This game was a well-gone conclusion pretty much right from the tip. I mentioned before the game that UTSA was a terrible team, the worst team that Texas Tech has played this year and that ended up being pretty accurate. UTSA was over-matched athletically. The lead changed zero times for the entire game and was never tied.
The news of the game was that Zach Smith tweaked his ankle during warm-ups and so he sat out for the game and that’s probably good news that he didn’t play as he now has 7 days to heal rather than trying to go last night. And he wasn’t needed, not even in the least. Getting the start for Smith was Niem Stevenson, who finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and just 1 turnover. Stevenson isn’t a power forward, but with UTSA’s lineup, it really didn’t matter, with Justin Gray alongside Stevenson. And those 16 points came on just 9 shots, which is pretty terrific efficiency.
Honestly, everyone had a pretty good night and everyone shot efficiently except for Thomas Brandsma and Gio McLean who were 1 for 5 and 1 for 6 respectively.
Tying Stevenson for leading scorer was Keenan Evans, who was 7 for 10 from the floor and only shot 2 three-point shots making 1. That’s 16 points to go along with 1 rebound, 3 assists and 1 turnover.
I still really love Devon Thomas’ game, as he only scored 7 points, but he grabbed 6 rebounds despite being the smallest player for Texas Tech and tied Matt Temple for the most rebounds, plus he had 6 assists and zero turnovers. Just a fantastic and in-control game from Thomas.
Matt Temple, Justin Gray and Anthony Livingston also scored in double-figures. Temple had 13 points on 5 of 8 from the floor including 2 of 2 from the three-point line as well as 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers. Gray had 10 points, 5 boards and an assist while Livingston had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Texas Tech led in every statistical category that you can think of including another game where the team shoots over 50%, won the points in the paint 42 to 26, out-rebounded UTSA 36 to 27, had just 8 turnovers to UTSA’s 14 and had 20 assists to just 8 to the Roadrunners. A dominating game, but a not very good opponent.
Texas Tech plays Nicholls State on December 14th, taking a break for the team to take their final exams.
