Texas Tech basketball: Freshmen, newcomers star in season-opening win

True freshmen Jahmi’us Ramsey and Terrance Shannon Jr. combined for 30 points as the Texas Tech basketball team opened the 2019-20 season in impressive fashion on Tuesday night.

On a night when the Texas Tech basketball team unfurled two banners from the rafters to commemorate what last season’s squad was able to accomplish, a cast of new faces got the 2019-20 season off to a rousing start before a sell-out crowd at the United Supermarkets Arena on Tuesday. With the newly displayed 2019 Final Four and Big 12 Championship banners hanging above them as reminders of what this program is capable of accomplishing, eight Red Raiders made their Double-T debut in an 85-60 win over Eastern Illinois.

True freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey had a game-high 19 points while fellow frosh Terrence Shannon Jr. added eleven in impressive college debuts for both. Meanwhile, another new face, grad transfer T.J. Holyfield, was a force inside with 15 points, six rebounds, and two blocks as the third newcomer in head coach Chris Beard’s starting lineup.

"“They were dialed in,” Beard said of his team. “To have the emotion there at the start of the game, big crowd, first Division I game for a lot of guys. Then you put on top of that the two banners and the videos and all this, that’s hard to do. But I thought our guys, there was a calmness to us early that was really impressive.”"

Feeding off the energy of the home faithful, the Red Raiders jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to two Holyfield buckets in the paint and three free throws from Shannon. Though Eastern Illinois would eventually cut the lead to 24-20 with just under nine minutes to play in the half, the game was never really in doubt.

This Texas Tech team was simply on a different level physically than the Panthers, who have a roster comprised of only juniors and seniors but who looked as overmatched as a trailer park in the path of an F-5 tornado.

Coming at Eastern Illinois in waves, all eleven Red Raiders in uniform played at least seven minutes with each getting some run in the first half. Returnees Kyler Edwards and Davide Moretti started but were relatively quiet. In all, 46 of the Red Raiders points came from the six freshmen that were in uniform on Tuesday. The only freshman not suited up was 6-foot-7 forward Tyreek Smith who will be out for several weeks after surgery on his foot.

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Playing the role of a floor-general, the sophomore Edwards scored six points, grabbed seven boards, handed out three assists, and blocked two shots. Meanwhile, Moretti added 13 points while hitting 3-4 shots from 3-point range with most of his damage coming after halftime.

With ten newcomers on the roster this year, eight of whom were not with the program at the end of last season, Tuesday was an opportunity for this rebuilt roster to work through some early-season kinks while also introducing itself to the West Texas faithful. You could say that they made quite the first impression, especially Ramsey, Shannon, and Holyfield, who were the three best players on the floor.

Playing in his first game since March of 2018 after missing all of last season at Stephen F. Austin with a shoulder injury, the Albuquerque, New Mexico native Holyfield made 7-8 shots from the field and knocked down his only 3-point attempt. Playing with poise and an all-around offensive game that took many fans by surprise, he showed by he was one of the nation’s top graduate transfers this summer. To bring him to Lubbock, Beard had to fight off Big 12 rival Kanas and it’s easy to see why the two conference powers were enamored of him.

Ramsey, the highest-rated high school player to ever play for the Red Raiders, flashed the athleticism that made him a 5-star prospect as he got to the rim at will. But he also showed that he can shoot the ball well enough to keep defenders honest as he hit 3-4 shots from behind the arc.

Not to be overlooked was Shannon. Himself a top-100 high school recruit, the Chicago native showed to be a legitimate 6-foot-7 and he already has the frame of a player who looks like he’s been in a college strength program for multiple years. His ability to draw fouls was noticeable as he hit 7-8 free throw attempts.

The overall team performance was by no means perfect. Eastern Illinois got too many open looks on their way to shooting 40.4% from the field. Tech also turned the ball over 13 times, which is far more than Beard would like to see.

What to expect from the 2019-20 Tech basketball team. dark. Next

Still, it would be hard to ask for more from a team featuring only three players that played one second of college basketball a season ago. It was the type of performance the 15,000-plus on hand expected to see and it provided every indication that this will be another wild ride for Texas Tech basketball fans.

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