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Texas Tech basketball: Kentucky loss felt eerily similar to National Title Game

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 25: Guard Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders puts his towel over his head while he's comforted by guard Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 after the college basketball game against the Kentucky Wildcats on January 25, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 25: Guard Kyler Edwards #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders puts his towel over his head while he's comforted by guard Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 after the college basketball game against the Kentucky Wildcats on January 25, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Guard Kevin McCullar #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Guard Kevin McCullar #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

In both games, Tech had to claw back from a significant second-half deficit

There was a point in the middle of the second half on Saturday night when it looked like the Red Raiders were going to be run off the court.  However, they displayed the type of grit that we’ve come to expect from a Chris Beard team and clawed back into the game.

After Tech got the first bucket of the second half to knot the game at 36, UK went on a 12-2 run to take a 48-38 lead at the 16:17 mark.  During that spurt, the Wildcats hit three-straight shots and went 3-4 at the line while Tech missed 4-straight shots, turned the ball over once, and missed two open 3-pointers.

But after a timeout, the home team regained its footing and kept the lead from growing.  Then, Kentucky’s fantastic point guard Ashton Hagans missed a breakaway layup and that seemed to turn the game in Tech’s favor.

At that point, the score was 55-48 with 10:43 to play.  The teams would trade scores over the next four minutes but in the final six minutes of regulation, Tech put together its own run.

After Richards made the score 61-53 with 6:18 to play, Tech ran off a 9-1 run to pull to within 62-61.  During that time, we saw Moretti hit his only 3-pointer of the game while Kyler Edwards and T.J. Holyfield both had key layups.  That set the stage for the closing flurry of regulation when the free-throw line came into play.

It was reminiscent of Tech’s comeback in the title game last April.   At the 10:22 mark of the second half in that contest, Tech was down 53-43 and was on the verge of being knocked out.

But by the 2:38 mark, the game was knotted at 61-all as Tech put together an 18-8 run.  That too set the stage for a chaotic final two minutes that eventually sent us to OT.

In both games, we saw on display the type of determination and fight that Chris Beard has instilled in his program.  That’s a small positive we can take from the Kentucky game, which wasn’t a season-ending loss, meaning that this year’s team can hopefully learn from Saturday’s loss and get better.

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