Texas Tech basketball’s Grant McCasland tips hat to UCF fans after big upset

The Texas Tech basketball team suffered an upset defeat at UCF on Saturday. Texas Tech’s loss snapped a five-game winning streak. Following the loss, Red Raiders head coach Grant McCasland praised UCF’s effort.

“What a great road environment. I was really impressed with the turnout, and just the energy in the building,” McCasland said after his team’s 88-80 loss, per Sons of UCF.  “You can tell that this is a team that plays well at home. We just had about as bad a start as you can have….I think UCF deserves a ton of credit for that.”

UCF Deserves a Ton of Credit: @TexasTechMBB HC Grant McCasland following the #11 Red Raiders 88-80 loss at @UCF_MBB #UCF pic.twitter.com/GNirV8QQQT

— Sons of UCF (@SonsofUCF) January 31, 2026

Following the loss, Texas Tech is now 16-5 on the season. The Red Raiders are 6-2 in the Big 12. UCF improved to 17-4 with the win, and 6-3 in the conference. It was a signature win for a Knights squad looking to return to March Madness this season.

Texas Tech struggled against UCF on Saturday

McCasland said UCF really out toughed his Red Raiders team all night. UCF won the rebounding battle, 34-22. The Red Raiders managed just four offensive rebounds in the game.

“They whipped us on the glass really good, and that’s kind of been our strength recently,” McCasland said. “They beat us on 1-on-1 plays going to the basket.”

Texas Tech had not lost a game since a defeat to Houston on January 6. The Red Raiders committed 13 turnovers against the Knights, which was frustrating for McCasland to watch.

“We got a long way to go and a lot to learn, and I think UCF was just more physical, more aggressive, and tougher than we were for 40 minutes,” the Texas Tech coach said.

McCasland is in his third season in Lubbock. He has made the NCAA tournament in each of his previous two seasons. The head coach, who is known for coaching strong defense and team rebounding, was not happy with his team’s effort in those areas against UCF.

“We were late man, we were late all game long. We were not ready to play, and that’s 100 percent on me,” McCasland said postgame.

Texas Tech will have to shake off the loss quickly. The Red Raiders are in action again on Monday against Kansas.

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