What do you say about a team that’s in eighth place in its conference? What do you say about a team’s tournament hopes when it’s four games shy of 20 wins? With six games left in the regular season, those two questions are really at odds with each other considering a 20-win season is more than good enough for a major conference team to be invited to the Big Dance.
Texas Tech just happens to be in one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. The Red Raiders ran through their non-conference slate with ease, losing just one game under new head coach Chris Beard. Enter Big 12 play, Tech sits at 4-8. But that record should be attached to an asterisk. A good majority of those eight L’s have been tight matches decided by one or two plays.
The only losses by more than more than five points were three weeks ago. Since then, there have been quality losses (and some not so flattering like the loss in Austin) all within a possession.
There was the four-point loss to Baylor that went to the buzzer, then came that ugly loss to Texas. Still, it was a four-point game. But the crown jewels of Tech’s recent skid came within the past week with two single point losses. The first on the road with TCU and then hosting Kansas.
While losses certainly hurt a team’s résumé, coaches and players would rather lose now and learn from those little mistakes for a late season boost. Baylor can attest to as much after dropping two games by five or fewer points and following up with two big wins to keep Big 12 title talk alive and well.
More to the point about Tech, though, the one-point loss to Kansas should be a great personal victory. A One point game decided by a last second free throw is virtually a win considering the Jayhawks had beat Tech the past 15 games by an average of 21.6 points. Maybe people would be talking up the Red Raiders more if that one point was in their favor, but the 39 minutes and 56 seconds before Josh Jackson’s game-winner told the story of a team that’s ready for March after making a roaring second half comeback (much like Baylor nearly did against Kansas State last week).
If Tech takes away one thing from the past two losses, it’s to spread the ball more and take care of reckless possessions from the opponent.
Against TCU, the Raiders forced a turnover 30 percent of possessions and shot 44 percent from three-point range. They were true pickpockets, stealing 10 balls led by Niem Stevenson’s three steals. It was a different story against the Jayhawks who turned the ball over just 11 percent of possessions while Tech shot just 30 percent beyond the arc.
As seen against Baylor a few weeks ago, the Bears are somewhere in the middle of those two games. On Saturday, Johnathan Motley said he feels confident Baylor can stop Tech’s outside jumpers with the team’s length. Since Tech shot just 22 percent in Waco, that’s a strong possibility. But Baylor has been incredibly prone to turnovers.
That’s likely to be the turning point of the game, especially if Baylor isn’t able to curb Tech’s enthusiasm around the perimeter since its point guard Keenan Evans has really turned a corner these past couple games. He’s 7-of-9 shooting three-pointers the past couple of games while averaging 22.5 points.
Also needing to be under more careful guard is Niem Stevenson who’s really emerged since meeting with Baylor six games ago. He had just eight points and four rebounds against the Bears but has since posted a double-double against Kansas and is gradually working his way to the court more often, averaging 32 minutes the past three games with 15 points and 7 rebounds.
All considered, those are performances that would have people crawling over Tech if those last two L’s were W’s, even by just one point. Baylor can’t enter Lubbock confident about taking down a team that lost what was essentially the last 10 seconds of games, it’s playing a team that battles tooth and nail for the first 39 minutes.
Texas Tech just happens to be in one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. The Red Raiders ran through their non-conference slate with ease, losing just one game under new head coach Chris Beard. Enter Big 12 play, Tech sits at 4-8. But that record should be attached to an asterisk. A good majority of those eight L’s have been tight matches decided by one or two plays.
The only losses by more than more than five points were three weeks ago. Since then, there have been quality losses (and some not so flattering like the loss in Austin) all within a possession.
There was the four-point loss to Baylor that went to the buzzer, then came that ugly loss to Texas. Still, it was a four-point game. But the crown jewels of Tech’s recent skid came within the past week with two single point losses. The first on the road with TCU and then hosting Kansas.
While losses certainly hurt a team’s résumé, coaches and players would rather lose now and learn from those little mistakes for a late season boost. Baylor can attest to as much after dropping two games by five or fewer points and following up with two big wins to keep Big 12 title talk alive and well.
More to the point about Tech, though, the one-point loss to Kansas should be a great personal victory. A One point game decided by a last second free throw is virtually a win considering the Jayhawks had beat Tech the past 15 games by an average of 21.6 points. Maybe people would be talking up the Red Raiders more if that one point was in their favor, but the 39 minutes and 56 seconds before Josh Jackson’s game-winner told the story of a team that’s ready for March after making a roaring second half comeback (much like Baylor nearly did against Kansas State last week).
If Tech takes away one thing from the past two losses, it’s to spread the ball more and take care of reckless possessions from the opponent.
Against TCU, the Raiders forced a turnover 30 percent of possessions and shot 44 percent from three-point range. They were true pickpockets, stealing 10 balls led by Niem Stevenson’s three steals. It was a different story against the Jayhawks who turned the ball over just 11 percent of possessions while Tech shot just 30 percent beyond the arc.
As seen against Baylor a few weeks ago, the Bears are somewhere in the middle of those two games. On Saturday, Johnathan Motley said he feels confident Baylor can stop Tech’s outside jumpers with the team’s length. Since Tech shot just 22 percent in Waco, that’s a strong possibility. But Baylor has been incredibly prone to turnovers.
That’s likely to be the turning point of the game, especially if Baylor isn’t able to curb Tech’s enthusiasm around the perimeter since its point guard Keenan Evans has really turned a corner these past couple games. He’s 7-of-9 shooting three-pointers the past couple of games while averaging 22.5 points.
Also needing to be under more careful guard is Niem Stevenson who’s really emerged since meeting with Baylor six games ago. He had just eight points and four rebounds against the Bears but has since posted a double-double against Kansas and is gradually working his way to the court more often, averaging 32 minutes the past three games with 15 points and 7 rebounds.
All considered, those are performances that would have people crawling over Tech if those last two L’s were W’s, even by just one point. Baylor can’t enter Lubbock confident about taking down a team that lost what was essentially the last 10 seconds of games, it’s playing a team that battles tooth and nail for the first 39 minutes.
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