Ochai Agbaji scored off of an inbounds play with 13 seconds left to give #5 Kansas a 58-57 victory over #14 Texas Tech, despite a 21-point game by Mac McClung and a 20-point game by Terrence Shannon, Jr.
The Red Raiders had nine fewer turnovers than the Jayhawks, 16-7, led for a longer duration of the game, and garnered more offensive rebounds than Kansas by a margin of 13-6. So, how exactly did Texas Tech manage to find themselves on the wrong side of a one-possession game for the sixth straight time?
Chris Beard’s simple answer: Texas Tech shot themselves in the foot.
“I don’t feel like tonight should’ve came down to the last play,” Beard said. “A lot of it was self-inflicted tonight.”
Shooting Woes
The Red Raiders shot below 35% for just the second time all season and only saw two players shoot better than 50% from the field, Micah Peavy and Tyreek Smith who both shot 67%.
Additionally, Tech shot 26% from behind the arc, yet the team attempted a 3-pointer on seven of their last 10 possessions of the game – making two courtesy of Shannon.
A McClung-led First Half
The Red Raiders appeared to put their past offensive struggles behind them early on, starting the game 4-7 from the field after McClung sank his second three-pointer in less than five minutes.
However, it became apparent the offense was reliant on McClung in the first half. The Georgetown transfer scored nine of the first 11 and had half of the Red Raiders’ 26 points at halftime.
Shannon Jr., who returned to the starting lineup after suffering an ankle injury against Grambling St., was the only other Red Raider with multiple-made field goals in the first 20 minutes with two. The ladder of which came via a three-pointer with seven seconds on the clock to send the Red Raider into the locker room down three.
Bulk of Production From Four Players
After McClung and Shannon, Tech’s next leading scorer for the game was Peavy with eight, followed by Smith with four. Outside of those four players, the rest of the team went a combined 2-21 from the field with four points.
Starters Kyler Edwards and Marcus Santos-Silva were both held scoreless for the first time all season.
Kansas Winning the Battle of Runs
They say basketball is a game of runs. Thursday’s game could be broken up into three major runs that occurred.
For nearly a 10-minute stretch to end the half, Kansas’s defense clamped down, holding the Red Raiders to five points, as the Jayhawks would go on a 14-5 run.
After Tech countered with their own 20-5 run over the course of 9:25 to start the second half, in which they held Kansas to one field goal, Kansas outscored Tech 13-3 over the next 4:08 to take the lead, 52-49, at the 5:47 mark. Tech shot 1-11 from the court during that stretch.
The two Kansas runs combined for a 27-8 margin in favor of the Jayhawks in a span that accounted for 35% of the game.
What’s Next?
Texas Tech will continue Big 12 play as they take on their first true road test of the season in Norman, Oklahoma. Tip-off against the Oklahoma Sooners is slated for 6 p.m. on December 22.
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