Texas Tech basketball: Takeaways from season-opening win over North Florida
On a day that no one in Raiderland is soon to forget, the Mark Adams era of Texas Tech basketball got off to a successful start on Tuesday night with an 89-74 win over North Florida. It was the perfect cap on a day that also saw the football program officially introduce Joey McGuire as the 17th head coach in program history.
It was a workman-like effort from the Red Raiders, who were 22-point favorites entering the game. Tech never trailed on the evening after jumping out to a 9-0 lead and the Ospreys would never truly threaten to make it a real contest.
So let’s take a look back at the first Red Raider game of the season for a few interesting takeaways. And we will begin with a look at what appears to be the strength of this year’s team.
Texas Tech’s strength is in the paint
In game one, the Red Raiders were absolutely dominant in the lane holding a 54-20 edge in points in the paint and there’s reason to believe that this team’s post play will be its strength this season. Now, before we get too carried away with accolades, we must admit that North Florida had absolutely no size to throw at the Red Raiders. But still, what we saw from Texas Tech’s three primary post players was terrific.
UTEP transfer Bryson Williams, Oral Roberts transfer Kevin Obanor, and returning super senior Marcus Santos-Silva combined to give Tech 52 points and 17 rebounds on the night. Each scored in double figures with Williams and Obanor leading the team with 22 and 17 points respectively. Meanwhile, Santos-Silva was fantastic off the bench as he gave his team 13 points and four boards in just 15:36 of action.
It was great to see Santos-Silva come out with a strong performance to begin the year because he had become somewhat of a forgotten man after the additions of Williams and Obanor relegated him to a reserve role. But he could be a dangerous weapon off the bench for this squad.
Not too many teams are going to be able to bring off their bench a post player who averaged 8.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season while playing a Big 12 schedule so don’t overlook what Santos-Silva could bring to the court this year, especially if he is primarily facing the opposition’s reserve big men.
The offense was much faster
The Red Raiders made a concerted effort over the offseason to improve their offensive performance by increasing the team’s pace of play. That was why assistant coach Barret Peery was added to Adams’ coaching staff.
While the head coach at Portland State, Peery’s teams were known for pushing the pace on both ends of the court and the hope was that he could bring a new tempo to the Texas Tech basketball team’s offensive attack.
After one game, the Red Raiders appear to be trying to push the ball up the court and create easier offense. Against North Florida, they had a possessions-per-game score (which is calculated by a complex formula) of 75.2. Last year, they averaged 69.2.
Time will tell if this new philosophy pays off but after one game, it was refreshing to see the Red Raiders abandon the antiquated motion offense of the previous head coach and join the modern era of the sport.
Kevin McCullar is this team’s catalyst
It was obvious on Tuesday night that junior guard Kevin McCullar is this team’s catalyst. Operating as a pseudo point guard, McCullar played 27:39 of action despite finding himself in foul trouble.
Overall, McCullar’s game was solid. Scoring eight points, he dished out five assists and came up with one steal. However, he must cut down on his turnovers as he gave the ball away three times.
It appeared that he was far more aggressive as well on offense. Taking eight shots (with most of them being off the dribble), he looked to create offense for himself more than he ever has as a Red Raider. Now, he only made three of those attempts so his efficiency is going to have to improve and he bricked the only 3-pointer he attempted, something that remains a weakness of his.
Still, McCullar appears to be Mark Adam’s security blanket at the guard position. He had the look of a player who was confident and at-ease while commanding the offense and it will be interesting to see how he progresses in this role as the year progresses.
Outside shooting remains a concern
Arguably the biggest question that this team has is whether or not it can hit enough 3-pointers. After the opener, that concern still remains.
For the game, Tech was just 4-15 from beyond the arc. That included a 3-5 effort from Obanor. But outside of that, the rest of the team was just 1-10 and that’s not going to cut it.
It was disappointing to see players such as Chibuzo Agbo and Sardaar Calhoun combine to go 0-5 from deep because they are supposed to be two of Tech’s better long-range marksmen. Calhoun was especially off the mark as he went 0-4 from 3-point range and 0-5 overall. So keep an eye on the Red Raiders’ outside shooting as the early portion of this season unfolds because it will be interesting to see if this was just a bad shooting night or if Tech is going to struggle from outside this year.