Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders struggle but still down San Jose St.

Texas Tech still hasn’t found a back-up plan in the paint

For much of the first half, Texas Tech’s best option was to rely on the inside scoring presence of 7-foot center Warren Washington.  The Arizona State transfer would end the day with eight points, five rebounds, and a block with most of his scoring coming in the first 20 minutes of action.

However, when Washington went to the bench, the Red Raiders struggled.  Regardless of who McCasland tried to put in for Washington, the fall-off was dramatic.

Robert Jennings got two minutes of action and looked completely lost.  He had an atrocious shot attempt that went nowhere near the basket and resulted in a turnover.  That was the only statistical contribution he made on the day.

Meanwhile, true freshman Eemeli Yahalo, a native of Finland, saw five minutes on the floor in Washington’s place.  The bulky 6-foot-7 forward was no better than Jennings as he also put up just one shot (which he missed) and turned the ball over once.

It appears that Tech’s best option when Washington is out will be to play small ball.  That lineup will ask 6-foot-6 Arizona State transfer Devan Cambridge to fill Washington’s shoes for some stretches.

Sunday, Cambridge played 28 minutes and had a team-high 15 points to go along with five rebounds and a block.  He may be Tech’s best alternative behind Washington but that doesn’t mean it’s a great plan.  It does look, however, like that’s what McCasland may be forced to do when Washington has to take a seat.