Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders that have to step up vs. West Virginia

Terrence Shannon Jr. has to get to the free-throw line

Lost in all the hand-wringing over Tech’s awful shooting night at the line against Baylor (5-12) was the simple fact that the Red Raiders also didn’t have enough opportunities at the line.  Sure, they had enough to win the game because if they would have made all 12 of their shots, they would have won by two points.

But, this team relies on the free-throw line for a significant portion of the offense (20.9%) and when the free-throw line didn’t pay off for them against the Bears, they were held to a season-low 52 points.

On average, the Red Raiders have been to the line over 23 times every game.  The leader thus far in that regard has been freshman Terrence Shannon Jr.  The slashing 6-foot-7 wing is averaging a team-high 4.5 free-throws per game.

He took no free throws against Baylor.  That can’t be the case today if Tech is going to win.

The best way for Tech to get out of Morgantown alive will be to get one or preferably both of the Mountaineer big men in foul trouble.  After all, they can’t rebound if they are sitting next to Huggins on the bench.

So far this year, Tshiebwe has racked up four fouls on four different occasions.  Meanwhile, Culver has fouled out once and picked up four fouls six times.

Shannon has to attack the rim at every opportunity, even if some of his drives end with a blocked shot.  That’s because he is the player most likely to draw fouls from the WVU big men.

He also is the player who supplements his offense the most by picking up points one at a time.  Against Baylor, he had a season-low four points.  That’s because he tied a season-low in free-throw attempts for just the second time.  That can’t happen today.