Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders show improvement during 3-game gauntlet

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 29: Forward TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders battles for the jump ball against forward Oscar Tshiebwe #34 of the West Virginia Mountaineers during the first half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on January 29, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 29: Forward TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders battles for the jump ball against forward Oscar Tshiebwe #34 of the West Virginia Mountaineers during the first half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on January 29, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
TJ Holyfield #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

T.J. Holyfield is playing with much-needed aggression

Now that we know UNLV transfer Joel Ntambwe isn’t going to play this year, senior forward T.J. Holyfield has to be able to give this team something in the post on a game-by-game basis.  In the last week, he’s played his best basketball of the year.

Entering the West Virginia game in Lubbock, the New Mexico native had given his team just two 10-point games in his last 13 outings.  But he’s had back-to-back such performances against the Mountaineers and Jayhawks.

More from Wreck'Em Red

More importantly, it hasn’t been just his ability to put the ball in the bucket.  To go along with eleven points against WVU, he blocked a season-high four shots while grabbing five rebounds.

He followed that up by matching that block total against Kansas while scoring 19 huge points and pulling down eight boards.  What’s more, he started to hit shots from deep over the last two games.

Entering the WVU game, he had made just six 3-pointers this season, something that he did with more consistency at Stephen F. Austin where he shot over 41% in 2017-18.  But only once this year prior to the Kansas game had he made more than one long-range attempt in a game.

In Lawrence, he was a huge component of the offense as Tech ran sets that isolated Holyfield against the two massive KU forwards at the top of the key.  The result was that he was often left open for 3-point looks and he knocked down three of the five he attempted to set a new season-high.

Imagine how this offense will change for players like Ramsey, Moretti, Shannon, and Edwards if opposing big men start to respect Holyfield’s ability to make 3s.  The driving lanes will open up tremendously and Tech will be able to get more offense at the rim than it already does, which is always preferable.

Holyfield might be this team’s most important player down the stretch.  He’s the only post presence that Chris Beard is going to trust to play more than 10 minutes a night.  Thus, if he plays with the type of confidence and assertiveness that he has in the last week, he is going to be a huge asset for his team.

The good news for Red Raider fans is that the schedule looks like it is going to lighten up in February.  Already finished with the regular-season series with West Virginia, Tech will not see Baylor or Kansas again until the final two games of the schedule, both of which come in March.

Next. 3 reasons Tech lost to Kansas. dark

The next eight games will be against unranked teams with three coming against the bottom three teams in the conference, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State.  If the Red Raiders can continue to play at the level they have in the last three games, a nice month could be in store as we barrel towards March.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball