was 4-for-6 on 3-pointers and Kerwin Walton also made four and finished with 12 points. Hawkins went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and Christian Anderson scored six points with two 3s. Toppin has now recorded three straight double-doubles, each with 25-plus points, and is now averaging 18.4 points and 9.3 rebounds for the season.Â
Tech finished the game 15-for-34 (44.1 percent) from 3-point range for its fifth game this season with 15-plus from deep and also was 11-of-16 at the free-throw line. Tech was outscored 44-18 in the paint but was dominant from distance and also had 16 assists and only seven turnovers. The 11 assists from Hawkins established a new Tech record in the Big 12 tournament, passing 10 from Kasib Powell against Texas in 2003. Hawkins now has 20 career games with 10-plus assists and Tech has limited its turnovers to under 10 in 19 games this season and eight or less in four straight games.
"I think we were ready to go from the jump," Williams said. "Coach got us ready for this game. We didn't know who we were going to play, but we stayed ready for the moment."
"We prepared well, practicing, not taking no days off, just because we got two byes," Toppin added. "Still in the gym staying together, so that's really helped for this game."
Toppin's second 3-pointer gave Tech a 63-52 lead before a dunk pushed the lead to 10 with 10 minutes to play. Leading by as many as 15 in the first half, Tech saw Baylor fight back and pull to within 70-65 on a Jeremy Roach jumper with six minutes remaining in the game and again had a five-point margin on a Norchad Omier shot with 3:33 to play. BU had it to three at 72-69 in the final 30 seconds before Kevin Overton made two free throws for Tech to push it back to five. Hawkins would hit another pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining for a 76-72 lead and a game-tying heave from V.J. Edgecombe missed at the buzzer.
"I did think that they started matching up with us a little bit and we did get fatigued," McCasland said. "I did think we lost a little bit of pop to get to the next action, and when they were playing man and zone in the first half we knew what we were trying to get."
Omier led Baylor with 29 points and 15 rebounds for his 21st double-double of the season while Edgecombe provided 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Baylor finished the game 27-for-60 from the field and 16-of-19 at the free-throw line.
Texas Tech went into halftime with a 52-39 lead after going 12-for-19 from 3-point range with five player hitting at least one – led by Williams who was 4-for-4 from deep and had 14 points at the break. Toppin was also at 14 points and led the Red Raiders with six rebounds with four on the offensive end. Walton was 3-for-5 from deep, Anderson hit two and Hawkins was 2-for-2. Hawkins went into the break with nine assists and seven points while Williams had five rebounds to go along with his 14 points. The 12 3-pointers at halftime had already matched the program's record in the Big 12 tournament and was a season-high after having 10 in two previous games. Walton made the first on the opening possession and his third for a 16-8 early lead. Tech was 5-for-5 on 3s to begin the game after Anderson gave the Red Raiders a 21-10 lead with his first and the lead swelled to 40-27 after Williams went on a tear with four straight. Baylor went into halftime just 2-for-9 on 3-pointers and was led by Omier who had 18 points and seven rebounds at the break. Tech's 52 points were the most at halftime, passing 50 points in a pair of non-conference games.
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