No. 3 Illinois walked into Lubbock on Tuesday night and spent most of the evening trying to climb out of a hole it had dug for itself.
The Illini erased a 22-point deficit, but No. 16 Texas Tech still held on for an 84-77 win, handing Illinois its first loss of the 2026-27 season.
The biggest swing came at the foul line, where Illinois left points scattered all over the floor. The Illini finished just 8-for-19 at the stripe and went 7-for-15 in the second half alone.
Texas Tech, by contrast, was nearly automatic, going 23-for-26 for 88.5 percent. That 15-point gap at the line loomed large in the final margin.
Texas Tech also controlled the glass in a way that mattered all night. Jamichael Stillwell, a Red Raiders forward who didn’t become eligible until Tuesday morning, made an immediate impact with 13 rebounds in 26 minutes, including six on the offensive end. As a team, Texas Tech grabbed 18 offensive boards and beat Illinois overall on the glass, 43-32, despite the Illini entering the game as the No. 1 rebounding team in the country.
The Red Raiders didn’t need a massive advantage in second-chance scoring to make it count. They outscored Illinois 15-10 in that category, but that was enough to tilt the shot volume in their favor. Texas Tech took five more field goals and seven more free throws, and that extra possession edge showed up on the scoreboard.
Illinois also made life harder on itself from three-point range. Quentin Coleman was the exception, going 5-for-6, but the rest of the Illini struggled badly from deep.
Illinois finished 10-for-34 from beyond the arc, which means everyone other than Coleman combined to go just 5-for-28, or 17.9 percent. Some of the misses came on clean looks, while the makes were mostly contested.
That kind of night can be survivable if the free throws are there. For Illinois, they weren’t.
The first half was especially messy. Illinois turned it over 11 times before the break, and Texas Tech turned those mistakes into 15 points.
That helped build a 20-point halftime cushion for the Red Raiders. Andrej Stojakovic got stripped, passes went astray, and help defenders kept jumping passing lanes on drives.
The offense never found any rhythm.
To Illinois’ credit, the ball security improved after halftime. The Illini committed only five turnovers in the second half and gave up just four points off those giveaways.
Even with the rough shooting from deep, Illinois still finished at 50.0 percent from the field because it was so efficient inside the arc. The Illini missed only six two-pointers all night, going 20-for-26. Brad Underwood’s preference for avoiding midrange looks continues to shape the offense, and the next step is clear: when the threes aren’t falling, get it inside to Tomislav Ivisic and let the slashers - Coleman and Stojakovic - do the rest.
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 🡒]