Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Kevin Obanor leading the team with 24 points, 5 of 11 and 3 of 5 from outside. Biggest contribution was at the free throw line where he was 11 of 15. Getting 24 points on just 11 shots is great production.
The Motion:
- If you fell asleep or went to bed when Texas Tech was down by 23, you missed quite the comeback.
- For me there were two things that this team did really well to win the game. The first is that Texas Tech stopped guarding Lipsey in the second half, Lipsey is the point guard that can’t shoot from deep and when you don’t have to guard a player, you can help, which makes it easier to guard the perimeter and help outside. The second thing was that I sometimes have a difficult time watching Harmon dominate the ball on offense and he did that in the first half, but in the first half I thought he was dominating the ball, but he was content with step-back jump-shots, going 0-3 and 0-2 from deep. The second half Harmon didn’t necessarily shoot well, 3-11, but almost every shot was at the rim or finding players that were at the rim. More importantly, Harmon was 2-3 in overtime
- There were other things that happened too, Texas Tech turned the ball over 7 times in the 1st half and just 3 in the 2nd. The free throw disparity was 8 in the 1st half to 23 in the 2nd (that’s how many Texas Tech shot). Iowa State had 7 offensive rebounds in the 1st half, but 0 in the 2nd half and turnovers was even bigger, 4 in the 1st half and 13 in the 2nd. Texas Tech only allowed 6 3-point shots in the 2nd half, so ISU just couldn’t get shots off, which again, had to do with the defense.
- Texas Tech’s bench shined as well, which is not something we’re able to say very often, 24 to just 8 for ISU. Washington, Williams, Jennings, Allen and Fisher all played quality minutes. Mistakes? Sure, but when you can get so many minutes, the defensive intensity increases. Huge for this team and the 2nd half. Washington finished with 8 points, a board, an assist, and 2 steals. Williams had 4 points, Jennings had 6. Allen and Fisher each had 3. Not huge contributions, but they contributed and Adams trusted them to be out on the court.
- If you just look at the overall figures, Texas Tech shot just 40% overall and 26% from beyond the arc, while ISU shot 48% and 33% respectively. ISU also had issues at the free throw line, just 57% and 70% for Texas Tech. Obanor was a big part of that, as he was 11 of 15.
- Advanced stats stuff, Obanor and Tyson were your best players by a decent margin, followed up by Harmon and Washington. Obanor’s ability to go inside and get offensive rebounds and get to the line, netting a double-double with 24 points and 13 boards was huge. Tyson playing the point for the 3/4-court press that Texas Tech was running, which I think was more about making ISU get deeper into the shot clock as it wasn’t a hard press, but they certainly were flustered by it. Tyson finished with 11 points, 4 steals, and 9 boards and quietly, Tyson is oftentimes this team’s 2nd best rebounder.
- Up next? Baylor in Waco on Saturday, tip-off at noon and televised on CBS.
Highlights