To say that the Texas Tech basketball team has eased into the 2024-25 season would be fair. That continued on Monday night as the Red Raiders dismantled Arkansas-Pine Bluff 98-64 in Lubbock in the final game of a season-opening four-game home stand.
Playing against the Golden Lions' zone defense for the duration of the game, the Red Raiders got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, especially from 3-point range. However, the game was never in doubt as Tech jumped out to a 47-28 halftime lead and coasted the rest of the way. Here are a few observations from what we saw in the Red Raiders' final tuneup before playing a tough Saint Joseph's team on Thursday in Brooklyn, New York.
Texas Tech handles the UAPB zone with ease
For the first time this season, Tech faced a team that played a zone defense for the entire game. That seemed to take a while for the Red Raiders to adjust to, but eventually, the home team figured out how to attack the zone.
Point guard Elijah Hawkins, who made his first start as a Red Raider, dished out 11 assists to go along with 10 points to record an unconventional double-double. Most of his assists came as he got into the middle of the UAPB zone and found teammates for easy buckets in the paint. That's the type of impact that has been expected of the senior transfer from Minnesota who was among the nation's leaders in assists per game a season ago.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders were able to get hot from 3-point range against the zone as the game wore on. They hit 14 of 35 (40%) shots from deep, two away from matching the school's single-game record, a mark they equaled in this year's season opener.
It was easy to understand why UAPB played a zone against Tech. They didn't want Tech forward JT Toppin to have his way inside and he was held to a modest day with 14 points and 11 rebounds on 7-10 shooting.
However, it doesn't seem like many teams will use a zone defense too often against Tech given how many good outside shooters the Red Raiders have on the roster. Still, it was good for Grant McCasland's team to get plenty of work against the zone on Monday night so that when they see it later in the year, they will be ready to attack it.
Texas Tech didn't impress defensively
It is obvious that this team can play elite offense. Tech has scored at least 86 points in every game this year and has scored in the 90s in three of the four games this year.
However, it still remains to see if the Red Raiders will dedicate themselves to playing defense at a championship level. That wasn't the case on Monday night.
UAPB shot 52.1% from the floor as a team. Often, the Golden Lions generated easy offense via back cuts to the basket, which seemed to catch the Red Raider defenders off guard. Other times, it was again straight-line drives to the basket that Tech gave up with too much frequency, something that has been an issue for the Red Raiders through four games.
The one thing the Red Raiders did do well again was force turnovers. For the game, UAPB gave the ball away 23 times while Tech came up with 12 steals, five of which were created by Hawkins who is proving to be a pest when guarding the basketball.
Still, the Red Raiders are going to have to play better all-around defense to beat better teams. Perhaps this team's defensive lapses were a result of looking forward to this week's trip to New York and overlooking UAPB as a result, or perhaps this team is still learning how to play the type of defense that McCasland desires. But whatever the reason, the Red Raiders need to improve in that aspect of the game.
Texas Tech has to play some small ball due to injuries
In this game, the Red Raiders were without backup forward Federiko Federiko who missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury. And with sophomore forward Eemeli Yalaho still yet to play this season because of his own injury, that made the Red Raiders small inside.
When Toppin was off the floor, wing Devan Cambridge had to play as the team's big man. The 6-foot-6 senior is capable of filling that role against teams like UAPB. He finished the game with 10 points and 5 rebounds in 15 minutes of action.
However, against better teams, Federiko will be needed. As Tech's only player over 6-foot-9, he has an important role to play off the bench, and his status for Thursday and Friday's games in Brooklyn will be worth monitoring.