Game Links
Game Recap
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: I’ll go with Kevin Obanor who had a more well-rounded game and to see him develop a game inside is encouraging. He’s definitely been hunting around the basket on that high-low game and it’s helped as he is not just a three-point threat. Obanor scored 15, all two-point buckets, grabbed 8 boards, with an assist, steal, and turnover.
Multi-Purpose Player of the Game: Kevin McCullar could probably get this most games and we’ll do it here too. McCullar didn’t shoot particularly well, only 2 of 9, but scored 7 points, had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 turnovers. No one else had more than 1 assist on the team.
Game Notes:
- I didn’t get settled from work and practices until after 9 and I was able to watch the first half and then passed out. I’m actually trying to watch the second half while I type this.
- A very defensive first half for sure, under 50 points for both teams is not a lot and if you wanted to do highlights of just the buckets then you could show 10 in the first half and then 10 in the second and you’d be done. The difference in the halves was free throws, where Texas Tech shot 29 freakin’ free throws in the second half, which was one of Iowa State’s weaknesses. I don’t remember what they were before the game, but as of this morning they are 316th in the nation in free throw rate allowed. It’s their most glaring weakness on defense. The good news is that Texas Tech made 86% of those 29 free throws.
- The Texas Tech defense remained stifling for Iowa State, they shot 36% for the game, 31% in the first half and 41% in the second. That’s more than good enough. I think that ISU had to reach a bit and maybe shoot more three-point shots than what they needed, or they should have just found a way for Grill to shoot the ball because he was the only player to make more than 50% of his shots (with more than 2 attempts).
- Iowa State was forced into 16 turnovers and only had 6 assists, so the pressure was present and the lack of ability to find an open man was also significant.
- Iowa State really is a team that mirrors Texas Tech pretty well. Normally Texas Tech just murders a team in the paint and it was only 30-26 in favor of the good guys and for second chance points, it was 17-13 in favor of Iowa State. ISU also had a significant advantage for bench points, 27-19
- Terrence Shannon, Jr. is struggling to find his footing. He scored two buckets and both of those buckets were at the rim. I would recommend doing more of that and not shooting three-point shots. Shannon is simply not involved in the offense at this point and his athleticism affords him the ability to grab offensive rebounds, to drive to the bucket, take bigger defenders off the dribble, just so much. He’s not doing that on a regular basis, but when he does, he’s very good.
- Around the Big 12 last night? Texas lost at home to Kansas State while Kansas hung on to win in Norman. Losing at home and winning on the road are vital to going to the tournament.
- Advanced stats box score? Glad you asked. Arms, Williams, Warren, Obanor, Batcho, and Santos-Silva were all positive players. McCullar, Shannon, and Nadolny were not.
- Head coach Mark Adams: “We try to make every team uncomfortable. But with Iowa State, not only are they good on defense, but they have an offensive scheme that they are just constantly moving and they use their high post a lot. We were trying to pressure them and deny some of those easy passes so we could slow them down. We were able to do that pretty well at their place and kept the same game plan here at home.”
- Up next? Texas Tech can put their feet up for a couple of days as they don’t play until Saturday when they host West Virginia with tip-off at 11:00 a.m. and the game being broadcast on ESPN2.
Highlights