Illinois came into Tuesday night as the No. 3 team in the country, but the trip to Texas Tech turned into a long climb almost immediately. The Illini fell into a 20-point halftime hole against the top-20 Red Raiders, then spent the second half trying to dig their way back before finally running out of clock in an 84-78 loss - their first defeat of the season.
The comeback effort had enough bite to make it interesting late, but the opening stretch left Illinois with too much to overcome. A game that started badly never fully stopped asking questions of the Illini, especially on the perimeter and on the defensive end.
Stefan Vaaks was supposed to be one of the key answers. Instead, he had a rough night in every phase.
The offseason transfer addition, brought in after being the Big East’s best shooter as a freshman, couldn’t find his rhythm off the bench and finished 2/10 from three. He also missed four free throws and was targeted defensively as Texas Tech helped build that early cushion.
With David Mirkovic out, Illinois needs Vaaks to be a steady presence against ranked teams, and this wasn’t the kind of performance that helps carry that load.
The bigger issue was the shooting as a whole. Illinois lives on volume from deep - the Illini are top-10 nationally in three-point attempts at nearly 40 per game - but Tuesday showed how fragile that approach can be when the shots don’t drop.
Illinois finished 10/34 from beyond the arc, and outside of Quentin Coleman, the numbers were even worse at 5/28. Without Mirkovic scoring inside, the three-ball becomes even more central to the offense, and Texas Tech made sure that weakness was exposed.
Coleman, though, kept flashing exactly why he’s becoming such a force. The five-star freshman delivered 19 points, five rebounds and four assists while going 5/6 from deep, giving Illinois a real spark in the second half.
He’s now averaging 17 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and has already established himself as one of the best first-year players in the country. He isn’t at the same level as last year’s star Keaton Wagler, but Coleman is looking more and more like the kind of future pro talent that doesn’t stay around long.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Suddenly Has A Running Back Problem Before Oklahoma State
Texas Techs backfield is suddenly thin at an awkward time, with the Big 12 injury report listing Quinten Joyner as out and Cam Dickey as questionable for the upcoming game against Oklahoma State. That leaves JKoby Williams carrying the load again after handling a heavy workload in the previous game when injuries forced the Red Raiders to lean on him more than planned.
If Dickey cannot go, the ripple effect could push true freshman Ashton Ace Rowden into a bigger role than anyone expected this early in the season. For a Texas Tech offense trying to stay balanced, the status of the running back room now looms as one of the more important details heading into the matchup with Oklahoma State. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Faces A Big 12 Reality Fans May Not Like
The College Football Playoff is about to reshape the way the Big 12, and everyone else in the Power Four, thinks about the stretch run. With the bracket expanding to 24 teams starting next season, Josh Pate pointed out that the old conference championship weekend may not carry the same weight it once did, and the Big 12 has already moved to discontinue its title game next year. For a league that has long sold itself on late-season drama, that is a meaningful shift in how teams will be judged and how fans will follow the race.
For Texas Tech, the change adds another layer to an already evolving conference landscape. Pate raised broader concerns about what conferences will even mean in this new setup, especially when scheduling and postseason access start to look different than they have in the past. The Red Raiders will still be chasing the same goals, but the path to get there may feel less familiar, and maybe a little less satisfying for fans who grew up with a cleaner finish line. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Just Turned Lubbock Into A National Basketball Story
The atmosphere at United Supermarkets Arena has been building for a while, but Wednesday night pushed it into a different category entirely. No. 16 Texas Tech knocked off No. 3 Illinois 84-78 in Lubbock, and the performance gave the Red Raiders a national spotlight that matched the noise inside the building. Grant McCasland made sure to credit the crowd afterward, pointing to the energy and support that helped turn the arena into a difficult place for an elite opponent to navigate.
The reaction did not stay local for long, either. Social media lit up with posts showing just how intense the environment had become, and Texas Techs win quickly became one of the nights bigger college basketball talking points. For a program trying to keep climbing in the national conversation, it was the kind of result that does more than add a quality win to the rsum. It reminds everyone that Lubbock can still become a problem for anybody willing to walk into it. [Read more 🡒]