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McCullar earning minutes, embracing opportunities

Redshirt freshman guard Kevin McCullar looks to pass the ball against the TCU Horned Frogs.
Redshirt freshman guard Kevin McCullar looks to pass the ball against the TCU Horned Frogs. (Billy Watson | Red Raider Sports)

Kevin McCullar has had quite the story leading up to now.

McCullar led Converse Wagner (San Antonio) to the 6A championship game his sophomore season before averaging 16.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game his junior and final season.

He decided to sit out his senior year to recover from a broken tibia. The four-star lengthy guard graduated high school early and enrolled in the following spring at Texas Tech, taking in the tournament run last season by the Red Raiders.

Tech head coach Chris Beard has said the road for “Mac” has not been about basketball. It’s been about getting healthy.

Over the offseason, Beard said it has also been about earning experience through gameplay. He wishes McCullar had a better offseason in terms of scrimmage minutes and practices, but simply, it wasn’t his race to run.

“You got to run your own race,” Beard said.

Ever since McCullar’s concussion against Kentucky, the redshirt freshman has upped his game. He is earning more minutes and is, as Beard said, continuing to embrace the opportunities.

“He’s playing well on both ends of the floor,” Beard said. “We’ve talked about it over and over again, same thing, right? Didn’t have an offseason because of a couple of injuries and some adversity, but he’s a guy that we’ve always believed in with his talent.”

Redshirt freshman Kevin McCullar hits the fade-away jumper against the TCU Horned Frogs.
Redshirt freshman Kevin McCullar hits the fade-away jumper against the TCU Horned Frogs. (Billy Watson | Red Raider Sports)

McCullar posted a career-high in minutes last game at Oklahoma State with 29. In the loss, Mac scored a team-high 15 points alongside junior guard Davide Moretti. If you notice closely, the minutes chart has continued to climb and so has McCullar’s production.

McCullar has not gone over his career-high in turnovers, which came in the season opener against Eastern Illinois with four. Mac has had 16 one-or-no turnover games this season.

In addition, McCullar has had five double-digit scoring games with the role he is playing, including 10 and 15-point outings in the two previous games.

Moreover, McCullar got the nod and started the second half for freshman Terrence Shannon Jr., who was coming off a concussion received earlier in the week. McCullar went 6 of 8 from the field and 3 for 3 at the free throw line.

McCullar’s road continues to pave itself.

“Mac has done a great job improving as the year goes on in gameplay,” Beard said, “which is very difficult to do, but he’s playing well on both ends of the floor. He’s a guy we trust out there, defensively. He’s a guy that’s continuing to find his spots on offense, and I’ve been impressed with how aggressive he’s been lately. So, he’s a guy who’s definitely a part of our plan. Always has been.”

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