Texas Tech basketball: What has to change in rematch with Longhorns

When the Texas Tech basketball team faces the Longhorns today, here’s what needs to change from the first meeting between these teams.

It was the most dramatic of endings possible when the Texas Tech basketball team last squared off with the Texas Longhorns.  Of course, Red Raider fans won’t soon forget the jump shot that Mac McClung hit with just over two seconds to play to give his team a 79-77 win in Austin, Tech’s third-straight victory at The Erwin Center.

Now, with the Horns set to come to Lubbock today, the Red Raiders could use some more McClung magic as life hasn’t been all that charming for the boys in scarlet and black lately.  Tech has gone just 3-5 since that day in Austin and now sits buried in the bottom half of the Big 12 standings in 7th place with just a 6-7 record.

While the conference race is no longer Tech’s main concern outside of potential seeding for the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, playing better basketball and picking up quadrant-one wins to bolster their eventual seeding in the NCAA Tournament is of the highest priority.

Of course, it won’t be easy.  That’s because the Longhorns are a tough matchup for the Red Raiders given their elite size and plethora of outside shooters.

But Texas hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire since losing to Tech.  They are 4-4 since and what’s more, they have had their share of drama in recent days.

On February 20th, teammates Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones had to be separated during a verbal altercation that took placed during an 84-82 home loss to West Virginia that saw the Horns blow a 19-point second-half lead.

But if anyone thought that incident might spell the beginning of the end for Shaka Smart’s team and its chemistry this year, those hopes were dashed on Tuesday when UT secured a comeback OT win at home over Kansas to sweep the season series from the Jayhawks.

Now, the Horns will look to avoid being the victim of a sweep at the hands of the Red Raiders while also improving their own tournament resume.  So let’s go inside this match-up to see what needs to change from this season’s first meeting between these teams for Tech to end its three-game losing streak.