This was a depressing loss. It was the way that the game that was lost that was the most disconcerting. I typically review each player, but there wasn't a player on the team that did their job for forty minutes, so personal reviews aren't going to happen tonight because each one of them would say that Player A played well in the first half, but spit the bit in the second half. Forty minutes gentlemen.
Here's the official boxscore.
I will say this, I still really like this team and I have to remember to keep in mind that 3 freshmen are seeing quite a bit of playing time. Learn the lesson and move on, and whatever you do, don't dwell on this game. You've got to upset the Aggies on Wednesday night.
What Texas Tech Did Right:
- Moving on.
What Texas Tech Did Wrong:
- Defensive Pressure: Texas Tech was handed their first conference loss because OSU played tougher than Texas Tech. OSU was in people's faces and jocks the entire afternoon, not afraid to get a foul or two and play their opponent tough. I thought Texas Tech's first half defensive pressure was pretty good, but when one guy starts hitting 3-pointers like there's no tomorrow then there's a problem. Muonelo subbed into the game with 15:52 left and OSU up 42-36. By the time the clock hits 11:21 the score is 61-41. OSU has managed to make 19 points in 4 minutes and Texas Tech can only manage 5. I thought in the DTN preview that the team that played the best defense would win and that proved to be true today. Additionally, Texas Tech's inability to guard Muonelo on the wing was absolutely depressing. I couldn't tell if it was Zeno or Burgess of Voskuil who was supposed to be on Muonelo, but whoever it was obviously failed. When someone needed to get a stop defensively, no one stepped up to the plate.
- Offensive Presence: Despite this horrible loss, I thought that Rizvic really showed that he could be a legitimate offensive threat, so long as he's around the basket. With Roberson rattled early that left Voskuil and Zeno to carry the load. By the time that Voskuil left the game he had only managed 7 shots, Zeno managed only 8 shots. No one was able to step up and be "the man" on Saturday afternoon. When the Red Raiders desperately needed a bucket, there was no one that could manage a decent shot. Voskuil was frustrated with the defense, and understandably so, but if the refs aren't going to call it, then you had better figure out a way to play around it.
- Roberson Rattled: For whatever reason, I had an inkling that Roberson might get rattled in his first conference game in front of a hostile crowd and unfortunately, that came to pass. I will say this about Roberson, I don't think the crowd or anyone else got in his head. I just think the crowd and everything else was a little overwhelming. He made a few bad passes and before you know it he's got 2 turnovers in the first 2 minutes. Roberson was pulled and as I said, once you remove that 3rd scoring option, it creates a burden on the offense. Rizvic was able to carry the load for most of the 1st half, but I think we all knew that he didn't have the scoring staying power.
- Turnovers to Assists: The ten 1st half turnovers were a killer. OSU was able to score 20 points off of those 10 turnovers, in other words they converted on almost every one of them. Sometimes that's easy buckets, and sometimes it's not, but it also means that Texas Tech is giving away a possession without getting off a shot. Texas Tech gave this game away, literally. The Red Raiders finished with 19 turnovers for the game and only 7 assists, which also means that no one was able to create a easy bucket for their teammates. There were no gimmies on offense and that's a serious problem, especially for a team that can't seem to score.
Up Next: Texas A&M @ Texas Tech, January 16, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. (Television - ESPN2).