Texas Tech basketball: What we want to see vs. Incarnate Word

Better 3-point shooting

It is becoming apparent that our best hope for this Texas Tech basketball team when it comes to 3-point shooting is for it to be simply average.  But it hasn’t been an average 3-point shooting squad lately.

Against Kanas and OU, Tech was just 10-37 combined.  That’s a paltry 27%.  What’s more, when you throw in the 4-18 the Red Raiders were against Houston, Tech has shot just 25.4% from deep against the three quality opponents it has played thus far.

Of course, the two players we most want to see get going are Kyler Edwards and Mac McClung.  Edwards is in the midst of a 3-for-12 stretch over his last three games while McClung has made just 2 of his last 18 attempts from deep.

But let’s also see if Terrence Shannon’s hot hand can continue.  Over the past two games, the lefty has drained 6 of his 11 3-point attempts.  While no one expects him to continue to hit at that rate, if he can continue to be a legitimate outside shooting threat, he will be nearly impossible to guard as has been the case in his last two outings when he’s had at least 20 points in each.

Games against lesser opponents are often opportunities for a team to get right when shooting the ball because they present a low-pressure environment in which the kinks can be worked out.  For instance, Kyler Edwards can feel comfortable shooting from deep knowing that this isn’t likely to be a game where every shot attempt will have a huge bearing on the outcome.  So let’s hope that a decrease in pressure will help the Red Raiders regain their stroke from long range because to compete in the Big 12, they are going to have to shoot better from 3-point range than they have in recent games.