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Game Recap
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Kevin Obanor who nearly had a double-double in the second half alone was great, but he ended up with 23 points on 8 of 13, including 4 of 7 from three, 13 rebounds including 6 huge offensive boards, an assist, a block, and 1 turnover.
Multi-Purpose Player of the Game: I’m going with Adonis Arms here, although I could choose others. Arms had 15 points on 3 of 7 making 8 of 10 free throws, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 4 turnovers. Arms played point guard, a position that he just doesn’t have to play was so important in the second half. He only had 2 turnovers in the second half despite having the ball in his hands for over 18 minutes, which led the team.
Game Notes:
- So many things to think about here. A game where the firt half and the second half were just two different events in a way, Baylor shot 50% from the field including 38% from deep, and in the second half they made 43% from the field and 33% from deep. The other key was missed free throws where Baylor only made 7 of 14 free throws. While on the other side of the court, Texas Tech had a terrible first half shooting the ball, 8 of 24, 33% from the floor, and 22% from deep. The second half was completely different and everything was falling, 56% from the field and 42% from three while making 10 of 12 free throws. I’d say that free throws in the first half kept Texas Tech in the game, making 14 of 18 overall.
- Second chance points were huge, Texas Tech scored 21 to Baylor’s 12 for the game and you can attribute the 14 offensive rebounds and actually doing something with those opportunities.
- From a strategy standpoint, Mark Adams did some interesting things. Davion Warren had a terrible first half. He missed almost every shot and was an absolute liability. He still played almost 8 minutes, but he inserted Chibuzo Agbo to take up his minutes as he probably wanted someone that would give the same sort of defensive effort and sort of stay out of the way for the most part, which is what he did. I’d also add that “solving” the Baylor zone after two bad possessions were also huge. Going over the top for an alley-oop to Williams was just a shot to the Baylor team and something they didn’t see coming at all.
- Forcing Baylor turnovers on defense were huge and Texas Tech was very much ready for the cross-court pass and not allowing the ball to swing were significant, which were 8 Baylor turnovers in the first half and 7 steals.
- That first half, the shots simply were not falling, and I think that Adams moving to move of that weave offense made a huge difference, just to get some movement. The offense is predicated on players driving and forcing defenders to make decisions while players like Obanor and Bryson Williams make some open shots. That’s exactly what happened and Obanor simply could not miss, making 8 of 9 shots including 4 of 5 from deep. Williams and Shannon were the only players that shot 50% or greater (other than making 1 shot) as Warren went 0-3 and Arms went 1 of 5. How Baylor felt after the game, a game where it felt like Texas Tech simply could not miss, is how teams usually feel playing Baylor and they tried their best to make this a close game.
- Shannon was huge and once he realizes that he’s amazing when he drives and not when he shoots three-point shots, it is going to be amazing. Shannon made 6 of 14, going 1 of 5 from three with 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a turnover.
- Really hard not to mention this game and not mention how Williams was huge, 5 of 9 from the floor with some absolute important buckets throughout the second half. The play of Clarence Nadolny and Mylik Wilson were equally important. Nadolny finding Obanor in the corner and Wilson’s defense were huge. Of all things, Nadolny and Marcus Santos-Silva led the team with 3 steals each.
- Advanced stats box score? the only positive players were Williams, Shannon, Obanor, and Wilson with Obanor at +9.3 which lapped pretty much everyone.
- Head coach Mark Adams: “I just told the guys we are playing well, but not good enough. This is a really good team we’re playing and we’ve got to pick it up second half in every category and be more aggressive defensively. I was trying to get these guys to realize what an opportunity they had and we were right there. We missed a few free throws and blockouts and a few mental mistakes but if we get those corrected then we can have a great second half. It’s not important what I said, it’s how they responded. This team is very resilient.”
- Up next? Texas Tech is in Austin to play the Longhorns and the Fightin’ Chris Beard with tip-off at 11:30 a.m. and the game will be broadcast on ABC.
Highlights