Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders open season with easy victory

Texas Tech was inefficient from 3-point range

One of the greatest takeaways from Tech’s preseason scrimmage against Texas A&M in Denton was that the Red Raiders shot 41.3% from beyond the arc despite taking 37 shots.  That led many to believe that this team might be dangerous from deep.

It still might be but on Wednesday, Tech struggled in that regard.  Going just 5-23 overall from 3-point range, the home team was at just 21.7% for the game.

That was due in large part to the fact that the best shooters on the team were unable to find the touch with any consistency.  Isaacs and Chance McMillan (widely considered two of the Red Raiders’ top outside snipers) were just a combined 2-9 from deep.  That’s not going to cut it from the two best shooters in your rotation.

Meanwhile, a pair of players who aren’t known as great shooters thought they would get in on the action.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the range either as Joe Toussaint and Lamar Washington combined to shoot 0-7 from beyond the arc.

I don’t think the plan is to ever ask either of those players to take that many 3s in a game.  Toussaint is just a 30.4% career shooter from downtown while Washington is just a 23.3% shooter for his career.  However, Washington still thought it wise to launch four 3-pointers on the night.

There is a fine line to walk when it comes to outside shooting.  Teams must find a balance between being efficient and being too liberal with their shooting efforts.

It is fair to wonder if the success Tech had against Texas A&M in the scrimmage was a reason this team felt like it had the green light to fire away from deep once again.  Or, maybe that is Tech’s offensive strategy and the shots simply didn’t fall.  Whatever the case, Tech has to be better moving forward.