I didn't stay up to watch this game, but the boxscore is pretty amazing. Texas Tech loses to Butler, 71-81, where both teams almost shoot over 60% for the game (Butler 60% and Texas Tech 59.6%) from the floor. The difference in this game was 3-point shots as Butler hit an incredible 16 of 24 for the game, which is 66.7%. Like I said, amazing.
Congrats to John Roberson and Alan Voskuil who both made the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team.
DTN's very own Red Blooded, who stayed up to watch this game had this to say at what appeared to be half-time:
Voskuil has to get more involved in this game for us to win it. My intuition is that Butler is in worse foul trouble than us with their starters, and also that our bench is a good bit better. Our freshman are playing way over their heads.
Something tells me that RB probably started drinking a little more as Butler was only hitting 58.3% of their 3's in the 1st half, while they hit 75.0% in the 2nd half.
LAJ's Jeff Walker has his game recap and also notes the barrage of 3-point shots from Butler. Coach Knight on the game and Butler:
Player reviews:
| Player | Comment |
| D'Walyn Roberts | Wasn't as effective as previous game. Finished with 6 points 3 boards, but also had 3 TO's. |
| Trevor Cook | Fairly ineffective minutes on the floor with only 1 bucket, 1 rebound and 1 assist in 17 minutes. |
| Martin Zeno | Played much better in this championship game and finished with 17 points and 4 boards. |
| Alan Voskuil | Continues to make shots, but still isn't shooting enough. Makes all 4 3-point attempts, but only has 4 attempts for the game. |
| John Roberson | Improves each and every game and finishes with 15 points, 3 assists and only 1 TO. |
| Rigdrick Craig | Minimal minutes. |
| Michael Prince | Minimal minutes, but contributes 2 points and 2 boards. |
| Mike Singletary | Minimal minutes, but also contributes 4 points and a rebound. |
| Esmir Rizvic | Minimal Minutes, finishes with 2 points. |
| Charlie Burgess | Seems to be back on track, hitting his stride with 11 points, 2 boards, 3 assists, and 2 TO's. |
Rather than just take a look at the game at hand, Butler, I thought there were some positive things that came out of this weekend's tournament. Let's talk about what Texas Tech did right and wrong for the entire tournament.
What Texas Tech Did Right:
- Offensive Improvement: Perhaps the biggest question mark for me was whether or not this team was even capable of keeping up, but I think Friday night's win over Gonzaga and Saturday's loss to Butler, a very good shooting team, shows that our Red Raiders are capable of keeping pace with just about anyone and that's reassuring.
- The Freshmen Can Play: It doesn't matter if it's Roberson, Roberts or Singletary, these guys can play with just about anyone. They may not be as hyped as other freshmen in the conference, but I'll take my chances with these guys any day of the week. The more they plan in non-conference, the more confident I feel that these guys are going to be big contributors in conference.
- Voskuil Is Capable: I thought at the beginning of this season and almost all of last season whether or not Voskuil was capable of being the man, and I think he's answered that question. He is more than capable of hitting his shots, but now it's just a matter of Voskuil taking those shots and forcing the action a little bit. He's earned the right to miss a few.
- Burgess Returns: It was nice to see Charlie get back on track as he was unable to make a shot the first part of the year. He's going to need to play quite a bit this year and it's good to see him make some shots.
What Texas Tech Did Wrong:
- Hit or Miss Production From Frontcourt: This is probably going to bother me all year long, but I'd love to see some consistent production from the likes of Cook, Prince, Rizvic, and De Bem. I'm giving Singletary and Roberts a pass right now as I think they have contributed, but the other guys need to show that they can be threats offensively and they can rebound. Defensively, I think we played some small teams, but once conference play begins, I think we might struggle inside if we don't have some of the bigger frontcourt players really develop.
- Continue Defensive Intensity: I really don't think this is much of a problem as it sounds like Butler was hitting a crazy number of shots, but this group has been pretty good defensively and I think if the trademark of this team is it's ability to play defense then we'll be pretty good.