What Texas Tech basketball needs to do to be ready for March Madness run after TCU loss
Tuesday's loss to TCU showed the Texas Tech basketball team has work to do ahead of March Madness.
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Agree or disagree with the LAJs list of what this team needs to do before March Madness? Would you add anything to the list?
LAJ Article:
It's never good to overreact to a close road loss in Big 12 Conference play, but Tuesday night's 69-66 setback at TCU provided a closer look at what the Texas Tech basketball team needs to do before it heads into the NCAA Tournament.
The Red Raiders already know they're going to partake in March Madness, their fate sealed on Saturday by being included in the selection committee's Top 16 reveal. No team has ever been left out of the tournament after being included in this mid-February preview.
But Texas Tech can still drastically improve its potential seeding, though that took a big hit on Tuesday. Falling at TCU is still considered a Quad 1 or 2 loss, so it's not the worst thing in the world. However, Texas Tech's resume could use as much polishing as possible with those losses to UCF and Saint Joseph's hanging over the Red Raiders' heads.
Each of Texas Tech's six losses — which have come by a combined 23 points — have had unique identities, each having a different issue pop up. Here's a look at those losses and what the Red Raiders can learn from them.
What Texas Tech basketball needs to do before March Madness begins
The culprit on Tuesday was obvious. As much credit as TCU deserves for beating a Top 10-ranked foe on its home floor, the Red Raiders beat themselves.
TCU got 17 points off of 15 offensive rebounds and turned Texas Tech's 13 turnovers into another 17 points. Off the bat, that's 34 free points for the opposition.
The Red Raiders have only lost the rebounding battle six times this season, and three of those games have resulted in losses. TCU outrebounded Tech 37-29, Arizona had a 42-29 edge in the rematch in Tucson and Texas A&M grabbed two more boards than the Red Raiders — though that came with JT Toppin out with an ankle injury.
Texas Tech basketball must avoid long offensive droughts
The Red Raiders have one of the best offensive teams in the country, but even elite squads are prone to dry spells.Texas Tech had several such instances against TCU, the most glaring being held to three points over the final 4:17 in what was a three-point loss.
Against UCF, the Red Raiders trailed 47-41 at halftime. Then the Knights went on a 14-4 run in less than four minutes to start the second half. In the other home loss to Iowa State, the Red Raiders led 72-68 with 3:23 left before the game went to its first overtime tied 74-74.
Rough offensive stretches that lead to bad defense
This is one of coach Grant McCasland's biggest sticking points. Whenever the Red Raiders are firing on all cylinders offensively, it translates to the defensive end of the floor. This is also true of the inverse: when Tech isn't hitting shots, it can't seem to get stops either.That, too, was present against TCU. When the Red Raiders got their offense going, that's when the defense came up with stops, allowing them to overcome what was a 10-point deficit to get back in the game.
Get to the free throw line
In five of Tech's six losses, the opponent has attempted more free throws than the Red Raiders. In those games, Texas Tech was outscored by 31 points. The outlier here is the Iowa State game, where the Cyclones and Red Raiders each made 24 trips and Tech made 19 free throws to ISU's 17.https://adclick.g.doubleclick.net/p...836bb95348433&utm_source=polar&utm_medium=cpc
However, in that loss to Iowa State, the Red Raiders missed three crucial free throws that would have closed the game.
Still plenty of chances for Texas Tech basketball
While the loss to TCU does sting, the Red Raiders have plenty of opportunity to erase that one from the memory bank. West Virginia comes to town Saturday before the anticipated rematch with Houston on Monday.Over the last eight seasons, Houston has only been swept in the regular season by a team once, when Memphis took both meetings in the 2021-22 season. The Cougars don't lose often, and they rarely lose twice to the same team in a season.
The road setback could also be a moment to knock some things loose, reset the mentality going into the final five regular-season games the Red Raiders need if they want to be a legitimate threat come March Madness.
