Game Links
* Sorry for being so late on this. I was at the Ft. Worth rodeo on Saturday afternoon and didn’t get home until late in the evening. I still haven’t watched the game and have surmised a few things from the box score. You all will surely help fill in the blanks.
Game Notes:
- Obviously, this team isn’t shooting well at all. I think against Texas the team shot 30% +/- and here thsi team is again shooting 34% yesterday. And from what I can tell, this team is somewhat digging itself in a hole early and then having to climb back out of it, by shooting way too many three-pointers because that was even worse, shooting 23% from the three-point line.
- So goes Keenan Evans, so goes the team. That may be where the fate of the team is currently at right now. Evans was only 2 of 12 and 2 of 8 from beyond the arc while only shooting 2 free throws. That means that Evans is shooting largely jumpshots, while not attacking the rim. When a team is down, the natural reaction is to shoot three’s to get back, but the better method is to get to teh line and chip away from that end. And it wasn’t just Evans, the entire team only shot 10 free throws all game long. That’s ridiculously uncharacteristic.
- Beard made another change to the starting lineup, inserting Jarrett Culver in place of Niem Stevenson and this is also a pretty significant issue. Texas Tech really needed guys like Stevenson, Tommy Hamilton, Justin Gray and Norense Odiase to average close to 10 points a game, especially with Zach Smith out. They really aren’t close to that (Stevenson is close, but he’s been fading). Gray had 4 points, Hamilton had 2 points, Odiase had 2 and Stevenson had 4. That’s 12 points for three guys in 57 minutes. There’s just not enough production there.
- Meanwhile the two true freshman continue to produce, but it’s not enough. Culver had 9 points and Smith is the only player who scored in double-figures. Maybe it’s time to let the freshmen really open it up.
- There was the thought that Malik Ondigo would maybe redshirt since he has not played all that much, but he received 18 minutes and of all of the centers, he seemingly had the best offensive stats, scoring 6 points on 3 of 5.
- As problematic as the offense is, the defense did not do it’s job either, allowing Iowa State to shoot 47% from the field and 38% from the three-point line for an eFG% of 54%, that’s 4% higher than their yearly average.
- Texas Tech has Oklahoma State on Tuesday at home, where the Cowboys just knocked off Oklahoma at home. It is very tough to win on the road in the Big 12 and maybe some home-cooking will help get this team on track.
Highlights