The brooms are out again for the second time this week, as Texas Tech went into Austin on Saturday and left victorious in a hard fought, 61-55, victory over Texas. The win gives the Red Raiders the series sweep over the Longhorns for the third time in the last four years, and Mark Adams improves to 2-0 over his former boss.
Chris Beard said previously that these games against Texas Tech weren’t about him. While he may view it that way, these games meant a ton to Red Raider Nation, and the folks in red and black made their impact felt in both matchups.
Instead of the typical home atmosphere that Longhorn players and fans have grown accustomed to, the Frank Erwin Center looked and sounded more like a neutral site contest.
You never turn on a basketball game and hear ‘defense’ or ‘airball’ chants in the home team's arena when their offense is on the court. The large contingent of Texas Tech fans in attendance were heard loud and clear, and they put their stamp on this game.
To no one’s surprise, defense was the dominate theme on the court for both teams in this game. The Longhorns shot 30 percent from the field in the first half, and the Red Raiders didn’t fare much better, shooting 34.6 percent.
Texas would go up six points with three minutes remaining in the first and appeared to seize the momentum. Texas Tech would battle back, however, and closed the half on a 6-0 scoring run to tie the game, 28-28, at the intermission.
Adonis Arms got the offense going early for the Red Raiders and scored seven of his 10 points in the first half. He finished with seven rebounds and helped spearhead a group that finished with a plus-9 rebounding margin for the second game in a row against the Longhorns.
The Red Raiders opened the second half on a 7-0 scoring run. The Longhorns didn’t score for the first five and a half minutes, but Texas would eventually answer back with a 6-0 scoring run to pull within one.
A one-point deficit would be as close as the Longhorns would get for the remainder of this game. Texas Tech wouldn’t let up and eventually built their lead up to double-digits late in the second half.
The Red Raiders would go up by 10 points with 3:38 remaining, but the Longhorns wouldn’t go away quietly. Texas scored nine unanswered points over the next two minutes to make it a one-point game (56-55) with just 1:36 to-go.
The Texas Tech defense would put the clamps on from there, and the Longhorns wouldn’t score over the final minute and a half. The Red Raiders never let up attacking the basket, and they would go 5-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to put the game away.
Bryson Williams led Texas Tech with 17 points. The team showed more of a concerted effort to get him going in the second half, and he was more aggressive around the basket and scored 11 points and grabbed five of his six rebounds after the break.
Clarence Nadolny was a huge factor in this game as well. He was the second leading scorer with 14 points off the bench. Nadolny was able to keep their defense off balance by continually attacking downhill, and his aggression rewarded him with six free throw attempts in the game. He also led the Red Raiders with two steals on the defensive end.
Offensive rebounds and second chance points were huge in this game. Texas Tech scored 25 percent of their points on second chance scoring opportunities courtesy of their 17 offensive rebounds. Arms led the Red Raiders with four offensive boards, and Marcus Santos-Silva added three offensive rebounds and led the team with eight total boards.
