Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland Sends Honest Message After Brutal Alabama Loss
The Texas Tech Red Raiders 2025-26 season came to an end on Sunday. The No. 5 seed Red Raiders suffered a brutal loss to the No. 4 seed Alabama Crimson Tide 90-65 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Red Raiders were flat from the start, exploiting the massive size advantage that Alabama had over Tech.
Tech has no chance against the much bigger and physical Crimson Tide. The Red Raiders didn't get closer than 18 points.
After the game, head coach Grant McCasland spoke on the loss and didn't mince any words. He took full responsibility for the loss that ended their season.
"What a tough night for our team," 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, 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, for Christian, 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.
"Ran into a team that I thought was more determined, that was tougher than we were, and that’s always our standard for winning. And I told these guys, games like this make you kind of go, is it worth it? 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. And they were tougher than we were."
What Went Wrong for Texas Tech in the Tournament?
Both teams entered the tournament short-handed. However, it was Tech that was without its best player, JT Toppin.
The All-American forward missed the last month of the season after he suffered a torn ACL. Toppin had surgery a few days ago to repair his knee. His status for the start of next season is unclear.
Texas Tech failed to reach the second weekend of the tournament for the second time in the last three seasons. Last season, Tech fell to the eventual champions, the Florida Gators, in the Elite Eight.
Injuries and inconsistent play from the Red Raiders down the stretch hurt the Red Raiders in a big way, especially against the suffocating Alabama defense.
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Ricardo Sandoval is a Sports Writer for On SI based in Los Angeles, CA. Ricardo has been writing about a wide range of sports and was also an Associate Editor for Dodgers Nation. Ricardo was also a Contributing Sports Writer for Newsweek's Sports Section specializing in NBA, NFL and College coverage. He is a contributor for Texas Tech On SI.