Texas Tech basketball: What we want to see vs. Sam Houston
When the Texas Tech basketball team takes on Sam Houston this afternoon, here’s what we hope to see.
There was little time for the Texas Tech basketball team to revel in its season-opening destruction of Northwestern State on Wednesday. That’s because today the Red Raiders have an afternoon tilt with Sam Houston State in Lubbock.
This will be the final tuneup game before business picks up for Chris Beard’s team as Sunday brings a showdown with No. 17 Houston in Fort Worth and Thursday brings a visit to Lubbock from St. John’s.
Sam Houston comes into this game after a 97-67 loss to SMU on Wednesday. In that game, Zach Nutall posted 36 points by himself so it is obvious that he will be the focus of the Red Raider defense today.
This will be the 11th meeting all-time between the Red Raiders and the Bearkats in a series that dates back to 1927. In all, Tech has won eight of the meetings including seven of the eight games played in the Hub City.
The game will be broadcast on ESPNU at 1 pm. And when it takes place, here’s what we hope to see.
Better work at the free-throw line
It’s tough to simulate game situations in practice and that’s especially true of trying to mimic the pressure of being at the free-throw line during a live contest. Thus, sometimes that aspect of the game is a bit slow to round into form early in the year.
That was the case for Texas Tech in the season opener against Northwestern State. Hitting just 17-26 free throw attempts on the night, the Red Raiders shot 65.4% and that’s not going to cut it when the games become more important.
However, there is good news on this front. The starting five managed to go 14-17 as a group. What’s more, six of the Red Raiders’ nine misses came from Tyreek Smith, Clarence Nadolny, or Avery Benson, three players who don’t figure to be in line for a ton of free-throw opportunities this season.
Last year, Tech shot 75.4% at the line, which was 40th-best in the NCAA. However, this year’s team is obviously without 90% shooter Davide Moretti so that could be an important absence.
Still, there are plenty of excellent foul shooters at Beard’s disposal. Transfer Mac McClung is a career 80.6% marksman while sophomore Terrence Shannon Jr. has hit 82.9% of his attempts.
One player to watch closely though is forward Marcus Santos-Silva. That’s because he figures to be at the line quite a bit given his physical style of play on offense.
In fact, for his career, the 6-foot-7 forward has averaged 2.9 attempts per game. The problem though is that he’s been just a 56% shooter.
In the opener, he was 2-2 at the line, which was a great sign because for him not to be a liability in late-game situations, he must prove to be able to convert at the line. That’s true for the entire team though, especially after last year saw Tech miss critical free throws late in games on multiple occasions. So today, let’s see if the Red Raiders have a better showing in this aspect of the game.