Play It to the Bone: Chris Beard's team is built to close in March

Last season, Texas Tech basketball went 3-7 in games decided in overtime or by five or fewer points in regulation. They were extremely competitive, only to come up short time and time again. They couldn't get it done in crunch time. They couldn't finish.

So, Chris Beard focused every ounce of his energy on finding a solution. His entire team's offseason identity revolved around it. Keenan Evans and his teammates were initiated into the Church of Closing, Beard in the pulpit and preaching a fiery sermon on finishing.

Almost every offseason challenge was built around the idea of finding a way to fight through late. Whether it was in the weight room, in the film room, or on the court, Beard and his staff pounded "finish" into his players' heads. Heck, they wore wristbands with the word emblazoned on them.

Beard's message got through.

This season, Tech hoops is 7-3 in those same situations, two of those losses coming in one possession games in Waco against Baylor and Lubbock against Kansas. Keenan Evans didn't play that second half against the Bears, and he was severely limited against the Jayhawks with College Gameday in town.

And while the four game swing on the stat is impressive by itself, let's add a little more context to Texas Tech's ability to finish this season:

-The Red Raiders have won four games this season where they trailed by double digits. They were down by 11 to Nevada and West Virginia, 12 to TCU, and 15 to Oklahoma State. Tech came back to win all four late.

-Texas led by 1 in Lubbock with four seconds left to play. Evans hit a free throw, and Tech went on to win in overtime 73-71 on number 12's iconic buzzer beater jumper.

-South Carolina led in Columbia by 5 with 3:38 left to play. Tech would end up cruising to a 70-63 win in the final minute.

-Tied with 2:08 left to play, the Red Raiders would go on to defeat West Virginia - who had won 15 straight and was ranked 2nd in the country - 72-71.

-Tech led by just 3 with 2:30 left to play against Texas in Kansas City. They held off the charging Longhorns to win 73-69.

-Nevada led by 2 with 24 seconds left to play. Justin Gray then hit a free throw, and Tech would win in overtime 82-76.

That was what this team did before March Madness got underway. So, what have the Red Raiders done so far in the postseason? Well:

-In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, SFA led Tech by as much as eight points. In fact, they were up by a point with 4 minutes left to play and had held the lead for 29 minutes in the contest to that point. After that? Tech tied it and never trailed again, winning 70-60.

-In the second round, in a game with 12 lead changes that was tied for 7:29, Florida and Texas Tech ended the game tied in rebounds and tied in three pointers made. The Gators won steals by 1, points off turnovers by 1, and points in the paint by 4. Tech won in turnovers by 3 and second chance points by 1. The Red Raiders led by just 3 with 25 seconds left to play. They'd end up winning by that same margin, 69-66.

All of this to say: Beard's team is built to close.

When the going gets tough, this team most certainly gets going. They've been at their best in the tightest, tensest situations this season, and they've done it because of a handful of factors. The first is a no-brainer in Keenan Evans.

If Beard is the lead pastor in the Church of Closing, Evans is directing the choir. The senior's cold-blooded deeds in the final minutes are well documented, including in this dandy little feature I wrote on Keenan Time earlier this season. He may be the very best player in crunch time in college basketball. He hits more big buckets in momentum-shifting moments than anyone else, I can guarantee you that.

But he isn't doing it alone. Yes, Evans is the oil that makes the engine run when Big Boy Basketball revs up, but he has plenty of help.

That help comes on the offensive end around the rim. More specifically, it comes from how good Niem Stevenson and Jarrett Culver are at finishing off-dribble to the basket. Evans, Stevenson, and Culver are all extremely gifted drivers around the bucket.

Zhaire Smith and Zach Smith do it at the rim with alley-oop dunks. Both can sky with anyone in college basketball, and it makes it easy for Evans and others to drive and dish up.

No matter how they do it, this team is capable of getting to the rim in the final minutes. And what comes with getting to the rim in the final minutes? Chances for fouls and and-ones, of course. This group gets to the foul line a ton in late game situations when they stay aggressive. Now, they need to make more free throws than they have in the last few weeks, but they opportunities for charity stripe points are there.

But where this team's true closing ability comes is on the defensive end of the floor. Beard makes them guard and hustle harder on the defensive end in key stretches better than anyone in the country. They play with extreme effort in Beard's man defense, particularly around the perimeter against shooters and drivers alike.

Combine that toughness and want-to with this team's length across the board, and it's easy to figure out how they contest teams like Florida on 20 of their 22 three point shots, how they erase double digit deficits, come up with momentum blocks in the final minutes, and simply out-work opponents around the rim for rebounds.

That hustle and this team's ability to close comes from a phrase that I've heard Chris Beard say dozens of times this year: "Play it to the bone."

It's a phrase built around the idea of giving every ounce you have to win a game. It's built around the idea of finishing. It's built around doing everything in your power to make sure you don't go home disappointed. And if anything, this team has completely bought into that idea.

Now, whether this team will go on to topple Purdue on Friday and make their first Elite Eight in program history is simply unknown. It's a tough matchup, and the Boilermakers can put it in the bucket as well as anyone in the country.

But I will tell you this: If this game is tight down the stretch, do not count this basketball team out. Purdue's Matt Painter - who fell to Beard's Little Rock team in the opening round of the Tournament two years ago - certainly won't. He even said this about the matchup on Sunday:

"The next game, we've got to play harder than Texas Tech. It's a heck of a strategy, isn't it?"

Simply said, but tougher to do than one might realize. That's because this group of Red Raiders was made for this. They were made to close in March.