WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland knew that tossing up 46 shots from beyond the arc wasn’t going to fly against Drake.
Not like it did in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against UNC Wilmington.
So, the Red Raiders turned to JT Toppin, their second-team All-American, and bruising forward Darrion Williams, and the two of them responded Saturday night by bludgeoning the Bulldogs in the post. Toppin had 25 points and 12 rebounds, Williams had a season-best 28 points, and together they sent Texas Tech into the Sweet 16 with a 77-64 victory.
The third-seeded Red Raiders will play No. 10 seed Arkansas in the West Region semifinals Thursday night in San Francisco.
“I think the coaches put us in great spots,” said Williams, who left briefly in the second half when he appeared to aggravate his right leg injury. “We watched a ton of film the last 48 hours, just putting us in the right spots to go.”
It wasn’t just the last 48 hours that Texas Tech could draw upon, though. It also played Drake in a scrimmage in Lubbock way back in November, long before McCasland and his close friend and Drake counterpart Ben McCollum knew they would be facing each other on the biggest stage in college basketball. And the Red Raiders picked up a thing or two from it.
The biggest was this: Throw the ball to Williams and Toppin and let them go to work.
“We felt like you couldn’t play off ball screens. You needed to give it to our guys in space, and let them play in space, and then just clear a side,” McCasland said. “These are two of the best ball-handlers — they’re basically the best passers outside of Elijah Hawkins on our team. We just trusted them to handle the basketball.
“When we got the advantage and they saw it, we were able to take advantage of it, because of their footwork and spacing.”
Toppin scored 19 of his points on 9-of-10 shooting in the first half. Williams had 14 by that point. And together, they outscored the Missouri Valley regular- and postseason champs by themselves; Texas Tech led 37-30 headed to the locker room.
“Those two,” McCollum said simply, “are a load down there.”
Texas Tech took a decidedly different approach in its first-round win over UNC Wilmington, when it put up an NCAA Tournament-record 46 3-pointers. Williams had 13 points and Toppin had just 12 in that game.
“We felt like we needed to play inside-out (against Drake),” McCasland said. “Everybody was talking about how many 3s we shot on Thursday, but I think we can win in a lot of different ways.”
The teams that make deep runs in March usually can.
“We only turned the ball over five times, and man, we didn’t make 3s,” said McCasland, whose team was in fact 2 of 13 from beyond the arc against Drake. “That just shows the resilience of Darrion and JT, just being persistent, the way we put it on the block.”
Every time Bulldogs tried to make a charge, Williams or Toppin provided the answer.
When they drew within 43-38 on a basket by Bennett Stirtz with 16:15 to go, it was Toppin’s turn to score. When the Bulldogs closed within 49-45 a few minutes later, it was Williams who stepped up. In fact, at one point in the second half, the two powerful forwards alternated scoring on four consecutive possessions to help Texas Tech take control.
Ultimately, they helped the Red Raiders score more points than Drake had allowed in regulation all season.
“They played a fantastic game,” McCollum said. “You kind of have to pick your poison with them just because of the way we’re built. We executed our game plan. Unfortunately, their two bigs dribbled down the whole game and made it very difficult on us.”
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