Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders beat LSU

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Jan 30, 2021; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders forward Marcus Santos-Silva (14) reacts to defeating LSU Tigers 76-71 after the game at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports /

The Red Raiders had only four second-half turnovers

The reason the Red Raiders trailed by a point at halftime was turnovers. Giving the ball away nine times in the first half, Tech gave LSU an opportunity to put up 13 second-chance points.

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But after the break, Tech committed only four turnovers as LSU mustered just five second-chance points. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders had 10 second-chance points in the final 20 minutes of play.

Of course, the game’s most pivotal play came off of an LSU turnover as Mac McClung came up with a deflection on an LSU inbounds pass leading to Terrence Shannon Jr.s game-winning layup. In a way, it was fitting that a forced turnover proved to be Tech’s saving grace.

Forcing 17.2 turnovers per game, the Red Raiders rank 18th nationally and second in the Big 12. Meanwhile, they are No. 27 in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game at 11.

But in the first half, the Red Raiders were uncharacteristically loose with the ball. In fact, in the first ten minutes of the game, they had more giveaways than they did in the entirety of their previous game (2).

Of course, the Red Raiders lost that two-turnover game to West Virginia thanks to awful perimeter defense. Thankfully the same script didn’t play out on Saturday as Tech finally started to take care of the basketball leading to an important victory.

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