Texas Tech basketball: 5 reasons the Red Raiders lost to Providence

Lack of basketball IQ late in the game

Time and again on Wednesday, Tech made low-IQ plays in critical moments.  Unfortunately, that’s a continuation of this program’s late-game problems from previous seasons.  And two possessions, in particular, proved to be killers.

With 24 seconds to play and Tech trailing by one point, 69-68, Terrence Shannon Jr. took the easy way out.  Instead of working the ball around and trying to attack the Providence zone, he lofted a high-arcing 3-pointer from the edge of the center-court logo.  Of course, the shot clanged off the rim and the home team was able to corral the rebound.

That’s not Shannon’s game and he has to know that.  Despite the fact that he had hit a deep 3-pointer from almost the same spot on the court just one possession prior, he has to know that he can’t get that lucky twice in a row.

For the night, he was just 2-7 from 3-point distance and though he entered the game shooting 50% from beyond the arc, he simply has to understand that, at that juncture of the game, a much better shot was needed.  It would have been far better for him to attack the rim with the dribble and try to find an open teammate or try to draw a foul and head to the line where he was 3-3 on the night.  But he took the easy way out and settled for a braindead 3-pointer.

But still, Tech had a shot to tie the game or even take the lead on the next possession trailing only 70-68 with 11 seconds to play.  However, Mylik Wilson made an equally questionable decision.

To his credit, Wilson didn’t settle for the easy shot.  Rather, he attacked the zone.  But he has to know that he’s not the player Tech wanted taking the game into his own hands.  The result was that he was whistled for an offensive foul that essentially sealed the game.  Thus, Tech’s final possession ended with only one player touching the ball and it was a player who averages just 4.8 points per game and who had only four points in this contest.

There were opportunities for Tech to win this game late but these two disastrous possessions proved to be the final nail in the coffin.  Hopefully, they will prove to be teaching moments because this won’t be the last nip-and-tuck game this team plays this season.