Texas Tech basketball: Terrance Shannon Jr.’s 5 best games of 2019-20

No. 3: vs. Louisville

There’s no question that this season’s biggest victory came in New York City against No. 1 Louisville.  There were plenty of heroes that day (especially Avery Benson, who had 10 points and two huge blocks) and one of them has to be Terrence Shannon Jr.

Though the headlines went to Benson and Davide Moretti (18 points), Shannon’s 13 points were second on the team as he helped pull off the massive upset.  In addition, he had three rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes of action.

Shannon’s first two buckets came in the final two minutes of the second half to help the Red Raiders take a 31-28 lead into the intermission.  One was a tip-in of a missed Moretti jumper and the other a layup in traffic, two ways that many of Shannon’s baskets came this season.

In the second half, he scored Tech’s first four points as he sank two free throws and then had a dunk in the open court.  Then, with 2:28 to play, he would deliver the game’s biggest shot.

Leading 56-48, the Red Raiders had control of the game but an intensified Cardinal defensive effort nearly forced two turnovers on the same Tech possession.  The sloppy and disjointed possession saw Shannon receive the ball from a flustered T.J. Holyfield with just one second on the clock.

The freshman calmly rose up and drained a 17-foot jumper from the wing to restore his team’s 10-point lead and essentially break Louisville’s will.  Though Moretti led the Red Raiders in scoring and Benson was the unlikely hero, Shannon was just as critical that night and his bucket to bury the No. 1 team in the nation might have been his biggest of the season.