No. 16 Red Raiders shifting their focus to Colorado, No. 1 Arizona and ASU

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Fresh off their 70-63 win at West Virginia, the No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders (17-6, 7-3 Big 12) are now looking ahead to a tough stretch which includes Colorado, No. 1 Arizona, and Arizona State.

While the latter two will be played in the Grand Canyon State, the showdown with Colorado will be a rematch from their Jan. 10 showdown, when the Red Raiders escaped Boulder with a 73-71 win. Even though the Buffs have since been 2-6, they posted recent wins against Arizona State and TCU. Men’s head basketball coach Grant McCasland says this upcoming CU team will be must different than who they faced a month ago.

“Colorado’s made some pretty drastic changes since we played them and they’ve gotten better. They actually had a guy that didn’t even play against us that’s playing now who we know well and just really like they’re going with the younger group,” he said. “They’re going with different lineups. I think that can cause you different problems in different ways and you can tell that they’re making steps toward more wins and I’m really impressed with how they’re how they’re competing.”

Their previous encounter kickstarted a 6-0 streak from the Red Raiders, which included wins over BYU and Houston. When asked about taking a different approach for Wednesday night’s game, Coach McCasland says he’s more focused on seeing his players grow together as a team.

“I don’t know if we’re going to do anything differently. I think the biggest thing for us is just how can we continue to improve? We got a lot of guys who are pivotal for us moving forward who haven’t got a lot of minutes- and specifically, Josiah (Moseley) and Luke (Bamgboye). How do we keep integrating them in the game and how do we have an urgency to get better defensively?”

In the final minutes against WVU, Bamgboye had a key block in the final minute of the game. Coach McCasland says his defensive play will continue to improve with more experience.

“I think what we saw at the end of the game with Luke’s ability defensively, I mean honestly when I’ve seen him in practices, he has kind of a slower start, then the more he plays, the more he ramps up and the more he gets competitive and the better he plays,” he said. “And so, that’s where just keeping some consistency in seeing him compete is really important.”

He says he also hopes to see Bamgboye have more time on the court with standout forward JT Toppin. While Toppin has averaged 21.6 points per game and 10.6 rebounds, Coach McCasland says JT’s defensive play has also been key.

“JT has improved so much defensively and his skill level’s gotten so much better, and he’s moving great and he’s such a good perimeter defender that we do have some different options, but every scenario requires an offensive defensive understanding of time score and how important each decision is. And so getting JT and Luke together on the floor is going to be huge for a lot of reasons.”

Coach McCasland also credits senior guard Donovon Atwell for his progression as a three-point shooter. On Sunday, he was 4-5 from behind the three-point line. Two weeks before, he hit two late three pointers against Houston which propelled the Red Raiders to a 90-86 victory.

“I think Donovan’s been tremendous, and efficient is probably an understatement. He’s been just so consistent in his approach every day and he’s a vital part of our team, but I think it starts with his character and his competitiveness,” McCasland said. “He’s got a great balance, and he brings it every day, and there’s a reason why he’s had such great success. It’s because of his consistency and his competitiveness.”

The 16^th-ranked Red Raiders welcome in Colorado 7 p.m. Wednesday before heading off to Arizona for a Saturday evening showdown with the Wildcats, followed by a late Tuesday night game at Arizona State.