Red Raiders Fall to Kansas, 85-68 in Lawrence

Kansas 85, Texas Tech 68

  • This is one of those games that you can virtually predict because Bill Self has lost something like 9 total games at home since he’s been the head coach at Kansas. It just doesn’t happen. So, you can just assume that whoever plays Kansas in Lawrence is going to lose.
  • So, with that being said, I thought Texas Tech played well for a good part of it and despite some questionable calls from the officials. Or maybe non-calls. I tend to not focus all that much on officials because there’s 40 minutes and there’s lots of opportunities to rid yourself of those opportunities. And additionally, Texas Tech was within 5 at one point in the second half, so Texas Tech was right there.
  • You want to beat Kansas at home, don’t let them shoot 52% from the field and 50% from the three-point line. That’s the real culprit. Add in the fact that they made 18 of 22 free throws and that’s your ball game.
  • Still, this exchange ended up with a technical foul on Anthony Livingston (technically, it was right after this):

  • This ended up being a seven point swing and it felt like Texas Tech was in this perpetual 10 point hole from this point forward. The Kansas fans are laughing at Livingston, calling it the flop and there was certainly some dramatics, but the point here is that there is no rule to call a technical foul on a player that reacts to another player, especially when that player is talking trash. Still though, these are the sort of things that you can’t let get to you, especially on the road and especially-especially on the road against Kansas because they (the refs, the crowd, whoever) aren’t going to give you any help.
  • Texas Tech did not take a free throw in the first half. Texas Tech did not shoot a free throw until 11:56 left in the second half. Let that sink in for a while.
  • Justin Gray has been a non-factor for a couple of games and he needs to snap out of it. Consistency is what stirs the pot of greatness, or at least very good.
  • Very excited to see Aaron Ross snap out of his funk. He scored 17 points on just 8 shots, making 3 of 3 three-point shots. That’s really good moving forward, plus he had 5 boards, 2 assists and 0 turnovers.
  • Norense Odiase also saw some time, just 3 minutes, maybe his foot is better. I hope it is. This type of game against Kansas isn’t the type of game that’s going to be beneficial for him. Kansas essentially runs 4 guard type players and a center and that’s not exactly Odiase’s game.
  • Other notable performances, Zach Smith was fantastic and he can shoot from the outside too, making 7 of 11 including 3 of 5 from the three-point line. Actually, Texas Tech shot very well from the three-point line, 11 of 28 overall for 39%. I can live with that for sure.
  • Anthony Livingston was not particularly good yesterday and maybe this whole flop thing got in his head. He was just 2 of 8 overall, cored 6 points and only grabbled 3 boards while turning the ball over 3 times. He’ll bounce back though.
  • Shadell Millinghause is struggling to find his shot, he’s 0-5 this game nad he needs to figure out what he’s doing.
  • This wasn’t an embarrassing performance by any means, but Texas Tech isn’t even close to being at a point in their program to unseating Kansas at home. Heck, 99% of the teams that walk into the Phog aren’t capable so that’s not a knock. They’re really good.
  • Here’s head coach Chris Beard:

    “I knew we were going to play against an inspired Kansas team,” Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. “I knew what we were getting into. I know Coach Self and I know (assistant coach) Norm (Roberts). I can only imagine what their practices have been like the past couple of days. We did everything we could with our players to explain that you’re about to play not only against a great team but against a team that is motivated to play great defense. I thought they just took us out of a lot of our stuff. The first pass of our offense was difficult tonight. They changed up their ball screen coverage on our shooters. So, give them a lot of credit for how they played defense tonight.”

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