Big 12 preseason player of the year JT Toppin led No. 10 Texas Tech with 31 points and 14 rebounds Friday as the Red Raiders pulled away for a 98-77 victory over Sam Houston in Lubbock, Texas.
Toppin, who missed the season-opening win over Lindenwood with a lower-body injury, added four assists and three steals. Donovan Atwell contributed 19 points and Christian Anderson had 18 points and seven assists for the Red Raiders (2-0).
Tyeree Bryan scored 12 points and reserve LeJuan Watts scored 11 in the win.
Justin Begg led Sam Houston (1-1) with 17 points, while Kashie Natt had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Veljko Ilic scored 13 goals for the Bearkats, who led by four with less than seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Trailing by 10 at halftime, the Bearkats cut their deficit to six on baskets from Ilic and Jacob Walker less than two minutes into the second half.
Atwell’s third 3-pointer pushed Texas Tech’s advantage to 62-49 with 14 minutes remaining.
Toppin’s layup and subsequent free throws with 7:52 left gave the Red Raiders their largest lead to that point at 77-60.
After Isaiah Manning stopped the run with a free throw, Texas Tech extended its advantage to 22 on Toppin’s reverse layup at 5:55.
Ilic’s jumper gave the Bearkats a 26-22 lead with 7:48 left in the first half, marking a 7-0 run for Sam Houston.
Toppin then scored four straight points to start a 12-3 Texas Tech run, as the Red Raiders took a 34-29 lead with just over three minutes left in the first half.
Atwell knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to extend the lead to 11.
Texas Tech led 47-37 at halftime, paced by Toppin’s 14 points and Anderson’s 13.
–Field level media
