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The Motion
Sorry gang, another game that I didn’t get to watch because I don’t get this channel. I followed the best that I can. You guys help me fill in the blanks.
This was another game where Texas Tech was down early. Slow start by Texas Tech or fast start by Nevada, whatever way you want to look at it. Nevada shot 43% from the three-point line in the first half, making 6 of 14, but they simply put the ball in the bucket better than Texas Tech did in the first half. Nevada is a good team, one that’s going to be tough and probably playing in the NCAA Tournament.- Keenan Evans was the star of the game, but he just wore out Nevada, especially from the line. Evans only mad 9 of 20 shots for 32 points, but he was 13 of 19 the free throw line. Nevada only played 7 players and of those 7 players, four of them had 4 or more fouls and one player fouled out. You love seeing those sorts of games from Evans, where he finds a way to get it done. I should also mention that Evans also finished with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 6 turnovers. This probably wasn’t Evans’ best game, but finding a way to win is better than finding a way to lose. It was mentioned after the game that Evans has been sick all week, so good to see him respond even though he may not have been feeling great.
- Texas Tech forced 21 Wolf Pack turnoves, which is quite a bit for them. That’s really good defense for Texas Tech. That doesn’t mean that Nevada didn’t shoot well, but taking away that many possessions from Nevada is really significant.
- The second half was led by Evans, Justin Gray, Zach Smith, Zhaire Smith, Jarrett Culver and Davide Moretti. They all played double-digit in minutes. That’s three freshmen playing significant minutes.
- Zhaire Smith scored 10 points, with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, no turnovers and a block, while Moreetti had some huge buckets on his end, scoring 9 points on 2 of 4 (2 of 3 behind the arc).
- Norense Odiase got the start over Hamilton. Odiase didn’t score and he only had 3 boards in 11 minutes. Hamilton scored 7 points. This was not a really good game for centers because Nevada doesn’t really play a traditional center. I’d guess that Odiase gets the start when the next game arrives next week.
- Niem Stevenson was the other player thtat scored in double-figures, scoring 11 on 5 of 8.
- Zach Smith and Justin Gray both played significant minutes. Gray scored 6 points, grabbed 7 rebounds with just 1 turnover and a steal. Smith finished with 3 points and just 1 rebound, but had one big block at the end of the game.
- Texas Tech only made 68% of their free throws, but shot 38 free throws overall to Nevada’s 17. I’d imagine that this is a sore point for Nevada fans, but this is what Texas Tech does, especially Evans. Texas Tech scored 23 points off of those Nevada 21 turnovers and that’s pretty signifcant. This may be a situation where Texas Tech’s depth won out, as Texas Tech had 30 bench points to just 3 for Nevada.