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Game Recap
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: it can be no one other than Clarence Nadolny, right? 14 points on 4 of 9, including a huge 3-poineter, 5 of 5 from the free throw line, with 3 boards, 4 hard fouls, 2 steals, and just 2 turnovers in 14 minutes. Nadolny’s free throws and offensive rebound with under 30 seconds left were terrific.
Multi-Purpose Player of the Game: Marcus Santos-Silva gets the nod from me. His defense, not just this game, but every game, is ridiculous. MSS scored 3 of 4 for 6 points, grabbed 8 rebounds including 3 offensive, had a steal, a block, an assist, and 3 turnovers.
Game Notes:
- Damn, what a win. I tweeted after the game that Texas can thank Texas Tech for caring about basketball for at least one Saturday. Texas Longhorn basketball is agnostic about basketball at best and all of these shenanigans with promising students tickets and that no student would be turned away was just not true. Or stopping ticket sales in order to stop Texas Tech fans from purchasing tickets is nothing short of pathetic. It is embarrassing and Chris Del Conte and Chris Beard know that it is embarrassing. I wrote it the last time that Texas Tech faced Texas, the way things worked out was the way that things were supposed to work out. Beard is at the program he deserves and Adams is at the program he deserves. This was the way the universe was supposed to work out.
- Any normal game, Bryson Williams is getting the player of the game nod, scoring 17 points, 6 of 13, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 turnover for the game. Texas had no answer for Texas Tech in the paint, a large part was Williams, but another large part was just Texas Tech’s relentlessness on the boards and driving to the basket as well as Santos-Silva posting up. Fran Fraschilla said the stat a handful of times, points in the paint was 26 to 10 in favor of Texas Tech and yes, that is about toughness.
- Texas Tech’s offense was incredibly consistent and the idea here is that at the very least it was consistent and Texas Tech getting to the line (a direct result of going inside), making 35% of shots in the first half and 38% in the second. Texas Tech shot 29 free throw and 14 3-pointers (making just 3 for 21% overall), while Texas shot just 20 free throws and took 26 3-point shots (8 of 26), making 31%. Those 5 extra points probably should have come inside. But UT sort of fell in love with the 3-point shot in the first half and they made a few in the second. You’re just not going to grind out wins taking that many shots from outside, especially if you aren’t going to rebound.
- Speaking of rebounding, Texas did have 16 offensive rebounds and 45 overall, while Texas Tech crashed the glass just a bit more, 17 offensive boards and 36 total.
- Individually, it is almost too numerous to even go through what everyone did. I thought that Adonis Arms did as well as could be expected playing the point. It is not his natural position and he led the team with 4 turnovers, but 31 minutes, including 4 of 7 from the floor, 10 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, a block, and a steal is a good day.
- Shannon and Warren went a combined 1 of 12 from the floor. Shannon went 0-6, but made 6 of 8 from the line and had 6 rebounds as well as 3 assists, so he definitely contributed. Warren was 1 of 6 and in foul trouble for most of the game with 4, 3 in the first half. Shannon’s end-of-game slamming the ball after calling the timeout and outburst on Bryson Williams were definitely interesting. Shannon wanted the final shot despite not making one all day. That’s confidence I suppose, but I am honestly glad that Adams called the timeout to reset because he ended up with the ball anyway. I think Adams has that under control and I get being frustrated. It’s difficult to control your emotions and you don’t want to let a game slip away. Regardless, those sorts of emotional outbursts don’t help a situation and it’s one more thing that a coach has to deal with in a timeout. And just thinking back, the whole sequence of Shannon getting angry at calling the timeout, then Shannon taking the shot with 27 seconds left (and missing), Nadolny getting the offensive rebound (making 1 of 2 free throws), with Arms almost tipping in the missed offensive board. Wilson’s stellar perimeter defense and Febres taking an ill-advised shot with Arms right in his face (he held up his hands to let the refs know that he was straight up) with Bryson Williams going over the top of Cunningham to get the offensive board (which is what happens when you have a superior player on the floor) to basically ice the game.
- Advanced stats box score? There were only 4 positive players, led by Nadolny, then Williams, Arms, and Santos-Silva. Those were, without a doubt for me, the best players for Texas Tech.
- Clarence Nadolny: “With all due respect that I got for them that was personal you know you don’t want to lose against the guy that left you and that’s why we did everybody was emotionally attached to this game and trying to play and do his best to win it and coach told us it was really important for us in the future too for like the seeding and stuff so everybody was like locked in and wanted to win.”
- Head coach Mark Adams: “This game felt like a tug-of-war. They were fighting for everything and we were doing the same. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Chris) Beard and his staff. I’ve learned so much from them. I don’t like playing my friends. Our teams are very similar. We both guard and are very physical and tough. We were just fortunate enough that the clock ran out and we had a win.”
- Up next? Texas Tech will host Oklahoma on Tuesday, February 22nd, tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. and game will be broadcast on ESPN+
Highlights