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

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - MARCH 02: Forward Tyreek Smith #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders dunks the ball during the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at United Supermarkets Arena on March 02, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - MARCH 02: Forward Tyreek Smith #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders dunks the ball during the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at United Supermarkets Arena on March 02, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TEXAS – MARCH 02: Guard Kyler Edwards #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders gestures after making a three-pointer during the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at United Supermarkets Arena on March 02, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS – MARCH 02: Guard Kyler Edwards #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders gestures after making a three-pointer during the second half against the TCU Horned Frogs at United Supermarkets Arena on March 02, 2021 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Kyler Edwards had his best game of the season

You have to be happy for Kyler Edwards.  Despite being the ultimate team player and one of the leaders of the team, he’s been this season’s biggest punching bag given how inconsistent his scoring has been, especially against good teams.

While TCU is far from a good team, the fact that he broke out for a season-high 20 points has to be an encouraging sign for the overall health of this team.  In all, Edwards was 7-8 from the field and, more importantly, he was 4-5 from 3-point range in what was by far his best shooting effort from downtown this season.  That’s the type of scoring punch that could propel Tech to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

What was important about Edward’s scoring outburst of 17 first-half points was the fact that he helped carry the offense on a night when leading scorer Mac McClung scored no points in the first half and just four points for the entire game, a season-low.

Now, let’s be realistic when it comes to Edwards.  He’s not going to magically turn into a 20-point scorer every night.  But if he can play with the type of confidence on a game-by-game basis that he played with on Tuesday night, he could give Tech a much-needed offensive boost.

We must also concede that Edwards has made a living by feasting on poor teams throughout his career.  For instance, last year, he had a career-high 24 points against a bad Kansas State team and earlier this season, he went for 19 points against woeful Iowa State.

That’s not to say we should turn our noses up at what Edwards did against TCU.  After all, beating a bad team counts the same in the standings as beating a ranked team, and what’s more, a loss to TCU would have been disastrous as it would have erased all the momentum the program had accrued after beating a stout Texas team on Saturday.

Tech needs Kyler Edwards to be similar to the player we saw on Tuesday night all March long.  But is he capable of doing that?  Only time will tell.  For one game though, he was the best player on the court and that was a huge reason for Tech’s victory over the Toads.

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