Texas Tech basketball: What we want to see vs. Arkansas State
After back-to-back games against teams from a major conference, Texas Tech returns to the land of the “buy games” (one in which Tech pays an opponent to come to Lubbock to play) tonight when the mighty Arkansas State Red Wolves come to United Supermarkets Arena. But that doesn’t mean that this game is insignificant.
In fact, this could be an opportunity for the Red Raiders to get right in a few areas that have proven to be struggles over the past two games. Of course, that’s going to be important given that the next game on the schedule pits Tech against No. 5 Gonzaga in Phoenix. So let’s look at three improvements we want to see tonight from the Red Raiders.
Bryson Williams return to form
Tech desperately needs senior forward Bryson Williams to return to the form he showed early in the season. If he doesn’t, it will be tough for this team to reach its full potential in the Big 12.
The UTEP transfer started the year averaging 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game over Tech’s first six contests. But against Providence and Tennessee, he averaged a mere 5.5 points and a paltry 2.5 rebounds. That’s not going to cut it.
Williams has appeared to be in his head a bit over the last two games. Mainly, he’s not been nearly as aggressive on offense as he was when the season began.
In fact, he’s almost become timid when presented with opportunities to score in the paint. Instead of going up strong and trying to score through contact, he’s become enamored with trying to do some type of reverse or wrap-around layup where he tries to use the rim as a shield to protect him from defenders.
Of course, those types of shots are difficult to execute and Williams has not found much success in those attempts. For what it’s worth, he’s not found much offensive success by any means over the last two games as he combined to shoot just 4-18 from the floor against the Friars and the Volunteers.
Tonight, let’s see if a more aggressive and decisive Bryson Williams returns to form against a lesser opponent. Hopefully, that will be the springboard that helps him get back to being the type of player he showed he can be to open the season.
Supporting cast contributions
Against Tennessee, in what was an offensive-challenged game for both teams, Texas Tech got almost nothing from its reserves. That’s not a recipe for success as the second wave of players Mark Adams brings into the game has to hold their own.
The only bench player to provide a positive spark against the Vols was 7-foot redshirt freshman Daniel Batcho. The Arizona transfer scored four points and was the only Red Raider reserve to make a mark in the scorebook as he finished with four points to go along with 11 big rebounds.
Of the other four players that Adams brought off his bench, the only one to attempt a shot was Adonis Arms, who was 0-3 for the night. And between them, Marcus Santos-Silva, Mylik Wilson, and Clarence Nadolny contributed only two rebounds and one blocked shot.
Texas Tech has to have more from its bench. Especially because two of the team’s starters, Kevin McCullar Jr. and Williams, can be foul-prone at times. So look to see if the bench is able to get back to being a solid piece of the puzzle for the Red Raiders tonight.
Outside shooting
There’s reason to be concerned that 3-point shooting will be a struggle all season for the Red Raiders. After all, the team is shooting just 34.6% from deep thus far.
Unfortunately, what we witnessed in the season’s first two games against major conference opponents didn’t do much to assuage our concerns about this team’s ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc. In fact, the outside shooting in those two games actually made most Red Raider fans feel even more uneasy about that aspect of the team.
Combining to go just 11-47 from downtown in the last two games, Tech shot just 23.4% as a team. Yikes.
That includes a 4-24 effort against Tennessee. The only saving grace that night was that the Vols were even worse from 3-point range that night as they were a miserable 6-40 (15%).
The team’s best 3-point weapon, Kevin Obanor has cooled off considerably over the last two games going a combined 4-15 from deep. That’s certainly not what this team needs from his as he is the most proven shooter this roster has.
Meanwhile, after starting his season by shooting 50% from long distance in his first three games of the year, Terrence Shannon Jr. has cooled off considerably in the last two games making only two of 11 attempts from 3-point range against Providence and Tennssee.
Perhaps a return home will do this team some good when it comes to its outside shooting. We had better hope so because surviving in the rugged Big 12 will be almost impossible if Tech can’t start hitting more 3s than it did in the last two games.