Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: I’m going to split it between Fardaws Aimaq who had 19 with 6 boards and was 9 of 10 from the line. Obanor had 17 points, 6 of 11 and 9 rebounds.
The Motion:
- That was a bummer. A pretty even game for the most part and TCU took control of the game for what felt like most of the second half. And I was shocked that the game wasn’t completely out of control because of the 9 1st half turnovers, which were a ton. It was tough to watch. Was the foul by Aimaq legitimate? Yeah, it was probably a foul, but those are the kind of fouls that you don’t like to see called with seconds remaining. It felt like TCU was bailed out a bit after Texas Tech had to make shots to get ahead.
- Other stats that swayed the game, those 12 turnovers resulted in 18 points for TCU. TCU had 23 points off their bench, while Texas Tech only had 10. It’s not often that Texas Tech is out-worked in the paint, but TCU had 52 points in the paint to 44 for Texas Tech.
- De’Vion Harmon is polarizing for me. There are times where his game is absolutely critical for Texas Tech staying in the game. it sort of stinks that it takes 17 shots for 18 points, he was 8 of 17 overall, which isn’t bad, but was 6 of 10 in the 1st half and 2 of 7 in the first.
- And Obanor, Aimaq, and Harmon were heroes in the 2nd half, there wasn’t any way Texas Tech was in this game without them. Obanor had 11 in the 2nd half, Aimaq had 12, and Harmon had 13 (and 5 assists).
- I mentioned the bench and this has maybe been the problem, which is that the depth just isn’t ready to step-up and contribute. Elijah Fisher had done well, but that’s sort of it and without any contributions from the bench, it puts a ton of strain on the starters and that’s a big ask.
- I don’t know if it is even appropriate to dream about beating Kansas in Lawrence would get Texas Tech back in the tournament conversation. That’s a hard ask and don’t even like dreaming but impossible things happen.
- Head coach Mark Adams: “We give TCU the respect and credit they deserve. I thought they played well. They’re a veteran group and knew what they had to do. They didn’t lose their poise and composure and I thought they played really solid for 40 minutes. At the same time, we have a very sad group in our locker room. This team is growing, is used to winning and likes to win. This game really stung and there is a lot of emotion in the locker room today. We’ll learn from it and move on.”
- Up next? Kansas on Tuesday in Lawrence with tip-off at 8:00 p.m.
Highlights