Texas Tech basketball: What we learned in win over Tennessee State

Davide Moretti is currently this team’s go-to player

Over the last two seasons, we’ve known who the Red Raiders would turn to when the game was on the line.  In 2017-18 that player was Keenan Evans, and of course, last year it was Jarrett Culver.

But we still aren’t certain who will play the role of hero for this year’s team, especially on the offensive end of the floor.  Thursday, it proved to be Davide Moretti, the team’s most experienced player in terms of playing for Beard.

When TSU cut the Tech lead to 35-32, Moretti scored all eight of his team’s points in an 8-2 run that gave the home team some breathing room.  During that time, he hit two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to lift his team, which had scored just eight points in the first seven-plus minutes of the second half.

"“Davide has turned himself into one of the best players in college basketball,” Beard said. “It started with him staying the course as a freshman. There was a lot of challenge to him physically. “He was on a team that made the elite-eight. He waited his time. He was a good teammate on nights when he didn’t get to play as much as he wanted. He was real tough, no bad body language or sulking for Moro. He is a pros pro. He worked at his craft and decided he wanted to be an All-Big 12 player. My confidence in Moro comes from the fact that I trust him.”"

It appears that Beard views Moretti as a go-to option but is he capable of being “the man” for a title-contending team?  Normally, players that take over games down the stretch are the ones who can get into the lane.  That’s what Evans and Culver did (outside of the last possession of the National Title Game) but Moretti is much more of a shooter than a penetrator.

He can drive to the basket, as he did towards the end of the first half when his contested jumper off the dribble in the paint ended a two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought for his team.  But his ability to get to the rim is more a result of craftiness and not unstoppable athleticism and quickness.

When the games are tight, can Moretti beat the opposing team’s best perimeter defender and create offense the way Evans and Culver could?  Only time will tell.  And perhaps a player like Jahmi’us Ramsey will evolve into that guy for this team.  But right now, we would have to say that Davide Moretti is this team’s go-to option when the Red Raiders need a bucket.