Texas Tech basketball: How the Red Raiders beat No. 1 Louisville
Tech finally had an advantage over an opponent from 3-point range
Neither of these teams shot well from deep on Tuesday as they went a combined 10-44 (22.7%). Thankfully, it was the Red Raiders who were the better of two bad shooting squads.
Tech made seven shots from behind the arc while Louisville was able to connect on just three. That’s a 21-9 advantage on the scoreboard. It was nice to see Tech finally have a meaningful edge in that regard.
Against DePaul, Tech did have an advantage from deep but it was just a 3-point advantage as the Red Raiders hit six 3’s while the Blue Demons hit five. Meanwhile, in the previous game, Creighton hit ten shots from deep while Tech hit eight, a difference that was not insignificant in a game that went to OT.
On Thanksgiving, Iowa nailed eleven 3s while Tech only hit four. That proved to be a 21-point edge for the Hawkeyes in a game they won by 10.
We can’t be crazy about the fact that Tech took 27 shots from downtown on Tuesday. That’s too many.
But we also have to believe that this team is going to get back to shooting better than the 25.9% they shot against the Cards. Davide Moretti isn’t going to shoot 2-10 very often nor will Kyler Edwards shoot 1-7 most days.
While the volume of shots that Beard’s team took was too heavy, we have to at least like the fact that those two players were responsible for 17 of them. We didn’t see too many desperation heaves as the shot clock expired nor did players that shouldn’t be shooting from outside decide to go rogue.
On the other end of the equation, the Red Raiders kept a pretty tight lid on Ryan McMahon, who is a 50% 3-point shooter on the year. During the recent 3-game slide, too many times the Red Raiders lost track of the other team’s best 3-point shooter but Louisville’s mustered only six attempts, making just two.
dark. Next. Tech takes down No. 1 Louisville
In a game that was expected to be a tight contest between two elite defensive clubs, the 3-point line proved to be the difference. Though they didn’t shoot particularly well, the Red Raiders hit enough shots from outside to have a significant advantage.