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Texas Tech basketball: What we learned in win over UTRGV

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 05: Guard Jahmi'us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts after making a three-pointer during the first half of the college basketball game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at United Supermarkets Arena on November 05, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 05: Guard Jahmi'us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts after making a three-pointer during the first half of the college basketball game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at United Supermarkets Arena on November 05, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders  (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders  (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

The Red Raiders are in a collective shooting slump

If your entire team is going to go into a shooting slump at the same time, it is better to have it happen in December rather than January or February.  After a 4-16 effort from 3-point range on Saturday, Tech is now shooting just 24.8% (34-137) from deep since the Iowa game on Thanksgiving.

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That’s simply not going to get the job done.  But the problem has not just been one player.

Davide Moretti is shooting just 30% in the last six games, while Kyler Edwards has been a 24.2% shooter during that same span.  And remember when Shannon hit two big threes against DePaul in his hometown?  He’s since gone 0-4 from behind the arc, proving that his outside shot remains a work in progress at best.

T.J. Holyfield is just 3-12 on the season and has made just one 3-pointer in the last eight games and that was a garbage-time 3 against Louisville that had no impact as it came on Tech’s final possession of the game with the outcome already decided.

Though we haven’t seen it with our own eyes, Holyfield is a respectable shooter from deep.  Prior to coming to Tech, he was 37.4% shooter from 3-point range but this year, he’s been hitting at just a 25% rate.

Conventional wisdom suggests that if an entire roster goes cold at the same time, then it will eventually get hot at the same time as well.  That’s not guaranteed but at some point, we have to believe that Tech’s veteran shooters will revert to the mean and this team will be more capable from outside than it has shown.

But for now, there’s no question that the 3-point shot is failing the Red Raiders.  Perhaps the crazy December schedule that saw the Red Raiders go almost a month with no home game and play in three different cities in the span of two weeks has played a role in this collective slump.

Now, the normalcy of conference play is about to be upon us and we can only hope that helps this team’s shooters.  If it doesn’t, this offense will find life very tough in the rugged Big 12.

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