Texas Tech star JT Toppin left Tuesday’s shocking 72-67 loss at Arizona State with what coach Grant McCasland described as a lower leg injury. The exact nature and severity of the injury were unclear in the moment, and Texas Tech awaits imaging on Toppin’s leg to provide a clear diagnosis.
The No. 13 Red Raiders trailed Arizona State, 61-56, with 6:03 remaining when Toppin sustained the ailment. On a drive to the basket, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year made upper-body contact with a Sun Devils defender and fell to the floor as his legs buckled underneath him. He immediately grabbed at his right leg and remained on the floor in pain before being assisted into the locker room.
“It’s hard to say, obviously, until we get it looked at closely,” McCasland reported in his postgame media availability. “But I just know he’s really disappointed. He’s such a competitor. So we’ll get back and get him looked at.”
If the injury forces Toppin to miss time, Texas Tech could be in a world of hurt. The junior forward is integral to the Red Raiders’ Final Four aspirations as the team leader in points (21.8), rebounds (10.8) and blocks (1.7) per game. He is on pace to become the first Big 12 player to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since Blake Griffin did so at Oklahoma during the 2008-09 season.
Texas Tech’s backcourt remains in strong shape, but a potential Toppin absence would detract significantly from a frontcourt that relies heavily on his production. LeJuan Watts is the only other forward to average at least 15 minutes per game.
The Red Raiders were already in trouble against Arizona State with Toppin on the floor, but his absence did nothing to help overcome a surprising deficit against a Sun Devils team that entered the day at 4-8 in Big 12 play.
“It definitely knocked us on our heels a little bit,” McCasland reported. “But, man, we’ve got a competitive group and found a way to get to a one-possession game and gave ourselves a chance to win late, which is what you want. I told our team I love that group that was on the floor at the end and just the fight that it took. If we would have done that for the previous 38 minutes, we would have put ourselves in a better position. We just weren’t ready to play.”
The loss was Texas Tech’s seventh on the season and just its second against an unranked opponent. It dropped the Red Raiders to fifth place in the Big 12 and two games back of first-place No. 2 Houston.
