Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders lost to Kentucky

3 of 4

LUBBOCK, TEXAS – JANUARY 25: Guard Immanuel Quickley #5 of the Kentucky Wildcats (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

UK was slightly better at the free-throw line

In a game that was decided by two points, the smallest advantages often turn the tide. Saturday, Kentucky missed only four of their 25 free throws while Tech missed six of their 23. Six minus four equals a loss.

More from Wreck'Em Red

Tech shot slightly worse than it’s season percentage of 75.8% by hitting 73.9% from the line Saturday. Meanwhile, Kentucky was 84% on the night, 7% better than its season average.

It was in the game’s most critical moments that the disparity was at its greatest. We all remember the Davide Moretti miss at the end of the first half and Kevin McCullar’s failure to convert the old-fashioned 3-point play in OT.

But don’t overlook the fact that Kentucky was 7-7 at the line in OT. That meant that 58.3% of their scoring in the extra five minutes came one point at a time.

This wasn’t as egregious of a night at the line as we saw Tech have in the loss to Baylor when it was a 5-12 effort that doomed the Red Raiders, but in a game that came down to the last possession, every point matters.

Kyler Edwards and Terrence Shannon Jr. were both perfect at the line (a combined 6-6). Meanwhile, every other Red Raider that went to the line missed at least one attempt.

On the other hand, Kentucky had three players shoot 100%. And while Nick Richards missed three free-throws, it’s easy to excuse because he shot 14, thus picking up 11 of his 25 points at the foul line.

It was a winnable game for Tech but the little things proved costly. That was especially true of the free-throw shooting by Chris Beard’s team. It wasn’t bad but on a night when the opponent was excellent, mediocre was not good enough.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball