Grades | Prairie View A&M 79, Texas Tech 89

Some really good here, but a few disturbing things as well. Let's get to the bad first, which was that PG Josh Gray, TG Jamal Williams and PG Daylen Robinson combined for 13 of the team's 17 turnovers and that is way too many for the guys that are handling the ball as much as they are. I think a lot of these happened in the second half so maybe the guys tired out a bit after pressing most of the game, but that seems like something that can be remedied. Gray is also a volume shooter as he was 5 of 14 last night for only 10 points. That leads me to think that Gray is taking too many jump shots and not driving enough to the basket. He did lead the team in assists and steals with 4 each. No free throw attempts. There was quite a bit of good though as Williams had 15 points on 9 shots, 6 boards, 2 assists. Robinson had 14 points on 7 shots and he also had 3 steals. The always solid Toddrick Gotcher had 8 points and was 4 of 5 from the line, while SG Dusty Hannahs had 2 3-point shots.

I thought the frontcourt was more solid than the backcourt. C Dejan Kravic was 3 of 6 with 9 points, 3 of 4 from the line, had 7 boards and 5 blocks. That's very impressive. But he wasn't the best frontcourt player, who was F Jordan Tolbert who was perfect from the field, 7 or 7, had 7 boards and two steals. Surprisingly, F Jaye Crockett is quiet again as he took 2 shots, but didn't make any, but did have 5 free throws and 5 rebounds. For two games in a row, the team did out rebound the opponent, but could still do a better job limiting the opponent on the offensive boards. Kader Tapsoba had minimal minutes.

So SG Trency Jackson was suspended for this game for undisclosed discipline reasons. I'm okay with that and am fine with establishing some situation here. Jackson strikes me as a bit of a goofy guy, not in a bad way, but maybe in a immature way. I think he knows and it's better to do this early rather than trying to establish some sort of discipline when it may be too late. Now that Walker has his first official win as a coach, it's time to get to business. PVAM had 17 turnovers and Texas Tech had 11 steals. Texas Tech limited PVAM to 40% from the field and shot 50% from the floor themselves. The free throws were better (I really forgot to look at that last game and realize I need to get into box score watching shape) shooting 78% from the free throw line. Texas Tech took a lot of 3-point shots in the first half, 4 of 14 and was a little better in the second half, 3 of 9. Would like to see a little more consistency, but considering how bad this team was at shooting three's last year, I'll take it. PVAM G Carl Blair (he played at OU for a couple of years) was only 2 of 6 from the field, but he was 15 of 17 from the free throw line. I have no idea what happened here, but it would seem that someone would not be able to foul him. You want an easier win against a lower competition team, but