Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: The best overall game I’ve seen from Kyler Edwards in a really long time. Edwards didn’t force shots, let the game come to him, and was fantastic creating opportunities. And he had a double-double as well! Edwards led the team with 13 points on 4 of 8, including 2 of 5 from the three-point line, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. that’s filling up the box score. terrific game.
The Motion:
- that second half was a thing of beauty. the first half was uneven at best, and was still doubling-up Grambling, but the second half was a real clinic defensively and some terrific flow offensively. Texas Tech shot 9% better, 38% in the first half and 47% in the second half, and shot 10% better from the three-point line. I’d also add that I thought the team swung the ball so much better in the second half and that led to better shots. I really enjoyed watching that half of basketball.
- More good news? Mac McClung looked lethargic, almost like he had a long Saturday night. That first half was him missing all 4 shots and turned the ball over 3 times. The second half saw him work, not force shots, make 2 of 3, including both from beyond the arc, made all 6 free throws and no turnovers. McClung basically scored 12 points on 3 shots and that’s pretty amazing and how he’s doing a terrific job of making things happen.
- the bad news is that Terrence Shannon rolled his ankle and it didn’t look good. The x-rays came back negative and that’s the good news. The bad news is that he probably isn’t available for Wednesday’s game and Kevin McCullar is still in a boot. I remember when I was trying to figure out how all of the minutes would break down at the small forward.
- After starting off hot, Micah Peavy has struggled a bit, missing all 3 of his shots and not grabbing a ton of boards and turning the ball over 3 times, but he did play nice defense. He’s just a bit in a bit of a funk and he has to work through that. Remember when McCullar was at turnover machine as a freshman? He was and he eventually figured things out. Just got to slow down a bit.
- In good freshman news, Nimari Burnett seems to be figuring things out, he was the 4th guy in double-figures, scored 12 points on 3 shots, like McClung. Burnett also had 3 boards, 3 assists, was credited with 6 steals, and no turnovers. Pretty rare to have 2 guys score 24 points on just 6 shots (granted, McClung’s was all in the second half). Burnett’s pass to Goldin was pretty great.
- Another good game from Jamarius Burton, where he scored 10 points on 4 of 8 with 3 assists.
- Stat time? Texas Tech held Grambling to .571 points per possession and they only scored on 28% of possessions. For Texas Tech, they scored on 1.141 points per possession and scored on 51% of possessions. Believe it or not, Texas Tech had 38 boards, limited Grambling to just 5 offensive rebounds and had 15 of them themselves. Texas Tech cleaned up with 28 points in the paint and allowed just 14 from Grambling. Grambling had just 3 assists all game long and 30 turnovers. That’s not a good ratio.
- Head coach Chris Beard:
“I think it starts with some individual performances. Marcus does his job and gets three down from the glass and gets three offensive rebounds in a Division I game, in only 22 minutes. The players in the Big 12 are averaging three offensive rebounds in a game we’re top in that category which is translating directly to NBA opportunity. That’s an uncanny stat, when you look at the category and where it translates to individual players and also team success. Brian Burg was always throwing around, ‘Hey if we can finish top-three in offensive rebounds as a team, it’s a path to the Sweet Sixteen.’ So Marcus plays well tonight. If he gets his normal minutes he might be getting a five offensive rebounding night which is elite. We had a lot of individual performances tonight. Mac McClung goes 6 for 6 on the free-throw line. Nimari plays a game when he gets three assists and no turnover and six steals. Nimari is a talented guy. Kyler 11 rebounds, how about TJ Shannon’s floor game, five for seven from the floor gets to 12 points on seven shots. How about the freshman coming in late, with Clarence as a sophomore, Avery, Vlad, that group did a great job at the end. A no turnover finish to the game tonight. Lots of great individual performances tonight, and that’s what translates to team success.”
- Up next? Abilene Christian at the United Supermarkets Arena on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. with the game on ESPN+.
Highlights