The Red Raiders are still searching for a second scoring option
Unfortunately, Culver’s big night was not enough to carry the Red Raiders past the No. 2 team in the nation. That’s because no other Red Raider managed more than seven points as Tech was held to a season-low on the score board.
The rest of the team accounted for only 13 field goals and 33 points despite having some excellent looks. For instance, Brandone Francis missed to wide-open threes in the second half that could have helped turn the tide.
The senior guard has lost his touch from deep hitting only one his last 13 from behind the arc. This season, he has only three double-digit games and counting last night’s two-point effort, he has failed to register more than three points in his last four games.
Matt Mooney also struggled Thursday night scoring only seven points on 3-7 shooting. The graduate transfer from South Dakota was brought in to be a reliable scoring option and though he is the second-leading scorer on the team at 10.6 points per game, he is averaging seven points below his average output from each of the past two seasons.
Against Duke, Tech needed the type of performance from Mooney that it received in its wins over USC and Nebraska when he scored 17 and 15 points respectively. But Mooney was overwhelmed by the athletic Duke guards which harassed him into six turnovers.
It was the second-straight season in which Mooney struggled against the Blue Devils. Last year, he put up just three points on 1-5 shooting in South Dakota’s 96-80 loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Though Tech will not see a team for the rest of the year as athletic at the guard spots as Duke, Mooney still must prove capable of stepping up against higher-level competition. Last year, he had 31 points against TCU and 23 against UCLA and while Tech does not need that level of heroics from him this year, he must be a more reliable scoring option if the Red Raiders are to challenge Kansas in the Big 12.