What looked like a horrible game in the first half ended up being a pretty easy game down the stretch as the Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the TCU Horned Frogs, 71-58. A true tale of two halves and I'll be interested to look at the splits whenever they're posted, but a less than stellar 1st half and a really solid effort in the 2nd half. Let's get to some reviews:
| Player | Comment |
| Charlie Burgess | Has earned back his starting job, played tremendous defense and looked more comfortable. |
| Trevor Cook | Thought Cook was effective early, but saw very little playing time in the 2nd half. |
| Ricardo De Bem | Best game of his short Texas Tech career. Was good defensively and was setting screens all over the place. |
| Esmir Rizvic | Started and looked like he was forcing the ball early. Saw no time in the 2nd half. |
| John Roberson | Was less than stellar defensively, has got to learn to play tough both ways. |
| D'Walyn Roberts | Minimal minutes. |
| Mike Singletary | I thought his defensive presence was the key to the 2nd half comeback. Tremendous work. He is a man. |
| Alan Voskuil | Seriously, the guy is ridiculous. Hitting 4-7 from beyond the arc. Shoot more Alan, shoot more. |
| Martin Zeno | Best game of the year with a double-double (24 points and 10 boards). |
What Texas Tech Did Right:
- Singletary Was A Man: I don't know about you, but I thought the play of Singletary, despite not contributing much offensively, thought he was a huge defensive presence. The best thing about Singletary is that he's already got a Big 12 body, he can play with the big boys and he's at the very least competent offensively (i.e. he's not a liability).
- Burgess Returns: I thought Roberson's defensive play was somewhat weak and lackadaisical, while Charlie was aggressive. I still don't love his offensive game and I like the long-term potential of Roberson, it's certainly nice to have a veteran point guard who is capable of leading your team from a significant comeback.
- Zeno Is Zenorific: First double-double of the year for Martin and he's shooting the ball so well. Yes, I hate the turnovers, but he so makes up for it with his incredible basketball prowess.
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De Bem Plays: Not only did De Bem play, I thought he played exceptionally well and probably earned a start on Saturday. If he continues to set picks and do the dirty work, he'll be an important cog to this year's team. By the way, if someone can translate this I would much appreciate it (yes, I'm pretty sure that's Rico De Bem):
What Texas Tech Did Wrong:
- 1st Half Offensive Inefficiency: That was one ugly half of basketball. For some reason, this team could not adjust to TCU's overplaying the Texas Tech defenders. Surely they'll work on this before Saturday, but this won't be the only time that we'll see defenses try and shut down the Texas Tech offense by being aggressive.
- Roberson's Inconsistency: I really shouldn't pick on Roberson, he had an outstanding tournament against some great competition in Alaska, but I thought that tonight he wasn't as good. Freshmen are supposed to be inconsistent, but because Texas Tech will be relying on Roberson so much this year, it's imperative that he not take off any nights.
- Find Voskuil: I don't know how many more times I can say this, but Voskuil needs to shoot the ball more, and although I lay some of the blame on Voskuil, his teammates need to figure out a way to get him open more often. He's too valuable of a threat not to be utilized and he shouldn't just have 11 shots a game. He needs to have closer to 15. Get him the ball.