Texas Tech basketball: Turning points in Red Raiders upset of No. 1 Cardinals
Shannon’s jumper seals it
Coming out of the final media timeout, there were less than three minutes to play and Tech was up 56-48. Grinding out the shot clock had become the intention of every Red Raider possession and if points came in the final five seconds of the shot clock, even better.
That plan was executed to perfection when with 2:28 to go, Terence Shannon nailed a beautiful jumper to put the final nail in Louisville’s coffin just beating the shot clock buzzer. It was the type of play that the freshman has started to make on a more consistent basis in recent games.
Coming into the year, we all knew that the top-70 signee in the 2019 class was a dynamic athlete who could do just about everything on the court. But there was a question about whether or not he could shoot well enough to be an immediate offensive factor.
In high school, his jumper was odd, to say the least, as he brought it from below his chest to shoot. But the work he’s put in at Tech is already evident and his final field goal of the game was beautiful.
Coming off a career-high 24 points against DePaul, Shannon had 13 points on 4-9 shooting and 5-6 at the line. Five of his points came in the final five minutes to help Tech salt away the upset and none were bigger than the kill-shot he delivered with a picture-perfect jumper from the wing.
Playing offense like a running back that picks out lanes and slices through the defense, Shannon’s next step is to become a reliable shooter and he’s starting to show progress in that regard after hitting two clutch 3s late against DePaul.
To beat the No. 1 team in the nation requires a total team effort and that’s what Tech received Tuesday night. There was no one star that carried the load the way Jarrett Culver did last year when the Red Raiders nearly upset No. 2 Duke at Madison Square Garden. Rather, Chris Beard got contributions from up and down the roster and that’s something that needs to continue as the season progresses.