Texas Tech basketball: How Tech can get the most out of March

Find a way to shut down the opponent’s best scorer

For most of Mark Adams’ tenure with the Red Raiders, which includes his five-season run as an assistant under the previous head coach, Tech’s trademark defense has been rather effective at shutting down the opposition’s top scorer.  However, this season, Tech has not been as effective when it comes to locking down the other team’s best player.

For example, TCU’s Mike Miles went off for 26 points against Tech in Fort Worth.  At times, he was the only player keeping the Horned Frogs in the game, and yet the Red Raiders could not find a way to shut him down.

Then there was the night last month when Tech allowed Oklahoma’s Umoja Gibson to score 30 points as the Sooners took down the Red Raiders in Norman.  That evening, OU’s best player hit eight of the eleven 3-pointers that he attempted.

Of course, it is impossible to forget the 37 points that Ochai Agbagi dropped on Tech in January as his Kansas Jayhawks held off the Red Raiders 94-91 in double-OT.  Even back before the calendar flipped to 2022, Tech was allowing a player like Providence’s Al Durham (the Friar’s second-leading scorer this season) to score 23 points as the Red Raiders missed out on an opportunity for a huge road win over a Providence team that has been one of the nation’s biggest surprises this season.

In the postseason, a team’s best player often rises to the occasion and carries his squad.  As games get tight and every possession becomes critical, teams turn to their stars to make plays and hit critical shots.  That’s why Tech has to stop allowing the opposition’s best player to have huge days.  If the Red Raiders can start to corral their opponent’s star the way that previous versions of the program have, then it could be a sign that another long run in March is in the cards.