Texas Tech basketball: What the Red Raiders have to do to beat the Horns

Tech has to dominate UT on the glass

In recent weeks, the Red Raiders have made significant strides when it comes to rebounding as a team.  Today, they face arguably the worst rebounding team in the Big 12 and if they can dominate the glass, they will likely come out on top.

For the season, UT has a rebound margin of -3.5 per game.  That’s the worst margin in the conference.  For comparison sake, Tech sits at No. 5 in the Big 12 with a margin of +2.09 per game.

Against the Big 12’s 3rd-worst rebounding team, Oklahoma, on Tuesday the Red Raiders won the battle on the glass 32-25.  What’s more, they gave up a mere five offensive boards.

One game prior, Tech trailed Kansas in that category by just three boards.  What’s more, in the game before that, Beard’s team pulled down nine more boards than West Virginia, which is the top rebounding team in the conference.

Meanwhile, the Horns have been beaten on the glass in four of their last five games.  Additionally, two of those games saw UT fail to come close to drawing even in this critical area of the game.

Against Kansas on Monday night, the Horns were outrebounded by 13 and in Morgantown, their deficit was 18.  In other words, UT just doesn’t seem to have the ferocity that is required to own the glass.

Much of that is due to the fact that their drive-and-pitch offense has their guards spread around the three-point line.  They shoot so many threes that they often have only their lone post player in the paint to battle on the offensive glass.

Teams that seem to rely predominantly on outside shooting most usually find that their lack of aggression when it comes to attacking the rim on offense leads to a lack of attacking the glass as well.  The mindset of shooting long jumpers is so different than the mindset required to battle on the boards that it seems like very few teams can effectively switch between those two modes with success.

Therefore, Tech needs to absolutely own the glass today.  The good news is that leading rebounder Chris Clarke is supposedly ready to play after turning his ankle against West Virginia and aggravating that injury against the Sooners.  His return to health and Tech’s overall toughness should translate to a sizeable edge in the rebounding department in this game.