Game Analysis | TCU Horned Frogs 54, Texas Tech Red Raiders 60

The last time around, I wrote that it was a rough game and here we are again, me saying that this was a very rough game, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a win. If you’re a fan of a downtrodden program like Texas Tech basketball, then you savor these wins probably moreso than fans of other schools.

Texas Tech seemed to do a pretty good job of executing down the stretch. With about three minutes left in the game, Kravic and Hannahs subbed into the game and Texas Tech pretty much took over the game. He made both free throws pretty much right as he checked in, but there was a lane violation, Crockett missed a free throw, but then Texas Tech scores 8 points while holding TCU scoreless until the last 7 seconds TCU hit a meaningless three-point shot. A layup by Hannahs, a block by Kravic, two free throws for Hannahs, two free throws by Crockett and it was game over.

I didn’t have a place for it below, but other than the 4 turnovers, I really enjoyed watching Toddrick Gotcher yesterday as he almost had a double-double, scoring 9 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, 4 offensive, and really battling for the better part of the game.

Also, I apologize for getting the correct injured player who was out for the game. It was Kavier Shepherd that was out and not Amric Fields.

Star of the Game | C Dejan Kravic: Kravic finished with 18 points on 7 of 10 from the floor, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing 2 assists, blocking 2 shots and grabbing 1 steal. Kravic very much took advantage of Shepherd not being available for the game as TCU just had no depth along the frontcourt.

Three Takeaways:

1. Big Game Inside: Texas Tech outscored TCU 38 to 16 inside, and a large part of that was the play of Kravic, who I think scored every bucket inside. I’m still waiting for Tolbert to dominate inside and he, surprisingly, only received 13 minutes yesterday, with Crockett getting a majority of the minutes at the power forward spot with the standard three guard lineup. The battle of the rebounds was slightly in favor of TCU, 26-24, but TCU only had 5 offensive rebounds, compared to 8 from Texas Tech, which resulted in some of those buckets for Kravic, and Texas Tech ended up with a 9 to 5 advantage over TCU on second chance points.

2. Finding Players: I really thought that Texas Tech did a nice job of finding the right shot, especially as TCU employed a zone that didn’t want Hannahs to make any sort of shot from the outside and as a result, there were some pretty decent holes in the zone. Texas Tech tried to force a few too many, but they also had 15 assists on the night, led by Crockett’s 5 assists. Playing at the high post, Crockett was afforded the opportunity to find various players and get some open shots. I should also mention that I distinctly remember the two Randy Onwuasor assists, two pretty passes, one to find Crockett and another to find Kravic for easy buckets. Both were pretty passes and he really does have something. Onwuasor just has to hone his offensive game to become a legitimate scoring threat.

3. Turner’s Hesitancy: I don’t know if this is by design or coaching or anything else, but it seemed during this game that Robert Turner had opportunities and shots, but he purposely didn’t shoot the ball unless it was necessary. There were times where it seemed to put the offense in a bit of a hurried shot because of his reluctance to shoot. And of his four shots, three of them came from the three-point line, while the one shot he made was off of a dribble and pull up shot. This seems to be where Turner can and should shine. He does a good job of dribbling and pulling up and finding teammates or taking that mid-range shot. I don’t want him to take that part out of the game because Texas Tech needs that legitimate outside threat that Turner provides. Just something to watch to see if he goes into an offensive shell or tries to be that complementary player.

Charts: Thanks to the good folks at StatSheet.

Action: