There's been a familiar refrain for the Texas Tech basketball team under Grant McCasland, and it may be more pronounced than the success the Red Raiders have had in two-plus seasons.
Following Friday night's 98-77 win over Sam Houston, McCasland improved his overall record at Tech to 53-20, which includes a 22-4 record in non-conference play. That compilation of wins before Big 12 Conference play will be put to the ultimate test over the next seven weeks, Mwith cCasland opting to load up on difficult games before the league schedule begins on Jan. 3.
The first of these big tests comes Tuesday when 11th-ranked Texas Tech heads to Champaign to take on 14th-ranked Illinois. It's the first time the Red Raiders have played a road game in non-conference play against a ranked team since 2013. It's also the first time a ranked Texas Tech team is playing a true road game against another ranked team before Big 12 play since 2009, when No. 20 Texas Tech played at No. 19 New Mexico, losing 90-75.
This in itself is unique. What isn't is the dilemma McCasland once again faces.
The Red Raiders have yet to field a complete roster. JT Toppin (31 points, 14 rebounds) and LeJuan Watts (11 points, six rebounds) made their season debuts against Sam Houston while posts Luke Bamgboye and Josiah Moseley have yet to suit up. McCasland said after the opener Moseley is furthest away from playing while Bamgboye is listed as day-to-day, each with lower body injuries.
Being down a few guys is hardly new for McCasland, and it has become a trend of its own. Since his first game as Texas Tech's head coach, McCasland has had his full complement of players available to him in just 11 total games (eight in 2023-24 and three in 2024-25). That means during 85% of McCasland's tenure, he's had at least one key player out of action.
How injuries have impacted Grant McCasland's time with Texas Tech basketball
This number is a tad misleading because of one person: Devan Cambridge.
One of the final pieces to McCasland's inaugural squad, Cambridge was expected to be a crucial component to the Red Raiders' scheme, especially on defense where his unique blend of length and size gave Tech versatility.
That lasted just eight games in 2023-24 before Cambridge suffered a season-ending knee injury. He made his return in the 2024-25 opener, even starting a pair of games, before Cambridge left the team after six contests. Cambridge has since been granted another medical hardship waiver for his seventh year of college ball and is at fellow Big 12 school UCF.
Cambridge's injury can't be ignored, but it also must be separated to figure out the true extent of the loss to Texas Tech. Once a player is deemed out for the season, his team moves on and becomes something entirely different. So the Red Raiders who took the floor with Cambridge were not the same without him, for better or worse.
To break it down, I've separated the last two years into non-conference and conference-plus (Big 12 games plus postseason) to make sense of it.
Here's how that looks:
- Texas Tech had a full roster for three non-conference games last year and just eight the previous year. They are 8-3 in those games.
- In conference-plus, the Red Raiders were 15-3 in 2024-25 and 7-5 in 2023-24 with everybody available. In games where at least one of Tech's top players in the rotation was absent, they were 5-2 last season and 5-4 the previous year.
Taking all 73 games into account (including the first two this season), keeping these separators in mind, McCasland has had at least one of his top rotational players (in this year's case, projected rotational players) 29 times. In other words, McCasland has played at least one crucial man down in about 40% of his games at Texas Tech.
This also only accounts for games where the player was available from the opening tip. It does not include games where players like Warren Washington, Darrion Williams or Chance McMillian left early due to their injuries.
How Illinois factors into Texas Tech's current injury status
Being down a man or two can feel like having a hand tied behind your back, but McCasland and his staff have excelled in one area: making it work. The Red Raiders usually find ways to be competitive even when it appears they have no chance (see last year's home game against Houston) or win them outright.
The same may have to happen against Illinois. Head coach Brad Underwood has hit the Baltics to load up on experienced international players, including Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic, the 7-foot brothers from Croatia. The Fighting Illini (2-0) have scored 113 points in each of their first two games, which makes Texas Tech's 98 points in its first two seem pedestrian.
McCasland's noted after the first two games of the season the Red Raiders haven't had much time on the floor together in the preseason, which became evident at times against the Bearkats. That makes big games such as this, early in the season, more difficult for teams.
At this juncture, though, there's nothing McCasland can do but play the guys he has available and figure it out. Frustrating as it can be, he's shown an ability to adapt on the fly, so going into the lion's den with some banged-up Red Raiders should feel like just another Tuesday to him.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech basketball keeps winning despite injury woes under McCasland