{"id":130894,"date":"2026-03-22T00:26:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T03:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/901010146"},"modified":"2026-03-22T00:26:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T03:26:39","slug":"no-4-alabama-no-5-texas-tech-keep-winning-without-star-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/22\/no-4-alabama-no-5-texas-tech-keep-winning-without-star-players\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Texas Tech keep winning without star players"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alabama and Texas Tech both had concerns regarding their roster makeup entering the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

Now one of them is guaranteed a spot in the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n

The teams meet in Sunday night\u2019s Midwest Region second-round game in Tampa, Fla.<\/p>\n

Fifth-seeded Texas Tech (23-10) was looking like a national championship contender until losing star forward JT Toppin to a season-ending torn ACL on Feb. 17.<\/p>\n

Still, the Red Raiders will challenge the Crimson Tide in many ways, particularly because of guard play \u2014 much of which was on display during the second half of Friday\u2019s 91-71 handling of No. 12 Akron.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis team does as good a job as anybody as I\u2019ve seen at hunting mismatches,\u201d Alabama coach Nate Oats said of Texas Tech.<\/p>\n

Fourth-seeded Alabama (24-9) is without suspended guard Aden Holloway, who was second on the team in scoring with 16.8 points per game. He faces a felony drug charge stemming from his arrest on Monday.<\/p>\n

Yet there\u2019s plenty of firepower out there for both teams. Labaron Philon Jr. averages 22 points per game for Alabama, which rallied past 13 seed Hofstra 90-70 on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a comparison just because he\u2019s got size and can do it in a lot of different ways,\u201d Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said of Alabama\u2019s Oats. \u201cBut definitely impressed with his ability to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crimson Tide are hoping that experience against different types of lineups will come in handy for Sunday\u2019s showdown. Texas Tech is bound to want to keep the tempo at a moderate pace, while Alabama likes a brisker pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say we\u2019ve just got to get adjusted to how they play,\u201d Alabama forward Aiden Sherrell said. \u201cWe play so many teams throughout the season that have a great guard play, and at the end of the day, we had to get adjusted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherrell had his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds against Hofstra. He\u2019s ready to do more if that\u2019s what\u2019s needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key will be just trying to make the winning plays for sure, just doing whatever it takes to help my teammates succeed and help us win,\u201d Sherrell said. \u201cJust giving that second effort on every possession.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the outcome of the second-round game might depend on if Alabama can rebound at the rate that it did against Hofstra (a 46-34 advantage).<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think part of what makes Texas Tech good is all the hustle plays,\u201d Oats said.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech has had to compensate for rebounding since losing Toppin. It has become more of a group effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the guards since JT has been injured have stepped up for us,\u201d forward LeJuan Watts said.<\/p>\n

Watts said Alabama\u2019s 17 offensive rebounds from the Hofstra game caught the Red Raiders\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

McCasland said rebounding is a topic that has been uncomfortable for Texas Tech since Toppin\u2019s injury. He understands why it\u2019s viewed as such an important topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuard rebounding is huge for us,\u201d McCasland said. \u201cWhen we play our best, our guards are five rebounds-plus each, and that\u2019s where it feels like we need to create advantages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shooting from the perimeter might turn out as important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to get 3s off,\u201d Oats said. \u201cSo do they. If we can get more good looks off than them, I like our chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Field Level Media<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… Tampa, Fla. Fifth-seeded Texas Tech<\/span> (23-10) was looking like … lot of different ways,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Texas Tech<\/span> coach Grant McCasland said of … hustle plays,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Oats said. Texas Tech<\/span> has had to compensate for … has been uncomfortable for Texas Tech<\/span> since Toppin\u00e2\u0080\u0099s injury. He …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}