Texas Tech basketball: Plenty has changed since first meeting with Texas

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AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 08: Kevin McCullar #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders plays defense against the Texas Longhorns at The Frank Erwin Center on February 08, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /

Kevin McCullar has become invaluable to the Red Raiders

While Holyfield is not as hot as he was in early February, freshmen Kevin McCullar Jr. has become one of the most steady players on the roster. Now starting for Chris Beard, the San Antonio native has become a player his team can’t live without and he will have a huge role in determining how round two plays out.

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In Austin, McCullar scored just four points while grabbing a pair of rebounds and blocking two shots. That day, he played 25 minutes, which was a season-high at the time.

But in his last four games (three of which he started), he’s averaged 31 minutes per game. Over that time, he’s putting up 10.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3 steals.

To say that McCullar is a different player than he was when he first faced UT would be an understatement. He’s now a player that Tech leans heavily on as a defensive stopper, a key rebounder, and a glue guy who seems to come up with almost every loose ball and always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

It’s going to be important for McCullar to play well defensively on Saturday because Texas has a guard-heavy team that will try to space the floor and create off the dribble. It wouldn’t be a shock to see McCullar spend a considerable portion of his time on the floor checking UT’s best player, Matt Coleman, who scored 17 points on 19 shots in round one.

Of course, McCullar’s insertion into the starting lineup means that the bench productivity for this team is going to come primarily from Chris Clarke and Terrence Shannon, both of whom have spent time in Beard’s doghouse lately. Clarke was Tech’s best player Tuesday in the loss to Oklahoma with 11 points and six boards hopefully signaling that his one-game benching against Iowa State achieved its desired outcome.

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But regardless of who starts and who comes off the bench, Tech had best be ready to give a much stronger showing Saturday than we saw the last time the Red Raiders were on the court when they no-showed against OU. That’s because of the renewed hope that the Longhorns have in their chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament after appearing to be left for dead less than a month ago.

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