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

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 24: Guard Terrence Shannon #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders attempts a dunk during the second half of the college basketball game against the LIU Sharks on November 24, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 24: Guard Terrence Shannon #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders attempts a dunk during the second half of the college basketball game against the LIU Sharks on November 24, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Guard Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Guard Terrence Shannon Jr. #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

No. 2: vs. West Virginia

Against the team that finished the year third in the Big 12 in scoring defense, West Virginia, Shannon had his second-highest scoring game of the year.  With 23 points in an 89-81 win over the No. 12 Mountaineers in Lubbock, he helped his team put an end to a two-game slide in the game after the emotional OT loss to Kentucky.

One of three Red Raiders that day with at least 21 points (joining Ramsey and Moretti), he gave his team enough firepower to outlast WVU in an unexpected shootout.  That’s important given that WVU got 33 points at the free-throw line that evening.

Meanwhile, Tech was very good at the line as well, making 28-32 attempts.  Shannon himself was 12-14 in a game that saw him set season-highs in both makes and attempts at the line.

From the field that night, the lefty was 5-8 including 1-1 from three-point range.  That lone make from deep put the Red Raiders up 73-60 with just under ten minutes to play in the second half.

But don’t overlook the rest of his contributions in that win.  He had seven rebounds, his fourth-most this season, and a season-high four assists.  That’s the type of all-around effort the Red Raiders want to see more of from Shannon moving forward as he needs to make sure he can make a difference in a number of ways other than just putting the ball in the basket on a game-by-game basis.

That was the fourth-straight double-digit game for Shannon and one of only two 20-point efforts he had on the season.  Unfortunately, he would have only two more double-digit scoring outputs for the rest of the year.  What’s more, after grabbing eleven rebounds in his next game at Kansas, he would not have another game with more than six rebounds for the rest of the way.

You could argue that this was the best all-around game Shannon played all season but the only reason it doesn’t rank No. 1 on this list is that it was a game in which he didn’t have to carry his team single-handedly.  But that’s precisely what he had to do when he made his return to his hometown.