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Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders lost to Kentucky

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 25: Guard Immanuel Quickley #5 of the Kentucky Wildcats drives past guard Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on January 25, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 25: Guard Immanuel Quickley #5 of the Kentucky Wildcats drives past guard Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on January 25, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Forward Nate Sestina #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Forward Nate Sestina #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Kentucky had the surprising edge from behind the arc

This game featured two teams that have been struggling from 3-point range.  Still, I expected the Red Raiders to have the edge in that category given that they were at home and were averaging nearly three more makes per game than the Wildcats.

That’s not what happened.  While the Red Raiders were just 3-19 (15.8%…yuck) from deep, Kentucky was much better going 7-15 (46.7%.  That gave the Wildcats a 12-point edge.

What’s more, consider the fact that Tech began the game with two Kyler Edwards’ 3-pointers in the first five minutes.  That means that the only other 3-pointer we saw the good guys make during the last 35 minutes of the game was Davide Moretti’s 3 in mid middle of the second half.

The difference in these two shooting performances was the type of 3-point shots the two teams took.  While Tech was busy taking contested 3-pointers off the dribble as a result of being unable to shake the Wildcats’ perimeter defenders, UK was getting tons of wide-open looks thanks to the dribble penetration of their guards.

Immanuel Quickley was especially lethal as he hit 4-8 from 3-point range on his way to 21 points.  That was over double the number of 3s he had been averaging per game prior to coming to Lubbock.

Unfortunately, Tech’s best shooters were once again unable to find the range.  Moretti was just 1-5 and Jahmi’us Ramsey was 0-2.  And after Edwards hit his second 3 of the first half, he missed five-straight the rest of the way.

We will all remember the lucky half-court shot UK nailed to end the first half but the other six long-range bombs were just as deadly.  In an area of the game where Tech should have had an edge, the Red Raiders were dominated by one of the bottom-ten 3-point shooting teams in the nation.

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