Game Links
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game
How about Jahmi’us Ramsey. He was ridiculously efficient, 6 of 7 from the floor, including 2 of 2 from the three-point line for 18 points, and he had a block and 2 steals with 3 turnovers. Not only did he play well offensively, but Ramsey also played well defensively, he jumped out on screen switches rather than lag and was quick to close out on defenders rather than being late. Huge improvement.
The Motion
- Weeeee! That was a heck of a ride and a ton of fun. Don’t ever forget that winning on the road is difficult and it doesn’t matter if it is Texas or Kansas State or TCU, so winning on the road is a huge deal.
- TJ Holyfield could maybe be the player of the game with 5 blocks, 2 of those blocks being absolutely huge at the end of the game. Holyfield grabbed 8 rebounds, had those 5 blocks, a steal and 2 points, but he was really special defensively. And Beard mentioned this a before the game, but Holyfield not fouling and being in the game has been absolutely critical.
- So many big plays down the stretch. Down by 16 in the first half and Texas Tech just chipped away, chipped away, and with 10 minutes left, it was basically tied up and a brand new 10 minute game for the win.
- It was basically a tale of two halves though because Texas tech had some real issues in the first half. Only 19 points, 11 turnovers, and making only 39% of all shots, including missing all 5 three-point shots is not the ideal way to start a game. Not only that, but Texas Tech went to the line a total of 1 time, so between the turnovers and the missed shots, there was never a chance. But in the second half it was a completely different story. Texas Tech scored 43 points to just 26 for Texas. And Texas Tech was relentless at driving to the basket. Texas Tech had 21 free throws, making 16, to just 2 for Texas. But Texas Tech also just started to make some shots, making 54% from the floor in the second half, while the Texas Tech defense clamped down, allowing UT to only make 34%. Oh, and Texas Tech only had 2 turnovers in the second half, while Texas had 9. They basically fell apart, and Texas Tech did the opposite of that. They simply rose to the occasion.
- The second half offense was a ton of pick-and-roll, with Texas switching most of the time and if and when that happened that was a green light for just about anyone who was handling the ball to take it to the rim. It didn’t matter if it was Ramsey, Moretti, Shannon, or Edwards, they all had the green light. And that essentially put Texas on their heels for the entire second half. They didn’t have an answer because they continued to switch.
- How about that down the stretch lineup, which essentially consisted of McCullar replacing Clarke for a good chunk of the second half. I think that was a combination of a couple of things. Clarke was maybe asserting himself a bit too much offensively. He took an ill-advised three-point shot and I think that Moretti subbed in for him, but he essentially subbed out for the last 8 minutes and McCullar played the second half of the second half (i.e. about the last 10 minutes) until Ramsey subbed in at the very end of the game when the game had been decided. McCullar has really asserted himself and I think that Beard absolutely loves his ability on defense, he can switch with anyone and that’s huge. McCullar has also not had the turnover problems that he had early in the year, just 1 yesterday in 25 minutes.
- Terrence Shannon had a huge game, 6 of 8 from the floor with 13 points, 6 boards and he had a tough game against Oklahoma, but that’s how things sometimes go with freshmen. It’s not always consistent.
- Beard essentially ran with a 7 man rotation. Avery Benson received 1 minute, but I think that unless there are fouls or other circumstances, Beard has figured it out.
- I also want to mention Kyler Edwards, who was not great shooting the ball and he missed all 5 of his three-point shots (in fact 4 of them were in the first half), but when he did drive to the basket, he was at his best. I’d like to see more of that because he’s a good free throw shooter and he’s got the body to finish.
- I’m posting the shot-chart, not everyone does this, but Texas does, and notice that it is either a three-point shot or a shot in the paint (except for a couple of mid-range jumpers by Holyfield).
- Beard:
“There wasn’t a lot of panic from our bench, just disappointment that we weren’t playing well,” Beard said. “We have a lot of core values in our program and one of them is to ‘play it to the bone’. Sometimes when you get down like that you just have to have the mindset that it’s not over and start chipping away. We made the plays down the stretch that it takes to win a Big 12 game on the road.”
- If there was every any question about who Beard was talking about regarding not giving a full defensive effort. Here’s an exchange that happened at about the 2:50 mark on the embedded press conference.
Ramsey:Those blocks were major, I don’t know if I’ve ever been more happy for a defensive play personally, but watch the tape. I was pretty happy for Holyfield. That was big.
Beard:
I never thought I’d see this day. Jahmi’us Ramsey is talking about defense. This is a special day.
/everybody laughs/
- Up next is TCU at home on Monday at 8:00 p.m.
Highlights