Instant Reaction: Brandone’s big day leads No. 8 Texas Tech to win

The No. 8 Texas Tech Red Raiders got a huge win today against the No. 2 West Virginia Mountaineers by a score of 72-71. The Red Raiders faced much adversity in this one as they trailed by seven at halftime and were even down by double digits at some point in the second half.

The contribution from Brandone Francis lifted the Red Raiders when they needed it the most. He had a season high 17 points and shot efficiently, going 5-6 from the field, 3-4 from 3-point range, and 4-4 from the free throw line. He also had a season high in minutes with 26. Keenan Evans was also a huge contributor in this game. Evans had 20 points and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes. Zhaire Smith made some huge rebounds and highlight dunks in this game as he had eight rebounds total, three of which were on the offensive end.

The Red Raiders were down for the majority of this game and had to make a tremendous comeback in order for them to win. All teams will face adversity at some point in the season and today, the Red Raiders punched adversity in the mouth and got a huge win.

The Red Raiders were outrebounded today for the first time in Big 12 play. The Mountaineers were good at keeping the Red Raiders off the offensive glass as the Red Raiders only had 4 total. Jevon Carter also showed that he is one of the front runners to be the Big 12 player of the year. Carter had 28 points going 5-9 from behind the three-point arc.

Player of the Game: Brandone Francis

Although Keenan Evans had a very good game, if it was not for the game Brandone Francis had off the bench, the Red Raiders would most likely have lost the game. Francis dropped 17 points, shooting 83 percent from the floor. He played the “hype-man” role, meaning that he gets the bench and the crowd excited and leads the team emotionally. It was amazing for many fans including myself to see Brandone have such a great game against such a highly ranked opponent as West Virginia. I can’t wait to see what he does for an encore.

The Red Raiders will next face the Texas Longhorns in Austin on Wednesday night. The Longhorns are 2-3 in conference play after dropping a heartbreaker to the Oklahoma State Cowboys today. The Red Raiders will have to play good defense on the road if they are to win.