FORT WORTH, TX — No. 9 Texas Tech fought back from an eight-point halftime deficit but couldn’t close out TCU, falling 69-66 on Tuesday night at Schollmaier Arena.
Fatigue ultimately played a factor in the outcome. Head Coach Grant McCasland said as much after the game.
“I felt like our guys had the understanding of what it took to win this game but we ran out of gas and weren’t able to finish it,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “We took the lead in the second half with about seven minutes to go, and I felt like we put our stamp on what we wanted to do and how we were going to do it. But we just didn’t have the grit that it takes to win on the road."
The Red Raiders (20-6, 11-4 Big 12) dropped to 6-2 on the road in conference play, while the Horned Frogs (15-11, 8-7 Big 12) secured their fifth straight home win in the series and split the regular-season series with Tech.
After trailing 36-28 at halftime, Tech stormed back to take a 59-54 lead on a Darrion Williams layup with seven minutes remaining. However, TCU responded, regaining the lead and holding off Tech in the final moments.
TCU was ahead 66-63 when Noah Reynolds hit a pair of free throws with under three minutes to play. A McMillian three-pointer with 5.7 seconds left cut the lead to 68-66, but Reynolds made one of two free throws with 4.3 seconds left, and a last-second three-point attempt by JT Toppin missed, sealing the win for the Horned Frogs.
Darrion Williams led the Red Raiders in scoring on Tuesday night with 21 points, surpassing the 1,000-point mark in his career. He also added five assists. Chance McMillan followed close behind with 19 points on five of seven shooting from beyond the arc. JT Toppin secured his fourth straight double-double in the loss, with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Williams has now scored 20 or more points six times this season and seven times in his career. Toppin notched his 11th double-double this season and the 23rd of his career through 58 games.
Texas Tech returns to Lubbock for a two-game homestand, starting with West Virginia at noon on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are 13-2 at home this season.
The Mountaineers (15-10, 6-8 Big 12) have lost two straight games heading into their Wednesday night matchup against Cincinnati in Morgantown.
Tech will then face No. 5 Houston (21-4, 13-1 Big 12) on ESPN Big Monday at 8 p.m., setting up a top-10 showdown.
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