Texas Tech basketball: Good, bad, and ugly from win over SHSU

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LUBBOCK, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 25: Guard Mac McClung #0 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shoots a free throw during the first half of the college basketball game against the Northwestern State Demons at United Supermarkets Arena on November 25, 2020 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

The good: McClung’s offensive explosion

Through two games, Georgetown transfer Mac McClung has been better than advertised, and given that he was one of the most high-profile transfers in the nation this offseason, that’s saying quite a bit.

After 20 points in his Red Raider debut, he scored 18 points in just 20 minutes of action against Sam Houston. And had he been left in the game, he could have scored far more than that.

McClung had a brilliant offensive explosion in the first half when he scored 13 of his points. He essentially single-handedly buried Sam Houston and set Tech up for an easy afternoon.

His first points of the day at the 18:49 mark of the first half broke the game’s only tie (2-2). Just over two minutes later, he would drain a 3-pointer to put Tech ahead 10-2 to prompt the Bearkats to call a timeout to stop the bleeding. That tactic didn’t work.

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Three minutes later, McClung would can back-to-back jumpers (the first of which was another 3-pointer) to push Tech to a 20-4 advantage and lead to another SHSU timeout. At that point, he had outscored the visitors 10-4 by himself. Later in the first half, he would score three points the old-fashioned way on a fast break to put Tech up 28 points at the break.

This is exactly what McClung was brought here to do, lead the offense. And while he’s done that with his trademark pizzaz, he hasn’t done it the same way he did a year ago when he led Georgetown with 15.7 points per game.

That’s because so far this year, his 3-point jumper has been sizzling. A career 30% shooter from behind the arc, he’s shooting 66.7% (4-6) from distance as a Red Raider.

https://twitter.com/TexasTechMBB/status/1332413003816345601?s=20

What’s more, the volume shooter has been efficient. He’s shooting 61.9% overall, due in large part to quality shot selection, something he was not necessarily known for at Georgetown. Perhaps even more important, he’s yet to commit a turnover. He averaged 1.9 per game for his career at Georgetown.

It will be fascinating to see what McClung does against Houston and St. John’s in the next two games, especially if he is called upon in close late-game situations. Moments in the clutch are what he was brought to Lubbock to help with but thus far (thankfully) we’ve yet to see him in such scenarios.

Still, the offensive game that he’s shown through two games has been more than impressive. That’s because it’s been both lethal and under control as was the case on Friday.

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