Texas Tech basketball: 3 reasons the Red Raiders were able to beat TCU

The Texas Tech basketball team took down TCU 69-49 on Tuesday so let’s look at three reasons why the Red Raiders had no trouble earning the win.

Tuesday night in Lubbock, Texas Tech once again participated in an annual rite…blowing out TCU at United Supermarkets Arena.  By securing a 69-49 victory over the Horned Frogs, Tech once again sent their rivals to the east home with their tails between their legs.  That’s been a common occurrence during the Chris Beard era.

Tuesday’s depantsing of the boys from Fort Worth was the third-straight year in which Tech has blown out the Frogs in Lubbock.  In fact, since the 2018-19 season, Tech’s average margin of victory at home against TCU has been 28.3 points.

In the latest Red Raider laugher, it was clear that one team was ready to play meaningful basketball in March and the other team was simply playing out the string on yet another disappointing season.   And that was evident in one unexpected stretch of the second half.

At the 16:05 mark, with Tech leading 42-29, Beard took out all five players on the court and replaced them with the lineup of Avery Benson, Tyreek Smith, Chibuzo Agbo, Clarence Nadolny, and Micah Peavy, a lineup that I’m not sure he’s used all season long.   Thus, one might have been expecting the TCU starters to make a bit of a dent in Tech’s lead.

However, with that odd fivesome on the floor together the Red Raiders would rattle off a 6-0 run to push the lead to 48-29.  During that spurt, Tech got a dunk and a deep jump shot from Smith, and a bucket from Peavy to put a stranglehold on the game.

During that time, TCU still had its three stars, RJ Nembhard, Mike Miles, and Kevin Samuel on the court but still, the Frogs were outplayed by the end of the Texas Tech bench.  It was indicative of the type of desire and heart that the two programs are playing with these days.

"“I think we understand the last two games our backs were against the walls a little bit,” Chris Beard said. “I thought the guys played their best basketball when we needed them to play their best basketball. I think that was the story of tonight. Fifty-percent shooting, low turnover game, 22 assists of our 29 baskets. We’re playing the game the right way. Defensively, I think we were locked in. We held TCU to a field goal percentage that favored us and we guarded the 3-point line well as well.”"

So let’s go inside the box score from this game to see just what led to another Red Raider blowout of the Frogs.  And we will start by appreciating the work of the player of the game.