Player of the Game | Zach Smith had a career-high 25 points going 8-10 from the field. He was perfect from downtown hitting 2-2, and went 7-9 from the charity stripe. He also added 8 rebounds and 2 assists to his statsheet. This is a game that Smith got to shine as he took over the spotlight with his team leading 36 minutes on the floor. LSU had nobody that could stop him, and he made them pay for it.
Stat of the Game | Texas Tech was on a tear and hit 10 three point shots in the first half. They cooled off in the second half, but ended the game going 12-23 from the outside to get to a 52% mark from beyond the arc. We had been discussing here at Staking The Plains that Chris Beard would move to a three-point first look when he got the chance. In the first half, LSU ran a zone defense that left the downtown shots wide open. It was great to see us knocking the open jumpers down. The second half had an adjustment as LSU stretched and brought more pressure outside the three-point line, yet we ran some nice sets to break that pressure. By draining our open threes early in the game we were able to sail to a victory over the Tigers.
How the Game was Won | Texas Tech jumped out early on LSU, and never really looked back. We took the lead a few minutes into the game, and at one moment with about 5 minutes remaining in the first half LSU cut the lead to 9. But, then we jumped right back out to a double digit lead. Texas Tech basically just looked like the superior team and coasted to a nice win over an SEC team that is having a down year.
Turning Point | When we jumped out to a 20 point lead with 5 minutes left in the second half, I was able to get to the comfort level that would coast until the buzzer sounded. We sort of pumped on the breaks and did what we had to do to run out the clock but still stick another 7 points on the board. This was a must win at home game, and ends our back-to-back loss slide.
Team Observations | Keenan Evans did not play, and we heard he was banged up on that last play against Baylor. I hope he has a fast recovery and also that we find out some more information on how serious the injury will be. We need him back in the lineup as we roll into Austin to take on the Longhorns.