The rivalry was renewed Sunday at Dickie’s Arena with Texas Tech matching up against long-time foe Texas A&M as the Aggies emerged victorious 72-67.
Here are our takeaways from the action…
Stagnation
Texas Tech has fallen in love with the three-ball and the reliance on catch-and-shoot opportunities played into its undoing Sunday.
Too often the Red Raiders found themselves swinging the ball around with ferocity before eventually having to settle for looks from deep that were not the most favorable. Tech has struggled to establish a rhythm offensively or develop any sort of cohesive and easily identifiable scheme to hang its hat on.
The Red Raiders turned the ball over 18 times against the Aggies, to which A&M converted those into an identical amount of points.
It has appeared oftentimes to be an offense dependent on players making individual plays, but that does not figure to be a reliable source of offensive output.
Overton impresses in first half
When the Red Raiders were in the midst of their most struggle-filled period in the first half, it was the efforts of Kevin Overton that kept Tech fighting.
The true sophomore came out on fire, hoisting up a pair of threes to cut an early A&M run in the opening minutes.
Overton ended the first half with 14 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from deep, snagging a trifecta of rebounds in the process.
Overton’s hot start did cool off as the game wore on, but his performances could spur on the debate of whether or not he has earned a starting role on this squad.
A&M's Taylor turns tide in second half
The Aggies’ top two leading scorers took their time to get rolling, but the final result was Wade Taylor IV and Zhuric Phelps combining for 31 points in the win.
Taylor, A&M’s lone Preseason All-SEC selection, was clutch late, scoring 11 of his 19 in the second half. Most importantly was Taylor’s five free throws on as many times, four of which came in the final minute of action.
After the Red Raiders cut the margin to 60-58 behind threes from Darrion Williams and Elijah Hawkins with 3:52 left in the game, a pair of baskets from Taylor helped elevate the Aggies’ lead back up to six.
Red Raiders miss opportunity to add to non-con resume, suffer second loss of season
Tech fought with a valiant roar, pushing A&M to the brink and bringing the margin back within one possession several times in the final minutes of the game.
Chance McMillian finished with a game-high of 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field and a very efficient 5-for-10 performance from deep.
McMillian knocked in a tandem of triples in the final minute to bring the game within three points on two different occasions, but Tech was unable to climb over the hump and dropped its second game of the season.
With losses to Saint Joseph’s and Texas A&M on the schedule, the opportunities to make noise in the non-conference have essentially been exhausted for the Red Raiders. Tech will take the rest of the week off from game action and will host Oral Roberts Dec. 16 back at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.
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