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Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders lost to West Virginia

By Matthew Conner

MORGANTOWN, WV - NOVEMBER 15: A view during the National Anthem before the game between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the American University Eagles at the WVU Coliseum on November 15, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV - NOVEMBER 15: A view during the National Anthem before the game between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the American University Eagles at the WVU Coliseum on November 15, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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Andrei Savrasov #12 and TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders  (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Andrei Savrasov #12 and TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders  (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

T.J. Holyfield gave the Red Raiders absolutely nothing

When it became apparent that this team was going to go through this year with 6-foot-9 grad transfer T.J. Holyfield as the only post presence in the regular rotation, some fans were concerned.  Partly because of his size and partly because he had never played in a major conference, there were questions about whether he could give the Red Raiders enough in the paint on both ends of the floor to hang in against Big 12 teams.

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This week, Holyfield has done nothing to assuage those concerns.  After opening Big 12 play with 17 points against Oklahoma State, he’s been nowhere to be found in the last two games.

Saturday, he was 0-3 from the field, had just one rebound, did not draw a foul from any Mountaineer, did not have an assist or block, and turned the ball over once.  That’s it.  That’s what the Red Raiders got from their starting forward.

That came after he scored just five points and had five rebounds against Baylor.  Tech will not win many games in this conference with that type of productivity (or lack thereof) from Holyfield.

Consider that the Red Raiders got more productivity from little-used freshman center Russell Tchewa and it puts in perspective how poorly Holyfield played.  Despite playing only 3:12, the 7-footer scored two points, which is more than his fellow Red Raider post player attributed to the cause.

Saturday, Holyfield had to battle against the best tandem of big men in the Big 12, if not the nation and both have significant size advantages over him.  But no player on Baylor’s roster should be a physical mismatch for Holyfield yet he looked overmatched in that game as well.

Next. The all-decade point guards. dark

When Holyfield hit some outside shots against Oklahoma State, he was able to pull their rim protector, Yor Ameni, away from the bucket on defense and open up lanes for his teammates.  That’s what he has to do with regularity for this team to have a shot at beating teams with elite size.  Thus far, he’s not proven capable of that.

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