JT Toppin injury update just made Kansas State’s battle with Texas Tech less scary

Kansas State takes on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the road in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday in the midst of complete and total chaos, but they aren’t the only ones dealing with devastating news amid a cinematic end to conference play. 

Late Tuesday night, it was announced that the Red Raiders are now without JT Toppin - one of the Big 12 Player of the Year frontrunners - for the remainder of the season after the junior forward suffered a torn ACL against Arizona State.

JT Toppin injury update, and what it means for Kansas State against Texas Tech

Without Toppin, a number of things have the potential to fall in line for K-State, which snapped a six-game losing streak against the Baylor Bears at home, claiming only their second win of conference play and trying to clim the Big 12 standings. 

Since the departure of former head coach Jerome Tang, the Wildcats earned their largest margin of victory in over two months, and against a team that was a single possession away from taking down then-No. 7 Iowa State on its home floor.

Senior guard Nate Johnson also logged a career-high 33 points, just a single point shy of PJ Haggerty, who’s now led the team in scoring the last 15 consecutive contests. Oh yeah… they also became the first duo to score 30 points each in a game since 2008, which also happened against Baylor. 

And if those numbers persist, especially without Toppin on the other end of the floor, Saturday could spell spoiler for the Wildcats. 

Scouting Texas Tech: Who can step up, and how fast?

Toppin isn’t the only reliable scorer on the floor for Texas Tech, nor has he ever been since joining the Red Raiders ahead of the 2024-25 season. Similar to Haggerty, however, he's led the team in scoring seven of its last 10 games, even doubling as the assist leader in eight of them. 

Without Toppin, control falls into the hands of LeJuan Watts at the forward position. Watts, a junior in his first season with the Red Raiders, hasn’t scored in double figures since the Feb. 2 home loss to then-No. 11 Kansas.

During the nonconference slate, Watts logged three games with 20 or more points, first on Nov. 11 against Illinois, later on Dec. 16 scoring a season-high 36 against Northern Colorado and again four days later against then-No. 3 Duke. 

Watts has shown other flashes of promise throughout Big 12 competition, scoring 19 points against Oklahoma State and 20 against BYU, but hasn’t found his way back into that category in the last four games. 

The outcome of the game could come down to whether or not the Red Raiders opt to play a guard-heavy starting lineup, and who plays consistent minutes off the bench.

If another offensive showing similar to the win against Baylor turns up, then a win is possible. With Andrej Kostic and Khamari McGriff back in the rotation and a bench deeper than just two players, there’s potential. 

But on the road against a ranked opponent in the Big 12, don’t expect it to be an automatic upset bid. 

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