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Texas Tech basketball: How the Red Raiders beat No. 1 Louisville

By Matthew Conner

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 10: Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts during the second half of their game against the Louisville Cardinals at Madison Square Garden on December 10, 2019 in New York City. The Red Raiders won 70-57. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 10: Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts during the second half of their game against the Louisville Cardinals at Madison Square Garden on December 10, 2019 in New York City. The Red Raiders won 70-57. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals, TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders  (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals, TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders  (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

Tech forced 19 turnovers

Another key to the game we discussed on Tuesday afternoon was forcing turnovers.  Knowing that Louisville had more firepower than the shorthanded Red Raiders, the belief was that forcing a high number of turnovers would help neutralize the Cardinals and perhaps lead to some easy buckets.

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The first part of that conclusion certainly played out at Madison Square Garden as Louisville gave the ball away 19 times.  That’s over seven more than they had averaged this year.

Also, look at who committed the bulk of those mistakes, Louisville’s two primary ball-handlers.  Nwora lost the ball four times while point guard Darius Perry was guilty of six turnovers. That matters because when a team’s two top creators are plagued by turnovers, the entire offense is going to suffer.

By comparison, Tech’s two most heavily-used guards, Clarke and Moretti, had just five turnovers between them.  That’s one reason Tech had 58 shot attempts and Louisville had just 53, a rather significant difference over the course of a basketball game.

When two heavy-weight defenses meet, the team that has the most possessions end with a shot attempt is going to have a huge advantage.  Tuesday night, that was the Red Raiders.

Against No. 4 Michigan a week ago, the Cardinals committed just 8 turnovers in a 58-43 win.  In their other win over a major conference team this year, they gave the ball away just 13 times in a season-opening road win over ACC rival Miami.

But the No. 1 team in the nation couldn’t handle the swarming and active Red Raider defense on Tuesday night.  This wasn’t a case of the Cardinals being simply careless, rather it was more about Tech’s energy and activity on the defensive end of the floor.  That was certainly something that Tech fans loved seeing.

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