Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders grind out win over No. 9 OU

Monday in Lubbock, the Texas Tech basketball team fought its way to a gritty 57-52 victory over No. 9 Oklahoma on a night when its star player had his worst game of the season.

We knew that Mac McClung was due for an off night at some point this season.  The question was always going to be whether or not his teammates could pick him up when that inevitability occurred.  Monday night, we got our answer.

With their leading scorer going 0-7 from the floor and scoring a mere six points, the rest of the Texas Tech basketball team provided just enough offense to down the No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners 57-52 in Lubbock.  The gutty triumph moved the Red Raiders to 13-5 on the year and 5-4 in Big 12 play.

Both teams struggled all night to score.  In fact, each shot just 33.3% from the floor.  But an old familiar friend, the foul line, helped the Red Raiders stave off an OU team that was missing two starters, including star point guard Austin Reaves.

Hitting 18-21 attempts from the stripe on the evening, Tech held an 8-point edge in free throw makes.  That proved to be a huge factor, especially down the stretch as the offense went cold.

After back-to-back 3-pointers from Kevin McCullar Jr. and Terrence Shannon Jr. staked the Red Raiders to a 50-40 lead with just 3:12 to play, the basket at the north end of the United Supermarkets Arena suddenly shrunk.  In fact, for the remainder of the game, Tech would not hit another field goal.

However, at the line, the Red Raiders would go 7-8 to close out the game.  That included four clutch makes from Shannon in the final 40 seconds to keep the game a two-score affair.

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With 15 points, Shannon would lead the Red Raiders in scoring.  Meanwhile, McCullar was his only teammate to score over seven points.  The sophomore from San Antonio ended his night with 13 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

But the surprise performer of the night for Texas Tech was sophomore guard Clarence Nadolny, who has suddenly become part of the regular rotation.  Tonight, he put up a season-high seven points while going 2-2 from the floor.  What’s more, he grabbed three boards, including the game-sealing rebound in the final ten seconds.

The Red Raider victory cooled off the nation’s hottest team.  Entering the game, OU had won three-straight games over top-10 teams.  That run was good enough to push Lon Kruger’s team from unranked to No. 9 in the nation.

But playing without a pair of starters, the Sooners looked gassed for most of the night.  In fact, both teams appeared to be laboring through this contest.  Perhaps that should have come as no surprise given that each played a physical and tightly-contested game in the Big 12/SEC Challenge just two days ago.

However, such is life in the Big 12, the nation’s most rugged conference.  And in this game, Tech was the team that proved to be the more physical and resilient squad in a game that will never be mistaken for a classic.

Still, those are the games that often mean the most in Big 12 play.  And taking down a top-10 team on a night when your leading scorer is just a shell of himself is never something to turn your nose up at.