Texas Tech 84, Kansas 65
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(AP Photo Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Geoffrey McAllister) |
I didn't see that coming, and this guy, Alan Voskuil (35 pts; 2 rbs; 3 ast) was absolutely amazing last night as Texas Tech defeated #9 Kansas, 84-65 (boxscore). Last night I wondered why Alan Voskuil didn't just jack up shots like that every game that Texas Tech played, and in theory, this would be great, but honestly, this would merely be a situation where Voskuil either shoots the team into or out of the game, while his teammates watch. Texas Tech probably would have won a few more games, there's no doubt in my mind that Voskuil has the purest shot in the Big 12, but he just doesn't shoot enough.
Pat Knight did a nice job of juggling his bench as both Nick Okorie (17 pts; 5 rbs; 0 ast) and John Roberson (9 pts; 4 rbs; 8 ast) each had 3 fouls in the first half, saving each of these guys so that they could play most of the second half. I liked the use of Damir Suljagic and Esmir Rizvic over Darko Cohadarevic, I think both Damir and Esmir offer more than what Darko offers and Damir is not a liability on offense, and is Texas Tech's best post defender. Still trying to figure out why he hasn't seen much time against the Demare Carroll's and Blake Griffin's of the Big 12.
Mike Singletary (18 pts; 10 rbs; 3 ast) was praised on television for being a beast, and he was last night. Singletary was just tremendous, but the problem is that typicaly, Singletary isn't going to hit 3 3-pointers in a game (he's made 4 all year, including the 3 last night) and he can be a turnover and poor defensive player, which is why he's been so inconsistent all year.
The bottom line is that when a team makes more than 50% of their 3-point shots (15-27 for 55.6%) that team will probably beat just about any team in the country.
Congrats to Alan Voskuil, Michael Prince, Rogdrick Craig, Damir Suljagic and Esmir Rizvic. That was one hell of a way to have a Senior Day.
LAJ's Jeff Walker, DT's Alex Ybarra (with video) and the AP's Betsy Blaney file their game stories and here's Alan Voskuil:
"It's something I'm never going to forget," said Voskuil, who was 10-of-17 overall. "I mean (a) new career-high, most 3s I've hit in a game."
And from Blaney's article, Blaney was emotional after the win:
Knight, who pulled Voskuil out before the end of the game so fans could give him a rousing sendoff, said it was tough on him."I just hugged him," Knight said. "I couldn't even talk. The kid has had an unbelievable career. We'll always talk about (this win)."
Here's the highlights:
Palm Spring Invitational
| Date | Start Time | Texas Tech Starting Pitcher |
Opponent | Opponent Starting Pitcher |
Result |
| 3/3/2009 | 4:00 p.m. | Lorenzo Douglas (L, 0-1) |
UC Riverside | Matt Larkins (W, 1-0) |
8-9 |
| 3/5/2009 | 12:00 a.m. | Nate Karns (0-0, 22.50) |
UC Riverside | Paul Bargas (0-1, 6.23) |
- |
| 3/6/2009 | 8:00 p.m. | Miles Morgan (1-1, 6.10) |
San Francisco | Paul Bargas (1-0, 4.15) |
- |
| 3/7/2009 | 10:00 a.m. | Chad Bettis (1-0, 3.97) |
Gonzaga | Cody Martin (1-0, 1.64) |
- |
| 3/8/2009 | 10:00 a.m. | AJ Ramos (1-0, 0.00) |
Oregon State | Jorge Reyes (2-0, 2.25) |
- |
*Click on the score for boxscore.
I had some dates wrong on the table, but in any event, I think it's correct and the Red Raiders hope to get back on track with 4 games against 4 different opponents. LAJ's George Watson and DT's Mike Graham preview the series, with head coach Dan Spencer saying he is seeing his team compete:
"The one thing we've done well in every game is we've competed," Spencer said. "I thought we did some great things."Snip
"I'm looking for us to play a complete game," Spencer said. "We've seen glimpses of what we can be and what we can do if we play to our potential."