Texas Tech's national title hopes took a big hit with its loss to Arizona State on Tuesday night, but it got even worse the following day. The Red Raiders have confirmed that star forward JT Toppin suffered a season-ending knee injury in the loss with just six games remaining in the regular season.
Toppin hurt his knee in the second half and remained down on the court for several minutes before being helped into the locker room. He received an MRI on Wednesday, which revealed a torn ACL, the team announced on social media.
JT Toppin heads to the locker room following an apparent right leg injury. pic.twitter.com/1JDSGcYK5J
— ESPN (@espn) February 18, 2026
The injury occurred as Toppin was driving to the basket, and he initially appeared to clash knees with Arizona State center Massamba Diop. However, the replay showed there was no contact, and Toppin's knee simply gave out.
Toppin's season ends with 21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocks per game in 25 outings. He was a top-10 midseason finalist for the Karl Malone Award, given annually to the nation's best power forward.
Toppin has missed one game thus far, sitting out of the season opener with a lower-body injury. He has not previously missed a Big 12 conference game since joining Texas Tech ahead of the 2024-2025 college basketball season.
The loss to Arizona State dropped Texas Tech to 19-7 and 9-4 in the Big 12. The Red Raiders are just 3-3 in their last six games, causing them to fall to fifth in the competitive conference.
With his best player now done for the season, Grant McCasland has no choice but to turn to sophomore Luke Bamgboye to take Toppin's place in the starting lineup. The VCU transfer has started four games this season and is averaging 3.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game on the year.
