Taking the court without three projected starters, one who is a preseason All-American, might create a problem for most teams.
For No. 10 Texas Tech, that challenge didn’t cause much of a ripple in the 2025-26 season opener.
After a 98-60 romp past Lindenwood on Monday in Lubbock, Texas, the Red Raiders play host to Sam Houston on Friday with a jolt of confidence added to their top-shelf expectations coming into the season.
With J.T. Toppin, LeJuan Watts and Luke Bamgboye all in street clothes and nursing injuries, Texas Tech worked through some early defensive glitches to roll to the lopsided win. Christian Anderson picked up a huge chunk of the slack with career highs in points (34) and assists (11) and transfer Donovan Atwell generated 22 points in his Red Raider debut.
That duo accounted for 17 of Texas Tech’s 33 made field goals and was a combined 9-for-20 from 3-point territory.
“I’ll tell you what it says about both Donovan and Christian, is that their work over these last two months have been consistent,” Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland said. “So, you know who plays the best? It’s the two guys that have been practicing.”
Now, whether or not any of the missing trio is ready to go Friday, Texas Tech (1-0) should be ready to tangle with the Bearkats with less trepidation, which could be important as both teams step up a level in competition.
Sam Houston (1-0) routed Division III LeTourneau 95-59 on Monday to begin the season with a revamped roster of 10 newcomers — five of those freshmen.
Jacobe Coleman led the Bearkats with 17 points, and fellow rookie Jacob Walker contributed 13. Both freshmen came off the bench in their college debut and provided a large chunk of Sam Houston’s 52 points off the bench.
The Bearkats overcame a tough shooting night from beyond the arc (6 of 27) by dominating the backboards 59-36, with 21 offensive rebounds leading to 25 second-chance points.
“We looked like a team that is young and inexperienced, and that’s OK,” Bearkats coach Chris Mudge said. “I thought it was a good growing game for us. You saw our guys get better and more comfortable as we (went) and had more guys giving contributions.”
The same is true of the Red Raiders, especially with the three players out of action. Toppin was the 2025 Big 12 Player of the Year, while Watts was pegged as the league’s Preseason Newcomer of the Year. Bamgboye is projected to be a defensive force for Texas Tech after blocking 75 shots as a freshman at VCU last season.
Two freshmen came off the bench and helped fill the void nicely: Nolan Groves snared 16 rebounds, a school record for a freshman, while Jaylen Petty chimed in with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Those two helped Texas Tech collect 59 rebounds (to 43 for Lindenwood), which sets up an intriguing matchup on the glass Friday. The Red Raiders also harassed the Lions into a tough shooting night: 31.1% overall (19 of 61) and 23.8% from 3-point range (5 of 21).
“We went into this game with a scrap mentality that we’d have to be great defensively and rebounding,” McCasland said. “Just the mentality of how physical we could be without fouling.”
That may be more of a chore against Sam Houston, which earned 25 foul shots — hitting 21 — in its opener. The Bearkats found a rhythm in the second half with a 13-0 run to break open what was a 17-point game.
