As hard as it is to hear, on the road, in the face of adversity in Big 12 play, Texas Tech has crumbled under pressure.
In all three road losses, a lead was either fumbled away – such was the case at Iowa State – or Tech was unable to overcome second half deficits at Kansas and Oklahoma. Granted, two of those losses came at two of the toughest venues to play at in college ball, but their phrase “4 to 1” should be even more prevalent when you’re in someone else’s house. Especially against an OU team that was 6-9 coming in, and fighting for their season. Oklahoma’s senior point guard Jordan Woodard was back and healthy, but Tech is certainly still the better team. They just didn’t show it on that night. Tech will have to find ways to squeeze out a couple road games down the stretch in order to have a shot at the NCAA tournament.
Also, over the last three game stretch, Tech has seen a lack of aggressiveness in getting to the rim and the boards. They’ve settled for shots, and it led to a 6.3 percent dip in field-goal percentage. A far cry from their Big 12 best 50.2% field-goal percentage season average. The inability to get to the iron has left a huge discrepancy in trips to the charity stripe, while opponents have shot 24 more free throws, and out-rebounded the Red Raiders 103-80 during that same span.
The positive is that after starting the week with a win over No. 25 Kansas State, and ending with a terrible loss to the Sooners, Tech actually gained ground in the RPI, jumping one spot to No. 61. Even better news, in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest “Bracketology,” he lists Texas Tech as one of his last four teams “in” March Madness.
Texas Tech still has a long way to go, but with four of their next six games at home, it serves as a great opportunity for Tech to stack wins, and make up ground in the conference race.
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