Texas Tech basketball plays with its food in win over Northwestern State

Friday night in Lubbock, the Texas Tech basketball team managed to get to 2-0 on the season with an 86-65 victory over Northwestern State. However, the game was far from a walk in the park.

The Red Raiders never trailed the Demons but they never really put their foot on the gas and pulled away either. All night, it felt as if Tech was simply playing with its food and not putting forth the type of intensity on either end of the floor that we've come to expect from this program.

Let's take a look inside the box score to see why this game was closer than it should have been.

Texas Tech doesn't shoot the ball well from deep

In the season opener, the Red Raiders were red-hot from 3-point range making 16 shots from beyond the arc to tie a school single-game record. On Friday, though, Tech was just 6-19 (31.6%) from downtown.

Coming off of a game in which he hit seven 3s, Tech's best shooter, Kerwin Walton, was merely average on Friday. Making 3 of his 7 shots from deep, he didn't have the type of touch that he had in the opener and that hurt the Red Raider offense.

Meanwhile, Kevin Overton, the sophomore transfer from Drake, took it upon himself to hoist 6 shots from beyond the arc. Unfortunately, he made only 1. There are certainly other players on the roster that Tech would rather see take that many 3s in a game as Overton's strength is his athleticism, not his outside shot.

The good news is that the Red Raiders did put up 81 points on a night when they got only 18 points from 3-point land. However, the offense was nowhere near as efficient in this game as it was in the opener because the 3-ball simply wasn't falling in this game.

Texas Tech's frontcourt depth was tested

In this game, Tech had only two post players, JT Toppin and Federiko Federiko, who were suited up. That's because sophomore forward Eemeli Yalaho was unable to play for the second game in a row due to an injury.

In the second half of this game, as Northwestern State threatened to cut a Texas Tech lead that had been 14 points at halftime to single digits, it appeared as if the lack of depth in the frontcourt might bite the home team in the rear.

Federiko would foul out after playing only 18 minutes and scoring 5 points and grabbing 4 rebounds. What's more, Toppin picked up his fourth foul with several minutes left in the game meaning Tech was just one whistle away from disaster.

Because Tech was so limited in the post, the Red Raiders couldn't be as aggressive in protecting the paint as they normally would be and Northwestern State got to the rim more than head coach Grant McCasland would have liked. What's more, the Demons actually pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, three more than Tech.

In a way, it was good for Tech to experience life with foul trouble in the post against an inferior opponent so that this team could learn how to win when its thin frontcourt is saddled with fouls. Thought it will be nice to have Yalaho back, he will be merely a backup plan when he returns as Tech is going to have to lean heavily on Toppin and Federiko as its post presences this year.

Darrion Williams has a big game despite cold shooting

Finally, let's look at a positive from Friday night. Junior forward Darrion Williams was terrific for the Red Raiders despite the fact that he shot just 1-11 from the field and scored only 8 points.

Though his shots weren't falling, Williams didn't let that stop him from impacting the game. Tech's best all-around player managed to dish out a game-high 11 assists while pulling down 8 rebounds.

Most of Williams' scoring came at the free-throw line where he was 6-6 to help his team hold off the Demons. It was impressive to see the former Nevada transfer find ways to help lift his team even when his ability to score the basketball was limited. That's the sign of a mature and intelligent player.