Texas Tech basketball dominant in 2nd half during NCAA Tournament

The Texas Tech basketball team has been a dominant second-half team during this year’s NCAA Tournament which is a big reason for the program’s first ever Final Four appearance.

For some reason, it seems like we discuss halftime adjustments far more often when analyzing football rather than basketball.  Perhaps that is because most people focus more on the X’s and O’s of football and because every football fan believes he is a born offensive coordinator.  Certainly, the changes in basketball strategy can be more subtle and harder for most fans to notice than in football.  But for sure, the Texas Tech basketball team has bee able to make some key halftime adjustments during the NCAA Tournament which has been a huge reason for the Red Raiders’ run to the Final Four.

And this is a departure from the script that Chris Beard’s team followed during the 9-game winning streak to end the regular season.  In that run, Tech was able to jump out to large halftime leads in eight of the nine games only trailing at halftime once, at Iowa State.  In that span, Tech outscored its opponents 334-231, an average of 37.1 to 25.6 per game.

For the season, Tech’s average advantage in the first half has been 6.4 p.p.g. while its second half scoring margin has been fifth-best in that nation at +7.4 p.p.g.  Interestingly, Michigan State, Tech’s opponent on Saturday night, ranks 4th in the nation in second half margin at +7.5 p.p.g.

The Red Raiders success after the break is a huge compliment to the work of the coaching staff which is able to make adjustments.  For example, they may change how they defend individual players or how they guard the way a team is running its ball screens.  It is also likely a product of the Red Raiders’ relentlessness as their style of play has the tendency to wear on opponents as the game progresses causing more mistakes as teams become fatigued both physically and mentally.  We certainly saw that at the end of the Gonzaga game in the Elite 8 when a critical mental error by the Zags sealed the win for the Red Raiders.

So let’s look back at Tech’s four game-run through the West Region, in which Tech outscored its opponents by 42 combined points (10.5 p.p.g.)  As we do, it will become clear how the Red Raiders have grown stronger in the game’s final twenty minutes.