Texas Tech basketball: Numbers to know ahead of rematch with TCU

Desmond Bane outscored 3/5 of Tech’s starting lineup by ten points

Anytime you have three of your five starters combine to score ten points fewer than the opposition’s leading scorer, you are in trouble.  That was the case in Fort Worth when Desmond Bane had 27 points for TCU while Davide Moretti, (8), Chris Clarke (0), and Kyler Edwards (9) managed to give Tech just 17 points between them.

That trio of Red Raiders averages a combined 30.8 p.p.g. this year.  Tech simply has to have more from its starters tonight.

The good news is that freshman T.J. Shannon will be in the starting lineup for this game.  While he came off the bench in Fort Worth to score ten points, it was obvious that he was still not fully recovered from a back injury that had cost him two games just prior to the first meeting with the Frogs.

Edwards has scored in double figures three times in the five games since including ten points Saturday against the Longhorns.  Meanwhile, Moretti could be in for a big night after shooting just 1-4 against UT as it seems he rarely has consecutive poor shooting games.  He too has had three double-digit games since seeing TCU last month.

The 54 points the Red Raiders scored in round one is tied for their second-lowest scoring total of the season trailing only the 52 points they scored against Baylor.  But aside from that loss to the Bears, the fewest points Tech has manged at home this year is 68, which is 1.3 more than the Frogs average on the season.

What’s more, TCU has averaged just 51.6 p.p.g. in their last three contests.  Thus, if the Red Raiders can get more than 17 points from 3/5 of their starters tonight, they should be just fine.