Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders were able to crush ISU

Texas Tech held a huge edge in 3-point shooting

The main stat that jumps out from this game is the disparity in 3-point shooting.  The Red Raiders finished the game 9-21 from deep while Iowa State was just 3-22.  That’s an 18-point edge for the home team.

It wasn’t surprising to see Iowa State shoot poorly from deep.  After all, they are the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big 12 entering Saturday at just 31% as a collective.

But it was hard to believe that they refused to stop firing away from deep given their complete lack of success.  At some point, one would think that a team that can’t get anything to fall from outside might alter their approach but the Cyclones just stubbornly continued to let fly from behind the arc.

Also, keep in mind that two of the Cyclone’s 3-point baskets came in the final two minutes of the game after Texas Tech had long since slammed the door.  Thus, Tyrese Halliburton’s 3 at the 12:18 mark of the second half to cut the Tech lead to 43-34 was the only long-range shot of consequence that ISU made all day.

Meanwhile, the home team was hot…well, at least two members of the team.  After shooting 7-18 in Manhattan on Tuesday, Kyler Edwards and his teammates utilized the 3-ball to their advantage on Saturday.

The sophomore guard was 5-6 from distance as part of a 22-point day.  Since going 0-5 from 3-point range against West Virginia, Edwards has hit 8 of his last 10 attempts over the course of his last two games.  Not surprisingly, his 5 makes from deep against ISU established a new career-high.

Joining him in the 3-point barrage was Davide Moretti who was 3-6 on the afternoon.  But outside of those two Red Raiders, the rest of the team was just 1-9 with the only make coming from Avery Benson.

The team’s leading 3-point shooter on the year, Jahmi’us Ramsey, continued to struggle with his outside shot as opponents look to take that part of his game away.  He was 0-4 from deep making him just 2-13 over his last three games since hitting 5-10 against Baylor.

But if Kyler Edwards and Davide Moretti shoot as well as they did on Saturday and the opponent can’t seem to throw the ball into Lake Alan Henry as was the case with Iowa State, then Tech will have more than enough firepower from behind the arc to win games.