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Texas Tech basketball: The one area where Chris Beard has struggled since taking over

By Matthew Conner

MANHATTAN, KS - JANUARY 14: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (C) talks with his players during the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats on January 14, 2020 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)
MANHATTAN, KS - JANUARY 14: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (C) talks with his players during the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats on January 14, 2020 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 08: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders attempts a shot against Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men’s Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 08: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders attempts a shot against Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the 2019 NCAA men’s Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Tech’s 2018-19 National Title run ended in a game the Red Raiders couldn’t close out in the last minute

Remember when we talked about Culver deciding to hoist a three against Baylor when two points would have sufficed?  That was a precursor to his decision to shoot a contested three in the closing seconds of the 2019 National Title game against Virginia, a game that the Cavilers had tied just seconds earlier when Culver helped off of his man leading to a wide-open three.

Culver was just 5-22 overall and 0-6 from behind the arc on that night so the wise play would have been to try to drive the ball and either draw a foul or create a look for an open teammate.  But that’s not what he decided to do and as we all know, in OT, Tech couldn’t overcome a controversial officiating call.

But what is interesting is that in 2018-19, we didn’t have to live through very many one-score or OT games.  In fact, last season Tech was involved in just two OT games while only one other contest was settled by three points or less.

The other OT game was an 84-80 win against Oklahoma State in Lubbock.  That night, OSU forced the extra five minutes by hitting a three at the buzzer but Davide Moretti saved the day by going 4-4 from the line in the final minute as part of a 12-12 performance on his way to 20 points to help stave off what would have been a huge upset.

The only one-score game decided in regulation a year ago was a 67-64 win over Arkansas in Lubbock.  In an ugly game that felt like more of a rock fight than an exhibition of basketball, Culver made the game-saving play by coming up with a deflection on defense that led to an Arkansas turnover in the final ten seconds.

What made last year’s run of 14-3 in February-April so improbable for Tech was that only two of those games were decided by fewer than ten points.  Unfortunately, both were losses, one to West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament and one to UVA in the National Title game.

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