Ed. Note. I was unable to watch the game yesterday and am not going to have time to watch the game today. Everything written here is just based on the box score and being relatively aware that there may have been some terrible calls along the way. I won’t comment on the bad calls because I didn’t see them.
Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: I’m not sure if I should go with Mac McClung or Kyler Edwards. McClung scored 21 points on 7 of 15, with 3 boards and 3 turnovers, while Edwards was 5 of 11 for 18 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, and 4 turnovers.
The Motion:
- The first things that jump out at me are the turnovers, 14 overall, and free throws, missing 10 of 35 and making just 71%. OSU had 13 turnovers, but Texas Tech had 14 and that number probably needs to be closer to 10. The missed free throws largely occurred in the first half, and going 1 of 5 from the line in overtime.
- Oklahoma State had a slight edge rebounding the ball, 39 to 36, but also had 2 more offensive boards, 12 to 10. That led to 9 second chance points.
- Another alarming, but maybe not surprising stat considering the lack of size for Texas Tech is that Oklahoma State had 32 points in the paint, that’s a bit obscene. Texas Tech had 22, which is fine, but OSU had their way inside apparently.
- Texas Tech had only 10 assisted buckets, which means that Oklahoma State challenged everything.
- Texas Tech really got down early, making only 28% of their shots in the first half, but did come on strong in the second half, making 52% of their shots. I tend to think the effort to come back when down by double-digits can be taxing on a team.
- I realize that +/- can be a very flawed statistic, but Jamarius Burton was -10, Marcus Santos-Silva was -9, Nimari Burnett was -9, and Micah Peavy was -7. That’s 2 transfers and 2 freshmen. Again, +/- is a flawed metric and doesn’t give the whole picture, but when those guys were on the floor, things weren’t going well. I’m not sure how to resolve that, just pointing things out.
- Head coach Chris Beard:
“The message to the team was that in the first half, we got kicked because Oklahoma State was the tougher, more aggressive team, now, you’re playing behind against a Big 12 team. In the second half, I would argue we were as tough, or maybe a little more aggressive than them but victory is going to side with the more intelligent team. The team that makes fewer mistakes, the team doing what they were trying to do. When OSU got the ball in the paint, to Isaac and Cade, what they wanted to do, and we didn’t. So that was the message to the team, first half we got out-toughed, that hasn’t happened a lot with our team.”
“I’m not a big believer in bouncing back. I’m a believer in an 18-round fight called the Big 12. We started out 1-2 now it’s the next game is on the schedule. I think this bounce back thing is a little overrated, you know? As a coach, you get yourself ready to win every night and prepare to win. As a player, same thing. I’m not a fan of the bounce back deal. What are you bouncing back from? Were you not ready to play tonight? Did you not play your best tonight? Were you not competitive tonight? Were you not tough enough tonight? What are we bouncing back from? I think what our guys need to do is get themselves ready to play in the Big 12.”
- Up next? Kansas State at home on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. wiht the game set to be broadcast on ESPNU.
Highlights