Texas Tech basketball thoroughly outplayed by Baylor in Waco

The Texas Tech basketball team dropped its second-consecutive game Saturday night falling to Baylor 73-62 in Waco.

For the first time this season, the Texas Tech basketball team allowed an opponent to score at least 70 points. But few expected that feat to be accomplished by the Baylor Bears.

Entering the game as the worst shooting 3-point team in the Big 12 at just 31.3%, Baylor drained 11-29 shots from behind the arc and the Red Raiders were not able to keep pace. Troubled all game by Baylor’s active 1-3-1 zone, Tech shot just 5-15 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 17 times.

Leading 16-4 after the first six minutes of play, the Red Raiders would go into a drought of over 10 minutes without a field goal as Baylor ended the half on a 23-8 run to take a 33-31 advantage. Tech was not able to regain the lead in the second half coming as close as two points at 55-53 with 5:50 to play thanks to an 11-0 run of their own.

But Baylor answered with an 8-0 run and kept the Red Raiders at bay for the remainder of the game. It was a huge win for the home team which saw its role players take up the slack for their injured star.

Playing their third game without forward Tristan Clark, the Bears were led by freshman Jared Butler’s 19 points. It was the third-consecutive game for the Louisiana native who is averaging just 7.6 points per game.

Senior Makai Mason was also deadly knocking down four 3-pointers on his way to 16 points. In addition, five other Bears scored at least six points in what proved to be a balanced offensive attack. As a team, Baylor shot 41.4% from the field against a Texas Tech defense that has allowed opponents to shoot just 34.4% this season.

Once again, Tech was led by Jarrett Culver who had 19 points. Brandone Francis had a season-high 14 points off the bench and Davide Moretti scored 13.

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But senior Matt Mooney was just 1-6 from the field scoring only two points as he struggled against the aggressive Baylor zone. The senior grad transfer has struggled in his last two games scoring just ten combined points after pouring in a season-best 22 against Texas in Austin.

What made the loss particularly frustrating for Red Raider fans is that it prevented the team from taking advantage of a gift they were handed earlier in the day. Entering the game tied with Kansas atop the Big 12 race at 4-1, Tech could have reclaimed sole possession of the league’s top spot with a win thanks to the Jayhawks upset loss at West Virginia, which entered the game winless in conference play.

But the loss in Waco not only prevented Tech from taking a step ahead of the reigning league champions, it allowed Kansas State to draw even with the Red Raiders. After beating TCU at home, the Wildcats are now 4-2 in the conference and in a three-way tie with Tech and KU.

Making matters worse, Tech now has to go to Manhattan on Tuesday night trying to avoid a three-game losing streak by beating the hottest team in the league. Reinvigorated by the return of preseason Big 12 player of the year Dean Wade, KSU has reeled off four-straight wins since losing in Lubbock on January 5th.

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Tech could have avoided putting itself in such a precarious position by taking care of a Baylor team that has lost home games to Texas Southern and Stephen F. Austin this year. But now, Tech will have to circle the wagons and respond to the first bit of prolonged adversity that it has experienced this season. That will be an extremely tough task in Manhattan but we should expect nothing less out of the Big 12.

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