Setback in Lubbock a reminder how unforgiving Big 12 can be
AUSTIN — In any other Division I conference, the first-place team falling to the last-place team in the middle of February would warrant shock. In the Big 12, that’s just another Monday.
Texas Tech didn’t exactly limp into its matchup with No. 6 Texas. The Red Raiders defeated No. 13 Iowa State and No. 12 Kansas State in their previous two home games, and gamechanging transfer big Fardaws Aimaq finally seemed healed from the foot injury that had limited him to four games.
Still, Texas Tech took the court Monday night tied with Oklahoma for last in the Big 12. Texas sat all alone in first, 40 minutes away from its first regular-season series sweep against the Red Raiders since 2014-15.
Even encircled by United Supermarkets Arena’s frothing fans, a few armed with derisive posters featuring former Texas Tech and Texas coach Chris Beard’s mugshot, the Longhorns (20-5, 9-4 Big 12) should have left Lubbock with their 10th conference win. They had overcome a 12-point deficit to win the first meeting in Austin, and this time around Texas Tech didn’t have freshman guard Pop Isaacs (ankle) to go off for 20-plus points.
Texas Tech approached the game with a more concerted sense of urgency Monday night. The Longhorns eventually channeled the appropriate energy in the second half, knotting the score at 64-64 with 4:16 remaining. But the Red Raiders controlled the game’s final minutes, outmuscling and outshooting the Longhorns to cap a 74-67 win.
“They played really well here in winning two big ballgames prior to beating us,” Texas interim coach Rodney Terry said. “You know, Tech has good personnel, they have a good coach who does a great job of putting his guys in position to win games. And in our league anybody can beat anybody, I don’t care if you’re at home or on the road.”
Texas Tech lost its first eight Big 12 games. Since then, it’s defeated No. 13 Iowa State, No. 12 Kansas State and No. 6 Texas at home, lost to No. 11 Baylor and Oklahoma State on the road and downed LSU in Baton Rouge in the Big 12/ SEC Challenge.
That doesn’t sound much like the “worst team in the league.” But “worst” is relative, and Texas Tech (14-12, 3-10), injury woes and all, would probably be closer to the top than the bottom in any other league table.
And in grabbing its third Big 12 win, Texas Tech again exposed some of Texas’ key vulnerabilities.
The Red Raiders have the size needed to thwart Texas inside and the speed necessary to compete with its zippy guards and disrupt transition chances. They have the big-bodied wings needed to tussle with super senior forward Timmy Allen, a mid-range bully who likes to back down weaker defenders to get to his favorite spots. And they have a master defensive strategist calling the shots in second-year coach Mark Adams.
Adams let Texas graduate guard Marcus Carr (23 points) get his. But the Longhorns shot 39 percent overall and were uncharacteristically erratic at the free-throw line (58.8 percent). Allen went scoreless on four shots and sixth man Sir’Jabari Rice failed to score over the final 30 minutes.
The Longhorns’ struggles on the glass and interior were the most glaring aspects of the loss.
Texas Tech won the rebounding battle by 12, limited Texas to two secondchance points and had a 36-18 advantage in points scored in the paint. Aimaq’s meaty paws were all over the game’s final minutes as he bulldozed inside for a tip-in, assisted on two dunks and blocked graduate forward Brock Cunningham’s layup with 20 seconds to go in a 72-67 game.
“We got great looks that we usually make,” Terry said. “Timmy Allen got some great looks. We had plenty of opportunities, obviously, to go get some offensive rebounds because of the misses. Early on, they got us on the glass. Offensively, crashed the glass. But I thought we did a better job. They had a couple late in the game when they got an offensive rebound, but we really kind of neutralized that when we went into the second half.”
Texas isn’t acting like the sky is falling after the latest loss.
The Longhorns are more than fine, trending toward a top-three seed in the NCAA tournament and in control of their own destiny in the hunt for a Big 12 title. But Monday’s hike out to Lubbock proved just how difficult it’s going to be to win this league.
“We’ll bounce back,” Terry said. “But this time of year, we’ve got to compete for 40 minutes. We cannot do it the way we did tonight.”