McCasland, Texas Tech push to elevate competitiveness
Texas Tech is coming off a 2-game losing streak heading into Morgantown, WV to take on the Mountaineers. The Red Raiders sit at 5th in the Big 12 Conference standings, behind Arizona (9-0), Houston (8-1), Iowa State (7-2), and Kansas (7-2). Head Coach Grant McCasland caught up with the local media before heading off to West Virginia.
The Big 12 Week-To-Week
Coach McCasland opened his press conference with West Virginia‘s fight game-to-game, and the Mountaineers win over Cincinnati in Fifth Third Arena 59 to 54.
“Big 12 Conference, man. What a fight every every day and every night to to be great in this league. And no different than playing on Sunday at West Virginia. And obviously Ross Hodge being one of my best friends. I love what he’s doing with their team. They’re finding ways to win close games. They’ve been in a lot of them and winning on the road at Cincinnati says a lot about how tough they are. Looking forward to the opportunity to go compete and we’re going to have to play our best.”
The Mindset
Texas Tech has stumbled twice in a row heading into this matchup with the Mountaineers. The losing streak followed a 5-game win streak which included wins over Houston, and BYU. Coach McCasland will look to use these past few close losses toward more competitive play heading forward.
“So really the focus has been on how do we do our best to give ourselves the best chance to win this game. Doesn’t matter who the head coach is. Doesn’t matter who we’re playing. Just look at the numbers, look at the personnel, and look at what we got to do. Put ourselves in position. I feel like our practices have been awesome and our preparation has been right. I know that if we go out and do everything that we’ve practiced in order to put ourselves in position with all our heart, we’ll be better no matter what. And that’s kind of my heart going into it.”
“Now, we’re not trying to play together. We’re competing together. And I think that allows you to actually win, not just perform. And there’s a difference between competitiveness, playing, and winning. Going out there and trying your best to play without getting in trouble.”
Injury Updates
Christian Anderson was unable to go for Kansas, suffering an illness prior to tip-off on Monday night. The Red Raiders did not know he couldn’t go until near tip-off time against the Jayhawks. Following the week since the matchup took place, McCasland is confident his All-American point guard is ready to go for West Virginia.
“I would anticipate Christian (Anderson) being ready to go with no complications from what he dealt with against Kansas… we’ve had two great practices with him doing everything that we did prior to and seen no ill effects or no negative from what happened on Monday against Kansas, so I anticipate him being a full go.”
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