Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders lost to the Cowboys
Tech was just 12-20 from the line
It’s frustrating for Big 12 fans of any school to go into virtually every road game knowing that their team will almost certainly face a massive disparity at the free-throw line. I don’t know if the same phenomenon exists in other conferences but there seems to be an overwhelming propensity for home teams to receive an unfair number of calls from Big 12 refs and that was the case on Saturday as the team that averages the second-most free throws per game was awarded 18 fewer than the team that averages just the 4th most.
(In fairness, Tech has been the beneficiary of that phenomenon in Lubbock multiple times this year. Thus, this complaint isn’t just self-serving. It’s simply pointing out something that appears to be a flaw with the way the league’s officials call games.)
It’s an area where Tech could have benefitted from a player that is a drive-first player like Oklahoma State point guard Isaac Likekele, who heads to the rim virtually every time he touches the ball. Meanwhile, Tech’s guards were a bit too in love with the outside shot, especially for stretches of the second half.
But despite seeing OSU hold a 38-20 edge in free-throw attempts, the Red Raiders had every opportunity to win this game. In fact, had they shot better than just 60% from the line, they would have won.
This was the second loss of the season that could be attributed to poor shooting at the line after Tech was just 5-12 in a five-point loss to Baylor last month. In this contest, Tech was just 12-20 and that proved to be more than the Red Raiders could overcome.
The box score shows that Jahmi’us Ramsey was just 1-4 from the line. He’s shooting just 65% from the line this year, which seems odd for someone who shoots 45% from three-point range.
Meanwhile, Davide Moretti was 3-4 but keep in mind that his one miss was the front end of a 1-and-1 meaning Tech could have had two more points had he made that free throw. Meanwhile, Chris Clarke was 0-2 with both misses coming in the final ten seconds and Tech down only two points.
That’s not the way to win games on the road. Saturday in Stillwater, the Red Raiders learned yet again how critical free throws can be and this time, the lesson was learned in a loss to one of the worst teams in the Big 12.