Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: I’m going with Darrion Williams, but you could give it to Pop Isaacs as well. Williams finished going 8 of 12 from the field, 2 of 3 from deep, 9 boards, 1 assist, 5 steals, and 2 turnovers.
The Motion:
- I didn’t get home until 8:30 last night and the game was essentially over so I didn’t get to see a second live. I did find a highlight package with nearly 12 minutes of highlights, 2nd embed below, and I believe it includes every bucket, but not a lot of lead-up to every bucket. I’ve also embedded the normal things as well.
- Texas Tech’s defense was just good in the first half OR Oklahoma State couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. Both can be true, holding the Cowboys to 21% from the field and 7% from deep, while they improved to 54% and 36% in the second half. According to T-Rank, the game was 98.9% over with 15:30 left in the game.
- Isaacs definitely got out of his funk last night, going 7 of 11 from the field and not shooting so many 3’s, just 2 of 5, with 4 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers, which was a team-high. Regardless, it’s great to see him shooting well.
- Some numbers. Not the cleanest game, 14 turnovers for Texas Tech, 17 for Oklahoma State. Texas Tech, mainly behind Williams, had 40 points in the paint to just 28 for OSU. The Cowboys had 9 assist to 17 turnovers and Texas Tech was 16 to 13. Again, not great, but it’s an advantage for the good guys.
- Really proud of Robert Jennings and Eemeli Yalaho, they are basically splitting minutes at the post, Jennings was perfect, 2 of 2 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line with 6 boards, 2 assists, while Yalaho was 2 of 5 with 5 boards.
- I mentioned the 5 steals for Williams, but Toussaint had 5 steals and 6 assists on the night. Not a great shooting night, 3 of 8, but I’ll take it if you’ve got Isaac, Williams and McMillian rolling.
- When asked about KyeRon Lindsay, McCasland didn’t directly answer the question, but he said that defensively everyone has to be all-in on defense and if you want to be all-in on defense, then you’ll play and if not, then it’s not going to work. That’s quite an answer.
- Advanced stats say that the box score +/- Jennings was statistically the best player at +14.7, which is outstanding! Followed by Williams at +14.4, then Isaacs at +11.7, Toussaint +3.8, McMillian +3.1, and Walton at +0.7. The only negative was Yalaho at -9.8.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “You just want to continue getting better. I felt like we took a step in the right direction in the first half defensively. We’ve been struggling in that area and it was a point of emphasis. Our guys set the tone and made them uncomfortable. I felt like our intensity on defense created some opportunities for us. I felt like we were aggressive the way we needed to be. Our guys were competing and playing for each other. It’s a fun time of year to be winning and I’m thrilled with our effort.”
- Up next? It’s the last conference game. Saturday, March 9th Texas Tech hosts No. 11 Baylor at 5:00 p.m. with the game televised on ESPN2.
Highlights