Game Links
Game Recap
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: I’ll go with Davide Moretti here, who led the team with 14 points, all 8 of his shots were three-pointers, making 3, 2 boards, an assist, a steal, and no turnovers. I could probably go with Owens but see below first.
Defender of the Game: I’m going with Tariq Owens for the next two awards, Owens was 6 of 10 with 12 points, 10 boards, 3 blocks and was able to log 29 minutes.
Multi-Purpose Player of the Game: Anytime that Owens gets 12, 10 and 3 blocks without being in foul trouble you take it.
Game Notes:
- Eh, not a great game Bob. So Kansas is the kind of team that this current team is going to struggle to beat. Other similar teams to this Kansas are Baylor and Iowa State in that they have a guard, 3 wings and a post player of some sort. I think this is because Texas Tech is a bit more traditional in their lineup and this is not a good match-up for Texas Tech defensively. That type of lineup is Texas Tech’s Kryptonite and it just so happens that Kansas has a few McDonald’s All-Americans that can make a ton of shots, and have Texas Tech defenders running ragged.
- I’d also add that despite Owens’ 3 blocks, which is still great, he had a difficult time keeping up with Lawson who was in and out and I’m almost all but sure that Lawson’s 3 three-pointers came as Owens simply wasn’t covering him. This is the kind of game where you miss a player like Zach Smith, someone that is really adept at playing the perimeter defensively and can also guard inside. Owens has always been asked to be a post player and guard inside, so to me he’s just not as comfortable out there.
- It was clear that Kansas’ game-plan was to shoot the heck out of the three-point shot from the outset and they executed to perfection, making 9 of 15 in the first half and you knew that they had no interest inside when the Jayhawks only had 6 free throw attempts. Everything was outside and they had no issue getting shots coming off of a missed shot or at any time. In fact, things were a bit more normalized in the second half as Kansas became human behind the arc, making only 4 of 15. The game-plan didn’t change, but the percentage of shots going through the bucket did and that’s why Kansas only outscored Texas Tech by 3 in the second half. If Kansas isn’t so hot in the first half then obviously, I think things are a lot different. Self took a shot of being hot from outside and that’s what you do when you’re at home and need a win after losing 2-straight.
- Texas Tech took almost as many three-point shots and had much less success, making only 3 of 14 in each half, 28 three-point attempts overall, which is good for 21% for the game. That’s not good and I’ve been writing about this for a while, but Jarrett Culver is in a bad way from the outside. This is easier done with a screenshot, but check out Culver’s three-pointers in conference play, where he’s hitting 9% of his three-point attempts. The Arkansas game is what changed things and if you wanted to include those numbers, he’s hitting 18% of his three-point shots. So, the moral or the story is that Culver either needs to stop taking three-point shots or start making them. For me, I’d rather he create his offense mid-range and get the line a bit more. Click to embiggen
- One more gripe about Culver is that he had 5 of the team’s 11 turnovers. I can live with 11 turnovers and Culver has a really high usage rate, but he only made 5 of 17 shots, and if you take in his 5 possessions that he lost as a result of a turnover, that means he only had a positive result in 5 of 22 possessions and that’s not good. Culver is a supremely talented player, but I think he’s got to assess where he is and play to his strengths.
- The other interesting thing from Kansas early is that they were intentionally allowing Texas Tech to swing the ball on offense all the way around to Kyler Edwards and allow him to shoot. It’s like they were fine with allowing him to take that shot and of the players on the floor when he plays, yes, that’s probably not a bad game-plan, either him or Francis who continues to struggle making shots.
- Matt Mooney had a quietly effective game, not great, and could have been better, but 11 points, making 4 of 10, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers is something that I’ll take. I’d like to see more three-point shots, but this is a line that doesn’t upset me at all.
- Head coach Chris Beard:
“You would have to be an idiot to not understand what we were walking into. Obviously, I didn’t get it done. A lot of this is on me. But I explained to the players that when you play a Hall of Fame coach that has lost a couple of games in a row, and (a team) which has one of their best players hurt, that is one man down. The other player, the NCAA does what they do. Stuff like that makes no sense. That is another player down. You think we aren’t going to come into a hornet’s nest. To me, I woke up this morning excited about the opportunity to play against Kansas at its best. Texas Tech has come in here a lot over the years and it was probably not Kansas at its best. But tonight, it was. Their backs were against the wall. This is how good Coach Self is; (there is) too much pride in that locker room. And for whatever reason, we didn’t hear the message.”
- Center Norense Odiase:
“We definitely can’t take anything for granted. We haven’t done anything yet. Every team in this league is good, every team in this league is coming to play no matter what their record is and they’re coming to beat us every single night. So we have to set the tone for the other guys on the team. We can’t come out like this, down t20 (points) at the half, and expect to beat Kansas at Kansas. We might as well pack up now if we’re playing like that. We can never, ever, come out like that again.
- West Virginia is up next on Monday, 8:00 p.m. in Lubbock. Get ready for Huggy as his West Virginia squad beat Oklahoma in Morgantown on Saturday, 79-71.
Highlights
No highlights, just the press conference.