Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Jaylon Tyson had himself a game, 11 of 15 for 27 points, 3 of 4 from deep with 5 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal. A series of layups and obviously some outside shots, he was running the floor like an absolute ace.
The Motion:
- Hell yeah, let’s goooo. A win on the road, let me cliche myself right now and much like LL Cool J, don’t call this a comeback. Texas Tech’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament increase significantly, in a season where all hope seemed lost and I was trying to figure how they could re-tool next year, this team hasn’t given up yet. This is going to be a bit confusing, but there’s this thing called Wins Above Bubble (WAB) and Texas Tech was sitting at 67th before yesterday’s result. We’ll see how this gets updated, but at that time, Texas Tech as -1.0 and the WVU was rated as a 1.0 win and could break even. Another aside, I was gone for 8 hours yesterday with Youssouf and didn’t get to watch the game (2 basketball games in Mansfield and a soccer game in Terrell), but I’ve tried to watch a bunch of the game, mostly the 2nd half.
- The biggest reason Texas Tech won, well, there were two. Texas Tech scored 23 points off of transition buckets compared to just 11 for West Virginia AND the Red Raiders had 42 points in the paint and just 18 for the Mountaineers. You can add in 9 steals, which typically leads to those fast break opportunities. WVU stayed in the game because of their 3-point shooting, but that’s also the reason they lost, settling for long-distance shooting.
- I love the win, but I hate the fact that Adams is not limiting minutes for the young guys. They are actually doing things and producing, and I’m not talking about huge minutes, but I think 10 to 12 for that group would be beneficial. Jennings had 6 rebounds in 8 minutes, an important block, a nice dive to the basket where he was fouled and an offensive board for a bucket. Elijah Fisher had a nice board, an assist, a steal, and a bucket.
- Pop Isaacs returned with 15 points on 6 of 10, including 3 of 6 from deep. Having an additional guard off the bench certainly helps the whole thing move along.
- Fardaws Aimaq gets himself a double-double while only making 2 shots. He did make all 10 of his free throws and grabbed 12 boards, 5 of them offensive.
- Even though it didn’t feel like it when Stevenson was hitting those 3’s, the Texas Tech defense showed up in the 2nd half and the offense shined as well. Texas Tech would make 45.5% of their shots including 3 of 5 from deep, while West Virginia settled, making just 41%. Of the points in the paint, 22 of them were scored in the 2nd half compared to just 10 and had 17 of those fast break points in the 2nd half. Texas Tech ran and dominated inside.
- Head coach Mark Adams: “It shows a lot about us. We’re growing up. Getting some confidence and maturity. We were able to answer some of those shots that they made. In the past, we get down a little when adversity got the best of us before we could catch a breath and get back in the game. I think we’re responding more quickly and more aggressively than we’ve done in the past.”
- Up next? Oklahoma, in Norman on Tuesday, February 21st with tip-off at 8:00 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN2.
Highlights