Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Chris Anderson, come on down. He was absolutely feeling it yesterday, a total of 9 of 16 from the field, 5 of 9 from deep, just 4 of 7 from the line, 5 boards, 8 assists, 4 turnovers, and 2 steals.
The Motion:
- I can’t remember if I wrote this before the game, but I definitely thought this, that Texas Tech wasn’t elite at any one category on defense and it seems that head coach Grant McCasland wanted the team to crank up the defensive intensity. Now it helped that LSU was not a good shooting team from deep, but they sure did shot the heck out of the 3-point shot despite not being a team that shoots well from beyond the 3-point line. Doesn’t seem like a good plan, but that’s not on me. I thought that Texas Tech’s intensity was something that was there for the entire game. I’d also say that the rotation of the ball was terrific for the game. They started to figure that out and that’s something that’s a bit tough to do against a bigger and longer team that can get in the lanes. I think that explains some of the turnovers because they were actively working on that.
- Luke Bamgboye is going to be a tough one to figure out. There are times where I wonder if he’s playing within himself and playing within what he can really do and bring to the team rather than trying to do too much. The failure to dunk the ball on that one sequence was weird, but it was also maybe indicative that he just doesn’t have a ton of time playing basketball. Youssouf used to be criticized for this, so it takes time sometimes.
- Rotation officially tightened. It was basically the starting 5, then LeJuan Watts, Jaylen Petty and a bit of Leon Horner. I thought that Horner fouled when he got in the game, not staying in front of his man, he maybe lacks a bit of quickness to do that. Regardless, I think those are the 7 guys right now that are going to receive a majority of the minutes.
- I expected this LSU team to better offensively. They lacked direction and this was statistically not a better team than Texas Tech in 90 out of 100 games. They didn’t lean into their strengths inside and when Texas Tech started hitting 3’s, even early, then they felt like they needed to keep pace.
- JT Toppin struggled a bit, maybe because of LSU’s size, but he still scored 11 points on 5 of 10 with 15 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers.
- Watts also had a double-double, which I am highly encouraged about, 15 points, on 5 of 11, 10 boards, including 5 offensive, and no assists, but he probably should have had a couple, 2 turnovers, a block, and a steal.
- Jaylen Petty was solid in relief and I guess he banged up his nose a couple of games ago? On a couple of those 3’s that he hit I did not want him to shoot them, but he did and he made them. He’s a bit fearless, which can be good and bad. Atwell hitting open 3’s is also a pretty great superpower and he’s definitely ready at all times.
- Texas Tech had 14 turnovers, which is a bit high for this team. More sloppiness than anything, which led to 18 LSU points. Texas Tech dominated the boards on a bigger team, 48-33. Points in the paint was equal, 28.
- Advanced Stats (these are NET BPM): Anderson +9.9; Petty +3.3; Toppin +2.4; Watts +1.9; Bryan +0.3; Atwell -2.0; and Bamgboye -0.7.
- Up next? Arkansas and Texas Tech will face off on December 13th at 11:00 a.m. at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Highlights