Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Of course it is LeJuan Watts, who scored 36 points, on 12 of 13, 3 of 4 from deep, 9 of 11 from the line, 6 boards, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers. He was unstoppable.
The Motion:
- Head coach Grant McCasland was not happy about the defensive effort. And I agree. But I walk away from this game and the Sam Houston and Wyoming game thinking that Northern Colorado has some dudes that can score and I know that they were without their best player. Credit to Wisne and Bloch, they were good offensive players and Northern Colorado had really good offensive sets. They were no joke, the thing that they did that they weren’t expected to do was hit shots from deep, which they were 5 of 11.
- Let’s get back to the upset head coach. McCasland said that they would need to revaluate everything. Who actually plays and who doesn’t. McCasland said that (and it was true) that players were getting caught up in screens and then guys were late in rotation, or not rotating at all, and you’re left with a defensive effort that looks less than stellar. McCasland said that it was an effort issue and for me, I see it as a team that just gets lost in the mix and I don’t know why. It’s really sort of junior high stuff. McCasland is upset and I’m sure you’re a bit dismayed as well.
- JT Toppin would have won the player of the game if Watts had not gone off, he was 10 of 16 from the field, 2 of 2 from deep (including a banked 3), 3 rebounds, 1 assist and no turnovers. He was pretty much automatic from inside and would still encourage him not to shoot outside shots.
- I complained about free throws the last game and Texas Tech shot 24 while Northern Colorado shot just 8, nearly have of those 24 were from Watts.
- We saw Jazz Henderson play a couple of minutes to give Christian Anderson a few minutes off the court and I think that was good. McCasland said that Horner is next and Marial Akuentok may be up after that.
- Luke Bamgboye banged his knee in a non-contact sort of way and after the game McCasland said that it didn’t look good. I never know how to judge these things. A simple knock can be something much worse, so who knows. That would obviously create significant issues as this team really needs a big man that can play alongside Toppin because Toppin is not a 5 and is playing the 5 a lot. That’s a big part of the defensive issues there.
- Northern Colorado made 56% of their shots and Texas Tech was just a bit better, 59%. They both made 12 3’s and the free throws was maybe the difference in the game. There were no real offensive rebounding opportunities, which is why that looks a bit off.
- Texas Tech squeaked by with 44 points in the paint to Northern Colorado’s 40. Texas Tech only had 3 turnovers and had an astounding 1.53 points per possession. They allowed 1.36, which is just too much.
- Advanced Stats: Watts +10.8; Petty +0.9; Toppin +0.9; Anderson -0.9; Atwell -3.8; and Bryan -1.1.
- Up next? An undefeated Duke team in New York City at Madison Square Garden, tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. and will be on ESPN.
Highlights