JT Toppin has been the backbone of the Texas Tech Red Raiders throughout the season. The 20-year-old power forward has had his fair share of injury struggles this season, but he has always bounced back to help his team move forward.
He was doing the same thing against the Arizona State Sun Devils when he went down with an injury. At the time of his injury, he had dropped 20 points with eight rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes on the floor.
Late in the second half, with over six minutes left on the clock, Arizona was leading 61-56. Toppin, with the ball in his possession, drove to the basket and was guarded by the Sun Devils center, Massamba Diop.
Before Toppin could get the shot off, he went down in what first appeared to be a no-contact. He fell awkwardly on his right leg and immediately held his right knee while screaming in pain. He was escorted to the locker room after the incident.
The Red Raiders lost the game 67-72, but that wasn’t the biggest shock of the night for them. The team didn’t reveal the severity of his injury, but looking at how Toppin reacted when he went down, it looked very serious.
“It’s hard to say until we get it looked at closely,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said after the game. “But I just know he’s really disappointed. He’s such a competitor. We’ll get back and get him looked at.”
McCasland said that Toppin’s injury shook the team, but they found a way to keep the game competitive. The coach believes that if they hadn’t lost momentum, they’d have secured an away win.
Bobby Hurley Expressed Concern Over JT Toppin’s Injury
Losing a player of Toppin’s caliber could be devastating for the Red Raiders, especially at this point in the season. We’ll have to wait for official updates from the team to know details of the injury and how long Toppin will have to sit out because of it.
After the game, Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley also expressed concern over his injury. Hurley stated that Toppin is one of the best players in the country and hoped that he’d be back soon.
“I hope he’s OK, and I hate to see a guy go out of a game like that. He’s one of the best players in the country,” Hurley said. “My heart goes out to him and hope that he’s back soon for them.”
It’s worth noting that Toppin has had lower-body issues earlier. His season debut was delayed for the same reason.
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