Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: I’m going with Kevin McCullar, 15 points on 6 of 13 from the floor, 8 boards, 2 assists, and just 1 turnover. The defense and the rounding out of his offensive game is fun to watch. Improve that three-point shot and McCullar is an all-conference player.
The Motion:
- Well. Dang. Two good looks at the end. Possibly could have called a foul on either, but this was a rough game and I remember not too long ago talking about being upset about the refs not swallowing their whistle. If McClung and McCullar make their free throws, who knows how this game plays out.
- This is disappointing and it’s such a strange year. Not once did Texas Tech have to pause because of Covid-19 and that’s something. That has nothing to do with basketball, but a ton with how the staff worked to make sure that they stayed safe so that they could continue to play. Playing is the most important thing.
- Calling a timeout is a thing right now, the idea that calling a timeout to set up a play, either before the McCullar to Shannon play or the Edwards attempt. I don’t know what to say other than I get why Beard doesn’t like to do that, it allows Arkansas to set something up defensively and Texas Tech is not a team that runs a ton of complicated set plays. It’s give-and-take, so I think that if this is your biggest complaint, then that’s probably going to be your go-to for the rest of Beard’s career at Texas Tech. That’s not a knock on you if that’s your complaint, it is a valid complaint, but it’s not what Beard does. I would guess that your complaint and Beard’s philosophy are two immovable rocks and neither one will change and neither one of you are wrong.
- I’d also add that Texas Tech simply didn’t have a defensive answer for the high-post offense and two very athletic big-men. I’ll get into this later, but not having an answer is a roster problem, at least for me, and Arkansas had a ton of dunks and easy looks because of how good Smith and Williams were. Santos-Silva isn’t that long and lean guy so it just wasn’t working.
- Good things? Kyler Edwards was really good, sans the missed layup (there was contact, but not enough to call a foul), making 4 of 11 and 3 of 6 beyond the arc, add to that 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, and that’s a full box score.
- Did not expect Chibuzo Agbo to play 10 minutes and hit 2 of 4 three-point shots. Not that I think he’s a bad shooter, but because he typically doesn’t play big minutes. I will be excited to see more of him next year.
- Head coach Chris Beard:
“I thought they had a lot of fight,” said Beard who is now 9-3 in the NCAA Tournament as Tech’s head coach. “We’ve been doing that all year. We call it play it to the bone. It’s a 40-minute game. We really competed down the stretch and gave ourselves a chance. Just proud of our players. It’s a hurt locker room right now. To me, this is one of the great things about athletics. You get to feel the highs of the high, and the lows hurt.
“But just the teamwork is — there’s a lot of tears in that locker room right now, and just shows that these guys are elite people. There will be some really good professional men coming out of that locker room, rich men, winners. These guys have passion for what they do. Tonight we didn’t play as well as we wanted to in segments of the game. But we played it to the bone. Another great Texas Tech effort out there, just a gutsy effort.”
- Watching Beard get choked up about this team hits me.
- Up next? I need to take a long look at the roster and we need to have some discussions about the roster, roster management, and where the team can go. If any of you are looking forward to predicting the roster, I’d just wait until August when the semester starts and then I’d wait until the season actually starts. And then just wait until after Christmas. And then you’ll be good until conference plays starts.
Highlights