Handing the No. 3 ranking in the country to an Illinois roster that gets bullied in the paint by a team missing its All-America center is a war crime against the AP ballot. On Tuesday night in Lubbock, No. 16 Texas Tech dragged the Fighting Illini into the deep water at United Supermarkets Arena, built a 49-29 halftime lead, and walked out with an 84-78 victory without ever trailing for a single second. All-America post JT Toppin sat on the sideline continuing his recovery from last February’s right knee ACL tear, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had to be helped off the floor in the second half with an apparent lower-body injury after dropping 15 points, and the Red Raiders still treated the third-ranked team in America like a buy-game sacrificial lamb for twenty straight minutes.
My favorite part of the postgame fallout is how tempting it is to cling to the second-half rally as proof that Illinois’s top-three ceiling is intact. After Andrej Stojakovic poured in 14 of his 18 points after intermission and freshman Quinten Coleman drilled tough perimeter shots on his way to 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from deep, the Illini cut a 22-point deficit all the way down to 65-64 with five and a half minutes left, giving Champaign diehards an excuse to blame early road jitters in front of 15,098 screaming Red Raiders. That excuse dies the moment you check the possession math: Illinois shot 50.0 percent from the field compared to Texas Tech’s 40.0 percent and still lost by six because the Illini coughed up 16 turnovers, got outrebounded 43-32, and bricked 11 free throws in an 8-for-19 nightmare at the charity stripe.
A Temporary Restraining Order Stole Illinois’s Lunch Money
When a team shoots ten percentage points higher from the floor and still never holds a lead, the schematic breakdown comes down to possession volume and box-out leverage. College basketball games in November are won on the offensive glass and at the free-throw line, where extra possessions erase shooting variance. Grant McCasland knew his roster lacked Toppin’s interior gravity, so Texas Tech weaponized perimeter ball pressure to force 16 turnovers, translating those mistakes into 15 first-half points while Donovan Atwell racked up a career-high five steals.
Then came the real comedy in the paint. UCF transfer Jamichael Stillwell only got on the floor for his Texas Tech debut because a judge granted him a temporary restraining order last week as he seeks a fifth season of eligibility. Stillwell stepped onto the court with zero rust and full dawg in him, snagging 13 rebounds… six of them on the offensive glass… along with 11 points and a 7-for-8 clip at the foul line.
“I thought Jamichael’s physicality and getting fouled five times was big,” Grant McCasland said afterward, per Texas Tech athletics. “He just threw his body in there and came up with huge rebounds. It’s remarkable the difference he makes. Cruz Davis composure was on display.”
I look at a guy who needed a courtroom ruling just to put on a jersey walking in and outworking an entire Big Ten frontcourt, and I see an Illinois squad with negative interior aura. While Tomislav Ivisic finished with 14 points and six boards, the Illini interior got Ragdolled on second-chance opportunities, where Texas Tech held a 15-10 edge and got 28 bench points to Illinois’s 14.
Brad Underwood Exposed His Own Roster’s Soft Underbelly
Nobody cooked the Fighting Illini harder in the postgame press room than their own head coach. Brad Underwood didn’t bother sugarcoating the physical beatdown his team absorbed on the glass or the single sequence that broke Illinois’s comeback bid.
“Again, the game is 18 offensive rebounds to 10,” Underwood told reporters, via SI.com and Champaign Room. “Just literally have to rebound the basketball. And I’m tired of watching us get shoved. I’m tired of giving up rebounds. I think it’s a one-possession game and they get three shots [ending in a Donovan Atwell three]. We’ve got to be better than that. So that’s on me. And we’ll continue to work to change that.”
Read that quote again… their own coach is already sick of watching them get shoved around on November 10. Even when Stojakovic’s layup trimmed the lead to 65-64, Texas Tech never blinked; Damarion Dennis immediately answered with a three-pointer on his way to 10 points, Cruz Davis orchestrated the offense with 20 points and five assists, and Tech got multiple shots on a single trip that ended with Atwell burying a triple.
Then there is the free-throw line, where Illinois played like a squad whose controller batteries died mid-release. Texas Tech went 23-for-26 at the stripe for a clinical 88.5 percent, while Illinois clanked its way to 42.1 percent on 8-of-19 shooting.
“And then, obviously, being tough enough to make free throws,” Underwood said, per SI.com. “I don’t know in my lifetime if I’ve ever had a team go 8-for-20 from the free-throw line.”
My rule for early-season college hoops is simple: I refuse to respect a top-five team that shoots 42.1 percent at the line and lets a short-handed opponent grab 43 rebounds. Texas Tech has now won 49 straight nonconference home games, sitting at 103-1 in those matchups since December 2013 and 26-0 under McCasland. Once JT Toppin returns to pair with Stillwell and Davis, McCasland’s squad will be an absolute problem in the Big 12, while Illinois belongs outside the top ten until Underwood’s bigs prove they can finish a defensive possession without getting shoved under the basket.
