Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders dominate Michigan in Bahamas

Texas Tech cools off from 3-point range

Against Michigan, the Red Raiders saw the 3-point shooting that carried them through the first two games of the week cool off significantly.  Going just 5-21 from deep, Tech was 23.8% as a team.

That came after McCasland’s team shot 35.4% from beyond the arc in the first two games in the Bahamas.  Of course, the nature of the event could have contributed.

Playing a third game in as many days, something Tech won’t do again this year outside of the Big 12 Tournament (and maybe not even then), it wouldn’t be out of the question to believe that the legs were not as fresh as they normally will be during the rest of the regular season.  That could especially be true given how much McCasland is asking from his top six players in terms of minutes.

Fortunately, Tech was able to make up for its poor shooting from the outside by getting to the line.  Going 18-21 at the stripe, Tech made four more free throws than Michigan shot.

That disparity was due in part to the four free throws Pop Isaacs got to take before the start of the second half, shots that came as a result of two technical fouls assessed to UM head coach Juwan Howard, who was ejected from the game at the end of the first half after collecting back-to-back technicals in a matter of seconds.

What made that development unusual was that Howard is not officially coaching his team after handing the reigns to assistant coach Phil Martelli who is acting head coach while Howard works back into form after offseason heart surgery.  Still, Howard was on the Michigan bench and very engaged, at least for the first half, that is.

As for Tech, there are going to be nights when the 3s don’t fall and Friday was one such instance.  But in this game, McCasland saw his team attack the rim and shoot 54% from two-point range and that is an encouraging development for a team that has struggled to create offense at times this year.