Texas Tech basketball: Players that have to step up to stop losing streak

For the Texas Tech basketball team to end its two-game slide this week, these Red Raiders need to take their games to a new level.

Last week’s two-game set at the Las Vegas Invitational was a wake-up call for both the Texas Tech basketball team and its fans.  Losses to Iowa and Creighton have dropped the Red Raiders from the top 25 while also casting some doubt about this rebuilt team.

What’s most troubling is that there wasn’t just one reason that Chris Beard saw his team struggle in its first two tests against major conference opponents.  Rather, the flaws that were exposed came on both ends of the floor.

In the first five games of the year, Tech averaged 87 points per game, which was leading the Big 12.  But in Vegas, the offense averaged only 68.5.  Much of that had to do with the 3-point shooting.

After hitting at a 43.5% clip from long distance to open the year, Tech shot just 22.2% in Sin City.  That included a combined 6-26 from the team’s two best shooters, Davide Moretti and Kyler Edwards.

But it is the other end of the floor where Tech has become known as one of the best programs in the nation.  Be that as it may, Beard’s team is yet to grasp all of the concepts that are required in order to be an elite defensive team.

Allowing 77.5 points per game to Iowa and Creighton, Tech saw its defense give up an average of over 17 more points per game than it had been surrendering.  What’s more, last week the Red Raiders let their two opponents shoot 42.2% from the floor and 41.2% from behind the arc.

Those are not numbers we’ve come to expect from Texas Tech but they should come as no surprise given how young and revamped this roster is.  The unfortunate news for Tech is that the schedule is not going to let up over the next two weeks.

Wednesday, the Red Raiders play at DePaul, which is 8-0 on the year and 5-0 at home.  This will be the first time the seven Red Raider freshmen will play at an opponent’s campus making it yet another stiff early-season test.

Then, the Red Raiders travel to New York City to face Louisville, which is now the No. 1 team in the nation.  If the Red Raiders think that playing the way they did in Vegas is going to yield success in either of their next two games, they are obviously mistaken.

Of course, we all know they do not think that way.  There’s no doubt that life has been rather intense for this team since it returned from Vegas.

Chris Beard isn’t going to let the mistakes that cost his team two winnable games last week continue.  He knows that there are only five more games remaining to fine-tune his team before the start of Big 12 play on January 4th in Lubbock against Oklahoma State.

That’s why it will be interesting to see what the Red Raiders put forth on Wednesday night in a hostile environment.  And if they are going to pull themselves out of this season’s first slide, these key players are going to have to take their games to a higher level than we saw in Las Vegas.