Texas Tech basketball: Hidden moments in Red Raiders win over Sooners

Burnett makes a pair of shots in the first half

In one-score games, you can look back at moments when the winning team gets some unexpected offense from one or two players as key moments.  For Tech on Tuesday, it was a five-point outburst by true freshman Nimari Burnett that helped propel the good guys to the win.

With 1:36 to go, Burnett confidently stepped into a 3-pointer from the wing and knocked it down to give his team a 38-30 lead.  It was just his fourth successful 3 of the season on 18 attempts.  Perhaps that’s why OU’s Brady Manek didn’t even bother to contest that shot.

Then, on Tech’s next possession, Burnett would again score over Manek.  This time, he took a pair of dribbles and hit a jumper from just inside the 3-point line with 27 seconds remaining in the half.

That five-point outburst was all the offense the Red Raiders would get from their prized recruit on Tuesday night.  It was also an important part of Tech building an 8-point halftime cushion.

For the year, Burnett has averaged just 5.7 points per game and many of those have come from the free-throw line.  It hasn’t been often that he’s made two legitimately impressive shots the likes of the two he hit against the Sooners so here’s hoping those two shots give him some confidence moving forward.