Texas Tech outlasts Arkansas in Big 12 - SEC Showdown

The Texas Tech Red Raiders came into yesterday’s game on a three game losing streak and got on the right side of things with a 67-64 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Red Raiders were able to hold off a late game comeback by the Razorbacks as the Red Raiders led by over 10 points in the later stages of this game.

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The game started out with back and forth as most Tech games do, with good defense prevailing from both teams. The Red Raiders started with a Jarrett Culver three pointer, hopefully a sign of things to come in future games. Things stayed pretty close in the first half, something that all Red Raiders fans are used to. A buzzer beating three pointer by the Razorbacks gave them the lead going into halftime, by a score of 33-30.

The Red Raiders came right back out of the half with a three pointer of their own by Jarrett Culver to tie the game up. The Red Raiders then got a lead and extended it. Matt Mooney, Jarrett Culver, and Davide Moretti all made three pointers during this extended run of over ten minutes. The run was capped off with a Norense Odiase putback dunk for his only points of the night, extending the lead to 60-48 with less than eight minutes to go.

The Razorbacks were not done however, as they came back with a fury. They began a 14-4 run that would vault them back in the game with just a minute left. The Red Raiders went the last 7:37 without scoring a single field goal. All 7 of their remaining points game on free throws. This team once again went through a scoring drought which is especially scary at the end of the game. The Red Raiders stopped the bleeding and found a way to get some stops late and win the game with a couple of made free throws by Davide Moretti.

The name of the game last night was surviving. This team has had its struggles of late and most of these struggles were still prevalent in this game, the only difference being that they found a way to win the game late when all of the momentum was against you. The team as a whole shot better, putting in 52% of their baskets including 10-19 from three point range. The downside is that they still turned the ball over far too much. Tech had 21 turnovers as a team including four from Norense Odiase and Jarrett Culver, and five from Matt Mooney.

Davide Moretti can help fix their turnover problems. Moretti starts at point guard, but he plays more of an off-ball position. Guys like Jarrett Culver and Matt Mooney handle the ball more often and that seems to be hurting this team. Moretti showed us a great ability to create his own shot today. Let him play more on the ball and let guys like Mooney and Culver, who are much better off the ball, play off the ball.