Texas Tech came into the NCAA Tournament on a 3-game losing streak, and although Akron made them work for it, by the time the final buzzer sounded that 3 game skid was a thing of the past and the Red Raiders were on to the round of 32.
It was a 5 point game at the half, 40-35, despite Texas Tech shooting 57% from the field, as Akron forced 7 Texas Tech turnovers and grabbed 6 offensive rebounds to turn the game into a bit of a battle. That permeated through the second half, as the Zips trailed just 64-60 with 9:42 to play; however, things began to shift from there.
Texas Tech would put their foot on the gas pedal over the final 9 minutes and change, finishing the game on a 27-11 run, knocking off Akron 91-71.
It could have been easy for Texas Tech to go one and done in the tournament, considering that their top player went down with a season ending injury, they ended the regular season in unceremonious fashion and ultimately flamed out of the Big12 tournament in just 1 game.
They didn’t do that, however, rather they put their head down and grinded out a win against a pesky mid-major, something Head Coach Grant McCasland attributes to his teams practice habits and willingness to get better.
“Everybody has their own opinion on our team. I actually wasn’t discouraged. I felt like in the Big 12 tournament, we just didn’t get to play our best. We had some unusual circumstances impact that, and give Iowa State credit because we popped them pretty good at their place. I thought they had a great edge going into that game, McCasland said.
The BYU game was a one-possession game. They’re playing better, had a great game. The loss at home at TCU, we got bullied. That was the one I was most disappointed in. It was the rebounding effort that got us. So I just challenged everybody on our team. That’s what I love about this team. Luke had 6. LeJuan had 6. And then it’s like 4, 3, 2, 4. I tell them we’ll have to do this as a team.
JT was a double-double machine. If we’re going to win, we’ll have to rebound. I honestly wasn’t thinking about a new season. I was telling them let’s just get better. Let’s get better at the things we know. Everybody knows it’s a new season. You don’t have to say that. You do have to say let’s go practice. That’s what we needed to do was practice and get better at some things. I thought our guys took what we practiced in the last week and really applied it to the game today in a real way.”
Early on in the game, Texas Tech was aided by the efforts of Jaylen Petty and Donovan Atwell, as the duo had 19 points on 7-12 shooting combined from the field in the first half, including 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc. While McCasland was complementary to his team’s group effort on the glass, that developed to be the case in the score column as well during the second half.
While it was the Petty and Atwell show for the majority of the first half, it became a team effort during the final stanza. The Red Raiders finished with 5 players in double figures, as Petty finished with a team high 24 points and Atwell finished with 15; however, they were joined by Lejuan Watts who chipped in 14, Christian Anderson who added 18, and Josiah Moseley with 16.
In an NCAA tournament game, if you’re not getting maximum effort from every player who donned the jersey, you will automatically start at a disadvantage and while it took some time for it to develop, Texas Tech got every bit of effort they needed.
According to Jaylen Petty, he was ready to do whatever his team needed to get the victory, but that mentality is also combined with a sense of unselfishness that helped his squad finish off the Zips.
“It’s always team. They trust me, I trust them, and I’m never worried about that. I’m worried about competing and trying to win. It’s always team,” Petty said.
The scoring efforts from Petty, Atwell, Anderson are relatively commonplace for the Red Raiders, but the contribution they got from Josiah Moseley was somewhat unexpected. Moseley played in just 12 games this season for Texas Tech, scoring in double figures just once, a 10-point performance against Iowa State on February 28th.
There is no better time for a coming out party than the NCAA Tournament and Moseley did exactly that, finishing with 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting, also adding 4 rebounds and 4 blocks.
While Texas Tech’s guards steal the spotlight at times with their scoring, an effort like Moseley’s did not go unnoticed, rather it was acknowledged as a major difference maker in this game. According to McCasland, Moseley responded to tough coaching from his staff, putting it all together and turning it into a big time NCAA tournament performance.
“If there’s anybody that we’ve coached hard these last two weeks, it’s Josiah Moseley. He just started practice, his literal first practice in a Red Raider uniform was January the 28th. So he’s had to make some quick adjustments and he’s had to improve in a short amount of time in a tough league, in the best league in college basketball. So, man, did he respond tonight, McCasland said.
I thought that he had a few big-time defensive effort plays where he got some blocks, but his ability to switch and guard the ball really was a difference maker, one. And, two, his force on the rim, his ability to get the ball and not settle for a difficult shot to go away from the basket, but I thought he put his nose to the rim and bounced it and went right to the basket and had a great dunk in transition. Even the last offensive rebound, he created the advantage. He could have easily kind of floated, and he didn’t. He turned and got over the top. It was a high-level shot. He’s capable of that.
I’m glad he put what he’s been practicing into the game. He’s worked hard for this moment. You can tell, he was smiling when he walked in here. He was already trying to get in the cold tub. He’s never been out here before. He’s ready to rehab. He didn’t know you get a chance to talk to media. It’s cool to see his heart and competitiveness put into the game.”
Texas Tech was able to put it all together in the end against Akron and they will need to bottle up their second half effort for their Round of 32 Matchup. The Red Raiders will take on Alabama on Sunday in the Round of 32, two programs which battled in-season adversity and are looking to keep those struggles in the past.
