Drake Bulldogs at Texas Tech Red Raiders

Williams, Toppin lead No. 3 seed Texas Tech into Sweet 16 with 77-64 victory over No. 11 seed Drake

Elijah Hawkins added 16 points for the Red Raiders (27-8), who denied the Bulldogs their first Sweet 16 trip in more than five decades and will play No. 10 seed Arkansas in the West Region semifinals Thursday night in San Francisco.

“Our guys were so composed and so tough,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said, “and that was a huge part of the win.”

Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points and Daniel Abreu had 15 for the Bulldogs (31-4), who were outscored 50-20 inside by the bigger, stronger Red Raiders, and had their eight-game winning streak come to an end.

“They played a fantastic game,” said Drake coach Ben McCollum, one of McCasland's closest friends. “You kind of have to pick your poison with them, just because of the way we're built. We executed our game plan. Unfortunately, their two bigs dribbled down on us the whole game and made it very difficult on us.”

Texas Tech beat UNC Wilmington in the first round with a 3-point barrage, setting a tournament record with 46 attempts. But with the Bulldogs blanketing the Red Raiders' guards, McCasland chose to funnel the ball inside to Toppin, a second-team All-American, and Williams, who continued to play after he appeared to aggravate a right leg injury in the second half.

“We watched film and we knew we were going to have to beat them inside-out,” Toppin said.

He had 19 of his points on 9-of-10 shooting in the first half. Williams had 14 at the break. And the duo contributed all of the Red Raiders' points during a 13-2 first-half run that helped to send them into the locker room with a 37-30 lead.

It was almost as if Texas Tech knew exactly how to dismantle the nation's No. 2 scoring defense.

Maybe it learned during its scrimmage with Drake back in November.

“The reason we scrimmaged them," McCasland said, “we figured it would be the best test of how we could defend.”

Turns out, pretty well. The Red Raiders held Stirtz, an honorable mention All-American, to 9-for-19 shooting, and they did not allow sharpshooter Mitch Mascari to make a single field goal.

The Bulldogs were still within 43-38 early in the second half when McCollum earned a technical foul, and Hawkins went to the line for Texas Tech and hit four straight free throws. And while the Missouri Valley champions kept fighting the final 15 minutes, the Red Raiders — well, Williams and Toppin — were able to answer every basket to put them away.

Takeaways Drake hopes it can keep McCollum in Des Moines, Iowa. The native of Iowa City — the home of the University of Iowa — is one of the leading contenders for the open job with the Hawkeyes.

Texas Tech survived the opening weekend without Chance McMillian, its third-leading scorer. The hope is that his upper-body injury is sufficiently healed to play in the Sweet 16.

Up next The Red Raiders will play John Calipari's Razorbacks for a spot in the Elite Eight.

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• TV Channel: Drake at Texas Tech 2021 College Basketball, week 1, is broadcasted on TNT.
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