Texas Tech basketball: Numbers to know ahead of West Virginia rematch
WVU had 28 more free-throw attempts than Tech in the first meeting this year
The story of the first game was the disparity between the two teams at the free-throw line. That was what essentially decided the game as the team in the Big 12 that had shot the most free-throws in the Big 12 to that point in the year (WVU) had a 28-attempt advantage over the team in the Big 12 that had shot the second-most free throws (Tech).
Keep in mind that Tech’s trip to Morgantown was the first home game for the Mountaineers after Huggins was fined by the Big 12 for referring to the referees that officiated his team’s game at Kansas as “three blind mice.” But when he was asked about his team’s lack of foul shots against Huggins’ team, Beard turned the focus inwards.
"“At West Virginia, we fell in love with the jump shot,” he said on Tuesday. “My deal is, you got to go demand the foul. You don’t drive in there hoping to get the foul or looking to get the foul. You got to demand it. And West Virginia does a really good job of that and our team has to learn how to do that; and we’re working on it.”"
The Red Raiders were a mere 6-7 at the line earlier this month while West Virginia was 23-35. Thus, it didn’t matter that the Red Raiders shot 85.7% and the Mountaineers shot just 65.7%.
Interestingly though, in that game, Mountaineer sophomore Derek Culver led all players in attempts with ten but he made only three. For the year, he’s just a 56.8% marksman at the line so fouling him might not be a bad option but letting him single-handedly put Tech in what would amount to a double-bonus penalty for a half is not advantageous.
So tonight, pay close attention to how many trips WVU takes to the line just as closely as you pay attention to the percentage they shoot. They are the second-worst team in the Big 12 in shooting percentage at 63.6% but if they get to the line 35 times again, they will have an edge even if they shoot poorly.
On the road this year, WVU has averaged just 18.6 free-throw attempts per game. If that’s around the number that they shoot this eventing, Tech should not have to face the free-throw disparity that defined the first game that these teams played this month.