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On Saturday, in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 82-73 win over Texas Tech, pretty much the opposite happened.

Over 14,000 people packed into McKale Center on a warm February evening, mostly stood on their feet and helped the Wildcats outrebound the Red Raiders 42-29 despite playing without starting power forward Trey Townsend and keep them to just 37.1% shooting.

“That’s life on the road in the Big 12,� Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “It’s not all that complicated.�

There were some subtle difference this time, however. The Wildcats were playing without Townsend because of concussion symptoms that developed after he banged his head on the floor at BYU on Tuesday, with Lloyd starting freshman Carter Bryant instead and giving a career-high 30 minutes to big man Henri Veesaar.

Also, the Wildcats may simply be a better team than they were a few weeks ago. Since Jan. 18, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has easily beaten Oklahoma State and Colorado, knocked off then-third-ranked Iowa State while collecting road wins in rowdy environments at ASU and BYU.

“We all know there's an advantage to playing at home… it's well known in college basketball,� Lloyd said of the two games with Texas Tech. “And us not playing up to what we felt was to our level of physicality and attention to detail (in Lubbock), obviously, we were able to address some things from the last time we played them.�

Lloyd went on to note that the margin of error was thin Saturday, which was another slight difference between the two games: Texas Tech trailed by only five with 18 seconds to go, while UA missed 15 of its final 16 shots in Lubbock, its confidence long drained before the final buzzer.

But otherwise, the script was almost completely flipped. Outrebounded 50-34 in Lubbock, UA this time outrebounded Texas Tech by 13.

And while the Red Raiders stayed alive in the game by hitting 12 of 33 3-pointers, often sprinkling them in just in time to slow a UA run or quiet the McKale Center fans, they managed to hit only 37.8% of their two-point shots, muscled out of position to do much of anything in the post.

While shooting 51.7% overall, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ outscored Texas Tech 48-28 in the paint.

"It was obvious that Tommy did an awesome job, man," McCasland said. "I mean, you want to talk about having a team ready to go. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ was more physical than us in every way, the way they pushed it in transition, the way they got it into the paint and scored at the basket through us, the way they bullied us with their defense, their activity on the ball, their physicality and rebounding, their offensive rebounding and scoring in the paint.

"They basically beat us in every area."

While Texas Tech led for nearly 37 minutes at Lubbock, the Wildcats led for nearly 39 minutes this time. The Wildcats scored the first basket of the game on a layup from center Tobe Awaka, then took leads of up to nine points while staying ahead for over 18 minutes of the half.

It was a wave McCasland saw coming but couldn’t get his players out of the way of.

“They're full of guys that have played on teams that compete for championships, and you knew that they would have this one teed up and ready to go,� McCasland said. “I tried to warn our team: I don't care if you're running next to a guy, they'll throw it to their big at the rim in transition. And if you're running next to him, it's not good enough.

“Sure enough, to start the game, they throw the ball over the top to Awaka, and he makes a layup.�

Texas Tech forward JT Toppin, who led the Red Raiders with 21 points and 13 rebounds, scored eight points over the final 3:20 of the first half to pull TTU within a basket at halftime. That sort of thing turned out to be typical: The Red Raiders surged from time to time but never really came any closer.

More examples: The Wildcats led by up to 10 points midway through the second half but Chris Anderson hit a 3-pointer with 8:04 left to help the Red Raiders cut UA’s lead to just 62-57. Then UA went back up 74-63 with 3:15 to go … before a 3-pointer from the top of the key from Toppin cut UA’s lead to just 64-60 entering the final six minutes.

After that, it was soon over. McCasland picked up a technical foul with 4:20 left and Caleb Love hit two ensuing technical free throws.UA then rallied to go ahead 74-63 after Jaden Bradley hit a pair of free throws and UA hung on the rest of the way.

McCasland declined to comment on the technical foul, which dampened his team’s final push, but he did have plenty to say about the Wildcats’ athleticism, length, size and, this time, determination.

“I felt a different sense of urgency in this one from their end,� McCasland said. “You could tell that this meant a lot to them defensively by the way they were playing. I think this team always has these offensive components where they put you on your heels. But, man, we were on our heels defensively and on offense, because of the way they the way they got after us.�

McCasland said he also didn’t think the Wildcats “missed a beat� with Townsend’s injury. Scoreless in Lubbock, Veesaar helped make up for his absence with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Awaka had 14 points and 11 rebounds, the two of them even playing together more often Saturday in a double-post lineup Lloyd said he could see more of.

They were moves Lloyd may have to have made quickly. He said he didn’t know “until closer to the game� that Townsend would not be available, having said during his pregame press conference Friday that he didn’t expect anything different when asked about Townsend and Awaka, who was poked in the eye at BYU.

When asked what changed with Townsend between his Friday news conference and Saturday’s game, Lloyd said it was because of “all this medical stuff…it’s way beyond me.� Lloyd said he wasn’t sure if Townsend would be available Tuesday at Kansas State but that he is not out for the season.

There is no timetable for Townsend’s return, though concussion protocols typically last at least a week, and UA said only that it would continue to evaluate him. Townsend was not seen courtside for Saturday’s game, possibly to keep him away from exposure to light and/or noise.

But, at least on Saturday, the Wildcats figured it out without Townsend. Lloyd essentially went with only seven players, with center Emmanuel Stephen logging just eight seconds in the first half before he was pulled, and five players wound up with 14 or more points.

While Bryant added only four points (but six rebounds) to the UA interior because of foul trouble, the Wildcats’ perimeter received 15 points and six rebounds from KJ Lewis, 16 points and six assists from Caleb Love -- plus 16 points, five assists and five steals from point guard Jaden Bradley, who said the steals were simply “loose change� resulting from UA bigs knocking the ball away from the Red Raiders.

The win moved ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to 17-6 overall and 11-1 in the Big 12, while Texas Tech dropped to 18-5 and 9-3. The Wildcats are now 13-1 since mid-December, as they made clear on Saturday at McKale Center, that one loss has now been fully avenged.

“We always had faith in our guys and faith in the team,� Bradley said. “I feel like we did a great job responding. Going into Big 12 we had a chance to make an impact and I feel like we’re really doing that right now.�