TCU 62, Texas Tech 61
- I guess you can fall on either side of the fence on this. On one hand, Keenan Evans drove too soon into the lane and left way too much time, 13 seconds remaining, for TCU to do anything to score one bucket. Evans ended up splitting his free throws, tying the game, and now all TCU needed was just one point to win the game.
- On the other side of the fence, Evans foul on Robinson was one where the refs maybe should have swallowed their whistle allowing the kids to play. Well, that didn’t happen and TCU ended up winning the game off of a reach-in foul by Evans. TCU’s Robinson hit one free throw and that was the game. TCU wins by 1 and this is not a good situation.
- Chris Beard (via the LAJ:
“My opinion, that game should go to overtime and let the players decide who wins the game,” Tech coach Chris Beard said. “It’s frustrating as a coach because I love our team, I love our guys, I love Texas Tech. I would do anything possible to get these guys over the hump of these one possession games.”
- Despite missing one of two free throws late, I thought Evans was fantastic during the game and one of the reasons why Texas Tech was even in the game. Evans scored 20 points to lead the way, going 7 of 13 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the three-point line as well as 3 assists and 0 turnovers.
- Zach Smith went ahead and got himself another double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Smith actually had a pretty rough night from the field as he was only 5 of 14 and having a 6’11” defender guard you will do that. Still, I love the way he battles. Smith also had 3 blocks on the night.
- Niem Stevenson’s game continues to progress and he may be the second best defender on the team. Stevenson had 10 points on 4 of 9 from the floor with 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assist and 0 turnovers on the night.
- The bench was pretty much completely ineffective last night. Aaron Ross couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn, going 0-5 and scoring only 2 points on 2 of 4 from the free throw line, but he did have 5 assists. Matt Temple played okay in his 6 minutes and was the only other bench player that scored.
- From a team perspective, the hardest thing to watch is how on the perimeter this team just lacks the athletes to cover three-point shooters and it’s killing them. They do play good overall team defense, but when the ball starts to swing, you can see how the team is struggling to find the next man. Next year’s recruits should solve a lot of those problems, there’s an influx of really athletic guards that should help significantly.
- Things are about to get crazy. Texas Tech hosts Kansas and then hosts Baylor, travels to West Virginia and then hosts Iowa State in their next four. It’s desperation time for this team.
Highlights from tonight’s game at TCU, Red Raiders face No. 3 Kansas at 1 p.m. on Saturday #WreckEm #4to1 pic.twitter.com/Prrr6XO5TB
— TexasTech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 8, 2017