Grant McCasland takes blame after Alabama's rout of Texas Tech
Texas Tech dropped its Round of 32 game versus Alabama on Sunday night 90-65. The Red Raiders were handled up and down the floor, leading to a fourth-straight Sweet 16 appearance for the Tide. Grant McCasland spoke to the media following Texas Tech’s defeat in Tampa, and the 2025-26 season coming to a close.
Opening Statements
“Man, what a tough night for our team. Man, Alabama was awesome. I thought they were so much more aggressive on both ends of the floor. They got after us defensively. They disrupted us. And then they were downhill on every action. And I just thought they were in attack mode. And this one’s on me. I didn’t have us ready to go.
I told these guys, man, I’m so thankful for Donovan (Atwell), for Christian (Anderson), for this team, because they do love each other. They really care about each other. And I just didn’t help our team be ready to go. That’s on me. I wish I had it back because of how much fun this group is to be around every day and how every time we challenged them and told them things that we needed to get better, they would bring it; they would work.
We ran into a team that I thought was more determined, that was tougher than we were. And that’s always our standard for winning. I told these guys, games like this make you kind of go, is it worth it? And I just told them it is. It’s always worth giving everything you have, no matter what, especially being a part of a team like this with guys that you love, that you care about. And, man, I love this team. And I’m extremely disappointed I wasn’t able to do a better job helping us be ready to go today, tonight. But give Alabama a ton of credit, man. They were awesome. And they were tougher than we were.”
Being Without JT Toppin
“Yeah, I told the guys in the locker room, when you go through tough times together and you’ve been on a team, I was sad for our team that we just didn’t have JT (Toppin) there because he’s been such a leader for us. He’s been such an inspiration in his competitiveness.
And I know, in life you get punched, things are difficult, it’s hard, and it’s who you get to do it with that makes it awesome. JT had his surgery, so he obviously wasn’t with our team, but it just didn’t feel right that he wasn’t a part of it, whether it had been good or bad, you know, but especially when it’s bad because we love him and we appreciate him and he makes such a difference with our team.
But we had the right team. We had enough to play better than we did tonight. I just didn’t do a good enough job helping us be prepared.”
Alabama Hitting 19-Three Pointers
“Yeah, I was talking to Christian and Don back there. It started with offensive rebounding. I mean, we actually made them miss a few times to start early in the game, but (Houston) Mallette got an offensive rebound dagger three and obviously (Latrell) Wrightsell got hot, but his was kind of on those second attempts also, and then once they saw the ball go in, you can just tell their pace and attack really grows when those offensive toughness plays happen on offensive rebounds. We just couldn’t grab the ball in a stretch there, and it was impressive. It really was. I mean, you look at them and you know you’re going to have a tough time on your hands, but the way they did it tonight was different.”
Building For The Future
“Yeah, I told these guys, man, I mean, this isn’t going to define who they are as people. It’s not. I mean, it’s all tough. Nobody loves going through difficult times like tonight. But, man, I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else. And we had some great moments in games. I just love these guys and thankful for them and thankful for the way they competed all the way through some tough times, and it’s always worth it to give your whole heart to them.
And I told them it’s always worth it to give your whole heart to each other, even when it gets tough like this and you kind of wonder, like, man, how did that happen? Because it did happen fast. But, no, these guys are amazing, and a lot of amazing things happened this year that we’ll be able to look back on with a lot of gratitude.”
Join the conversation with other Red Raiders on the Inside The Double T forum.
Subscribe today to get the most in-depth Texas Tech sports and recruiting coverage.
Follow us on X: @RedRaiderSports
Like and follow us on Instagram @rrs_rivals & like us on Facebook.
