Texas Tech basketball: Unsung heroes from win over the Horns

Kyler Edwards

Bashing Kyler Edwards has almost become a varsity sport for Texas Tech basketball fans this year.  But it can’t be denied that he played well against Texas, especially in the first half.

Contributing 10 points overall, the junior scored 8 in the first half to help Tech avoid having a slow start, which has been a problem at times this year.  What’s more, in that half, he had an assist in addition to draining two shots from beyond the arc.

In all, Tech was a +3 for the afternoon when Edwards was on the floor.  Though that won’t garner any awards, it was one of the best performances he’s had against a quality opponent this year.

In fact, it was just the second time this year that the guard has scored in double figures against a ranked team.  That’s the type of showing the Red Raiders need from their most experienced Big 12 player.

Edwards was responsible for keeping Tech in the game early.  Scoring his team’s first five points, he was the only Red Raider to make a basket in the first 5:39 of the contest.

We discussed this before but it bears reiterating after Edwards’ most recent decent performance.  It’s time for Tech fans to stop expecting Edwards to be a prolific scorer.  But rather, it’s best just to ask him to be a timely scorer and that’s what he was against UT.

Scoring his team’s first two buckets, he prevented the Longhorns from jumping out to a big lead.  And in the second half, he hit two free throws to push Tech’s lead to 62-56 with 2:34 to play.  He was one of the players on the roster who made winning plays and it was refreshing to see that finally happen against a ranked opponent.