No. 12 Texas Tech basketball not overlooking Arizona State squad looking for answers

Grant McCasland knows most people will look at the end result of the Texas Tech basketball team’s loss to Arizona on Saturday.

 

The 82-73 setback snapped the 12th-ranked Red Raiders’ seven-game winning streak and prevented a season sweep of the Wildcats. For McCasland, it’s not about the end result — another single-digit loss to a quality team. Rather, it’s about all the little things that added up to the defeat in Tucson.

“My message to the team is let’s not get consumed with the things that everybody wants to talk about publicly, which is the win or the loss,” McCasland said, “and let’s get consumed with how do we get better as people and as basketball players.”

McCasland continued saying he knows that’s a simplistic way of looking at things, but with everything still in front of the Red Raiders, it’s the best approach to take.

More: Texas Tech basketball NCAA tournament projections: Seattle, Denver among Red Raider destinations

Each of Texas Tech’s next three games — starting at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CBS Sports Network against Arizona State — are against teams in the bottom half of the Big 12 Conference standings. As it stands, ASU, Oklahoma State and TCU are all barely above .500 on the season (each with 12-11 records) and have losing records in league play.

The latter two are also opponents Texas Tech has already beaten on its home floor. While the Red Raiders have almost certainly locked up an NCAA tournament bid, McCasland knows the team still has a fighting chance at the conference championship. That will require taking care of teams Texas Tech should, at least on paper, have few problems with.

That task begins with the Sun Devils, who McCasland became more familiar with when Warren Washington and Devan Cambridge transferred to Tech from ASU in his first season. He noted coach Bobby Hurley’s teams tend to pick up wins late in the season some might not expect, like last year when the Sun Devils bested then-No. 21 Washington State.

“Coach Hurley is as good as anybody at hanging in there with his team,” McCasland said, “and getting them to believe that they can win a game. So, tremendous amount of respect for how they’re able to keep getting better.”

Scouting Texas Tech basketball’s opponent: Arizona State Sun Devils

Arizona State (12-11, 3-9) still finds itself hunting for an NCAA tournament berth, though the record sported by the Sun Devils leaves much to be desired.

After picking up wins over prominent mid-majors Saint Mary’s and New Mexico in nonconference play, the Sun Devils have found life in the Big 12 challenging. Arizona State is just 3-9 in league play, with two of those wins coming against Colorado, which is winless in conference action. The other win came on the road at West Virginia, which has had its own troubles of late.

Injuries have also played a role in Arizona State’s season and will be a factor Wednesday. Jayden Quaintance, a 6-foot-9 five-star freshman who was ranked among the top 10 national prospects of the 2024 class, will miss “several” games after suffering an ankle injury Sunday against Oklahoma State. Quaintance is fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding, just behind Texas Tech’s JT Toppin.

Arizona State will get back leading scorer BJ Freeman, who missed the Oklahoma State game for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

The Sun Devils stand out in one category as opponents are shooting just 30.6% from 3-point range against them, which ranks third in the conference.

What’s at stake for Texas Tech basketball?

McCasland can become just the third Tech coach to lead the Red Raiders to multiple 10-win seasons in Big 12 play, joining Chris Beard and Bob Knight. He would also join Beard as the only coaches to win 10 or more games in Big 12 play in consecutive seasons.

Texas Tech has home-and-homes with five teams this season. The Red Raiders won the first meeting in each of the first four instances, besting Arizona, Oklahoma State, TCU and Houston. Texas Tech and Arizona State will meet again in the regular-season finale March 8 in Tempe.

Score prediction: Texas Tech 84, Arizona State 71

Bottom line: The Red Raiders can’t let their guard down in this next stretch of games. They must take care of business against the bottom-half teams the rest of the way if they want any shot to stay in contention for the league title and a double-bye in the conference tournament.