Jaylen Petty Reflects on Texas Tech's Loss to Alabama in NCAA Tournament

Texas Tech freshman guard Jaylen Petty reflected on the Red Raiders' loss to Alabama in the NCAA Tournament.

Petty scored nine points with five rebounds and three assists in Texas Tech's 90-65 blowout loss to the Crimson Tide over the weekend.

"It meant a lot to all of us, especially to me to be able to create new bonds and have new feathers, new experiences and new mentors. This whole experience, I'm just grateful for it," Petty said.

The true freshman made headlines in Texas Tech's win over Akron in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Petty scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Red Raiders to a 91-71 victory over the Zips.

The dominant win showed the squad could indeed flourish without their All-American big man, JT Toppin. However, Texas Tech looked lost against Alabama.

"They definitely outcompeted us and they were more tougher than us," Petty said of Tech's matchup in the round of 32.

#TexasTech guard Jaylen Petty after the 90-65 loss to Alabama:#MarchMadness #TexasTech pic.twitter.com/9VDcQJTCVw
— Caleigh Jo Hommel (@caleighhommeltv) March 23, 2026

Grant McCasland's Thoughts on Texas Tech's Brutal Loss to Alabama

"What a tough night for our team," head coach Grant McCasland said. "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. I just thought they were in attack mode. Ran into a team that I thought was more determined, that was tougher than we were, and that's always our standard for winning."

McCasland revealed where he thinks the Red Raiders fell short, and it's something the team has struggled with since Toppin suffered his season-ending injury.

"It started with offensive rebounding," McCasland said. "We actually made them miss a few times to start early in the game. Mallette got an offensive rebound, dagger 3, and obviously 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. It was impressive. It really was. 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."

All in all, McCasland believes their March Madness run was still a valuable lesson for the team.

"I told these guys, games like this make you kind of go, is it worth it," McCasland said. "I 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 and that you care about. I mean, I love this team, and I'm extremely disappointed I wasn't able to do a better job helping us be ready to go tonight. But give Alabama a ton of credit, man, they were awesome. They were tougher than we were."

The Red Raiders will likely look quite different next year and there's a chance Petty could enter the transfer portal looking for new opportunities. However, Texas Tech could be a very special team next season with the right pieces.

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