“I Just Want to Win”: Jaylen Petty Sparks No. 15 Texas Tech in 87–57 Victory
Eight days after an emotional comeback win over then No. 3 Duke, the question surrounding No. 15 Texas Tech on Sunday afternoon was a cliché for a reason one: would there be any holiday letdown after the break?
Head coach Grant McCasland gave a lot of credit to his entire staff who helped more than usual this week with McCasland missing some practice while sick. But when he was there, he saw the demeanor he wanted out of his group and said he never believed there would be a letdown.
“It didn’t look like we’d accomplished something,” McCasland said about how players were practicing after the Duke win. “It looked like we were building on something. I 100 percent believed this kind of first half could happen.”
On sunday, a lot of that belief showed up through a freshman.
With senior guard Tyeree Bryan sidelined by an ankle injury, Jaylen Petty got the start and delivered a breakout performance, scoring a career-high 20 points as Texas Tech rolled past Winthrop 87–57 at United Supermarkets Arena.
Petty’s impact wasn’t limited to the box score. After the game, as McCasland challenged his team in the locker room for letting Winthrop hang around in the second half, when the Red Raiders were outscored 38–26, it was the freshman who spoke up first.
“He said, ‘I’ve got to be better defensively,’” McCasland recalled as the moment that best describes who Petty is and what he means to this team. “That humility, that confidence — that’s why he’ll be as valuable as anybody on our team.”
On the floor, Petty backed it up all afternoon. The freshman finished 6-of-8 from the field, knocking down two three-pointers while adding six rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes. He looked like a veteran out there and spoke like one two postgame when asked how he has begun settling into his role with the team.
“I just want to win,” Petty said. “Whatever I’ve got to do in my role to win, create for my team and do good on defense, that’s what I’m going to do.”
That mindset hasn’t gone unnoticed inside the locker room.
“You don’t see it a lot,” senior guard Donovan Atwell. “Even though he’s a freshman, he knows how to play in big games. That helps our team a lot, knowing we’ve got guys like that who can step up.”
McCasland echoed that sentiment, pointing to Petty’s willingness to embrace whatever the moment demands.
“He just wants to win,” McCasland said. “Tell him what we’ve got to do to win and he’ll do it.”
While Christian Anderson led all scorers with 29 points and controlled the game offensively, Petty’s energy helped ignite a first-half avalanche that put the game out of reach early. Texas Tech shot 65.6 percent from the field and 60 percent from three in the opening 20 minutes, racing to a 59–21 halftime lead.
Winthrop entered the day averaging 90 points per game (17th nationally) but Texas Tech didn’t allow the Eagles to find a rhythm until it was far too late. The Red Raiders’ defensive urgency and communication chased Winthrop off the three-point line, holding them to just 4-of-25 shooting from deep and 31.7 percent overall for the game.
“I thought our urgency and communication early was great,” McCasland said. “We had the right amount of aggressiveness to get people on their heels. We didn’t give up angles and stayed more compact. And were really playing the scouting report right.“
Texas Tech never trailed and led by as many as 38, finishing with 19 assists as Anderson, Atwell, and JT Toppin all reached double figures. Texas Tech will look to carry this momentum into the new year when they begin Big 12 play with Oklahoma State (11-1) on Saturday at 12 pm in Lubbock.
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