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Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game
The last time that Kyler Edwards had a terrific game, I gave the award to someone else, but that won’t happen today. Edwards scored 22 points, 14 of them in the second half (which included 3 of 3 from the three-point line), grabbed 4 boards, had 2 assists, and 1 turnover for the day. Overall, Edwards was an incredibly efficient 6 of 9 from the field, 5 of 6 from the three point line, and 5 of 6 from the free throw line. Absolutely on fire in the second half, but his teammates are finding him on drive and dishes and trusting him too.
The Motion
- A little wonky and very sloppy for Texas Tech in that first half. Statistically, Texas Tech should have been up by 20 in the first half, but 13 turnovers will absolutely kill that sort of thing. Texas Tech only had 21 shots, that number is usually in the 30’s, and so if you add in those 13 turnovers, Texas Tech likely sees a pretty significant lead in the first half. the Red Raiders made 10 of 21 from the floor and 3 of 9 from the three-point line, so they were plenty efficient.
- I’d also add that Iowa State is simply in the gutter offensively. I kept wondering what their plan was and they have Nixon shooting a ton of shots, but he’s really not a very good shooter. And I tend to think that there’s not a great shooter on the team. Haliburton is the truth, even though he didn’t look great, he’s obviously the best player on the team and needs some help.
- The second half, Texas Tech cut down on turnovers and the offense exploded. Iowa State simply did not have an answer and the ball movement was excellent for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders made 60% of their shots including 6 of 12 from the three-point line, had 3 turnovers, while the Cyclones made 42% of their shots, but had 9 second half turnovers alone. That’ll do it. And make no mistake, the defense was part of Iowa State’s offensive frustration.
- Other notable notes. Texas Tech had 32 points off of turnovers, to just 15 for Iowa State (10 of those came in the first half). Texas Tech was out-rebounded by Iowa State, but this is one of those games where you really don’t care about something like that because there weren’t a ton of boards to collect in the second half (because there were very few offensive boards to grab and Iowa State had so many turnovers). Texas Tech had 30 points in the paint to just 20 for ISU and the Red Raiders had 5 blocks to just 1 for the Cyclones.
- Terrence Shannon returned and his spark was significant, especially in the first half. He finished with 11 points on 4 of 4 from the floor.
- As efficient as Edwards was, Davide Moretti was equally as efficient (almost), making 6 of 9 from the floor including 3 of 6 from the three-point line, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers.
- Chris Clarke had an unusual game, he was not quite his normal self, he finished with 4 points, but only 1 rebound and 4 assists to go along with 4 turnovers. He also only played 19 minutes, which when it’s not happening for a player, it’s good to have options.
- Another quiet game for Jahmi’us Ramsey, only 3 of 9 from the floor including 0-4 from the three-point line. His ability to score is still a problem for teams, they have to respect and run out on him. He also had 3 assists, which may be a season high for him. He’s not normally a passer and that’s probably part of his game that needs the most work, finding teammates. I thought he did a nice job of deferring yesterday.
- In just 15 minutes, newly scholarshipped Avery Benson was able to corral 3 steals.
- One last little statistic, whenever a team is able to score more than one point per possession and hold a team to less, you know things are going well. Texas Tech scored, 1.143 points per possession and held Iowa State to .765.
- Head coach Chris Beard on the offense yesterday:
“To win a Big 12 game, you have to score enough points,” Beard said. “As a coach, you sit around and try to figure out how to score those points. It has never been the plan to score all those points on offense. You have to create an offense off of your defense and special teams. When we score off of the defense, it takes a lot of pressure off of the offense. Those plays make us a better team.”
- On the game against Iowa State:
“The crowd is a big part of college basketball. Our crowd really helped us in big stretches of the game today. We are very appreciative of everyone that came out. To win a Big 12 game, you have to score enough points. As a coach, you sit around and try to figure out how to score those points. It has never been the plan to score all those points on offense. You have to create an offense off of your defense and special teams. When we score off of the defense, it takes a lot of pressure off of the offense. Those plays make us a better team.”
- Texas Tech heads out on the road for a game against TCU on Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. tip and this game will also be on ESPN+. Texas Tech and TCU are both 3-2 in the Big 12 thus far this season, so this is a pretty significant game, especially on the road. TCU lost by 20 on the road to Oklahoma yesterday.
Highlights
Hell yeah!
Vanilla Ice performs “Ice, Ice, Baby” at halftime of the Texas Tech Basketball game. The Red Raiders then outscore Iowa State by 14 in the second half.
Coincidence? I think not. pic.twitter.com/ZIuxtaLDJ6
— Eric Kelly (@EricKellyTV) January 18, 2020