Texas Tech basketball: Critical moments in win over Cowboys

Tech puts together a 5-0 run to end an OSU surge

This game began perfectly with the Red Raiders jumping out to a 4-0 lead on a Kyler Edwards layup and a T.J. Holyfield jumper.  But the Red Raiders didn’t keep their foot on the gas and in the process, the Cowboys stormed back with a 12-1 run.

While Tech missed three-straight jumpers, OSU nailed 3 of 4 shots from deep to take a 12-5 lead at the 15:11 mark of the first half.  Fortunately, Tech would answer with a nice 5-0 run of their own to keep from falling into a larger hole.

The key play in that run, perhaps the key basket in the game, was Holyfield’s and-1 opportunity that answered the Thomas Dizagwa 3-pointer to make the OSU lead seven points.  Taking a nice bounce pass from Edwards, the grad transfer powered through OSU big man Yor Anei for a layup and a foul.

Converting the free-throw opportunity, he pulled Tech’ to within four points.  But more importantly, it saddled OSU’s rim-protector with a key early foul, something that would prove critical as Anei missed the majority of the first half because of foul trouble.

Then, after forcing a missed 3 by OSU, Tech pulled to within two points when Davide Moretti hit a tough jumper along the baseline.  It was an unusual bucket for the junior because he created his own offense off the dribble and hit a bit of a fade-away shot.

Don’t overlook the importance of this two-minute stretch.  Remember that Tech had struggled in the first half of recent home games including three straight contests in December against mid-major teams in which Beard’s team trailed at the break.

This 5-0 run didn’t even put Tech in the lead and it won’t be a moment that most fans remember but understand its importance.  By answering one of the only OSU runs of the day, Tech prevented the underdog visitors from gaining a ton of momentum and jumping out to a double-digit lead early in the game.