Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders no match for Villanova in Atlantis

Texas Tech continues to struggle with turnovers

It was another sloppy game for the Red Raiders.  Tech gave the ball up 15 times as opposed to just 10 turnovers from the Wildcats.

In all, ‘Nova had a 15-7 edge in points off turnovers.  Of course, that’s not the only way that the turnovers hurt the Red Raiders.

Giving the ball away also means fewer shot opportunities for a team.  Even if the opposing team doesn’t turn a giveaway into a bucket on the other end, it does assure the original team of missing out on an opportunity to score.

For instance, Tech got up only 51 shots while Villanova had 58.  If Tech would have had seven more shots, that could have theoretically resulted in as many as 14 to 21 more points on the board.

This season, McCasland’s team has been sloppy with the ball.  Unfortunately, Tech has turned it over 15 times or more in three of its five games.

The problem was also widespread across the roster on Wednesday.  Tech had five players with three turnovers each (Isaacs, Warren Washington, Darrion Williams, Toussaint, and Lamar Washington).  That’s four of the five starters with three giveaways each.

Tech must be better with the ball when playing quality opponents.  Giving it away as frequently as they have thus far is no way to win important games.

That was an issue again on Wednesday.  If it remains a problem, this season will be a massive struggle given how little margin for error the Red Raiders appear to have.