Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders lost to Iowa
The Big 10 leading scorer was better than Big 12 leading scorer
In the matchup of two conference scoring leaders, it was Iowa’s which had the far better game. Center Luka Garza ended his night with 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds, which was a tad below his Big 10-leading 22 points per game total that he brought into the night. Meanwhile, Jahmi’us Ramsey, who entered the game leading the Big 12 at 19.5 p.p.g., struggled to just seven points on 3-11 shooting.
Even before the freshman left the game early in the second half with a leg injury, it didn’t look like he was in for a big night. One of the focal points of the Hawkeye defense, he was given no space by 6-foot-5 Connor McCafferty and 6-foot-5 Joe Weiskamp, who used their length to keep Ramsey from driving to the rim at will.
It was also an off night for the former 5-star high school signee from deep. After hitting 5-6 shots from 3-point range in his last game against Long Island University, Ramsey was just 1-5 from deep against the Hawkeyes.
He’s been a surprise in regards to his ability to know down 3s thus far. Even after his awful night on Thursday, he is second on the team at 43.3% from behind the arc. But while an off night is going to happen for a true freshman, the bigger concern is his leg injury, which looked like some type of hamstring injury as he limped off the court after going to the floor on a hard drive to the basket.
Meanwhile, the Big 10’s surprising early-season scoring leader had no such struggles. The 6-foot-11 Garza was too much for Tech to handle with a lineup that featured 6-foot-8 T.J. Holyfield as the tallest player on the floor outside of the four minutes 7-foot freshman Russell Tchewa played.
Garza shot 7-13 from the floor with the Red Raiders unable to stop him once he got the ball on the blocks. Had it not been for a couple of ill-advised outside shots from the big man, his shooting percentage would have been through the roof.
We saw Thursday just how important Ramsey is to this team and if he is hurt, there’s reason to be concerned. Last year, we saw Jarrett Culver, the Big 12 Player of the Year outshine other conferences’ top players with regularity, especially in the NCAA Tournament, but Thursday, the Big 12’s leading scorer couldn’t match the Big 10’s.