Wonderings: Keenan Time is real, and it's spectacular

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Keenan Evans has been spectacular. Water is wet, the sky is blue, bear, woods, etc..

He hits big shots, he plays great defense, and he's leading Red Raider basketball into the most uncharted of territories in Big 12 basketball. If Texas Tech is to kill the Rock Chalk beast and end Kansas' reign atop the conference, Evans will be the poster boy, standing triumphantly over the freshly slain trophy mount.

And while he's been a great player most of the year, he's taken it to a completely different level over the last seven games, the seven straight games the Red Raiders just so happen to have won to position themselves as the lead horse in the final stretch of the race.

When Tech faltered, losing three of four to Oklahoma, Texas, and Iowa State early on in league play, Evans seemed sluggish, out of sorts, and in a haze. But then the senior discovered what I've coined as Keenan Time.

You see, in these last seven games, Keenan Time has always come into effect. You can set your watch to Keenan Time. It starts when the second half clock hits 19:59 and doesn't end until it hits 0:00.

In the final frame of each of these last seven contests, Evans has taken things up a notch. When it comes time to produce? He produces. When it's time to separate the men from the boys, Mark Jackson is channeled, and Evans earns his "Mama, there goes that man!"

Keenan Time is winning time. It's when the senior lasers in and becomes one of the most clutch players in the country. He showed up Trae Young during Keenan Time on Tuesday night.

But that's all conjecture and a feeling. Do the stats back it up? Well, let's have a look at this chart I've put together, which lays out Evans' scoring outputs for the entire game, the second half, the final five minutes, the final two minutes, and the final 60 seconds for the Red Raiders' seven games from this length winning streak...

It's pretty simply laid out for you right there. In those seven games, Evans scores 67 percent of his points in the second half, 30 percent of them in the final five minutes, 15 percent of them in the final two minutes, and 11.7 percent in the final minute.

That's greatness proven. That's clutch, and it's a big reason why this team is rolling right through the Big 12 right now.

But these percentages, while they paint the broad strokes of Evans' performance during this wild seven game ride, aren't quite refined enough. Keenan Time's true measurements can be whittled down to the Oklahoma State, South Carolina, and Texas games. Why? Well, they were the closest contests down the home stretch. You could add Oklahoma to the mix, but the offense was rolling along so well that Evans' performance wasn't needed.

No, this is where we talk about what number 12 does when the bat signal goes up. How's he going to perform when this team needs him to make plays? Well, we're about to find it in evidence.

In those three games against the Pokes, Gamecocks, and Longhorns, Evans had a total of 95 points, averaging an already hefty 32 a contest for that stretch. What really starts to add color to the picture, however, are the second half numbers.

He racked up a grand total of 60 points in the second half of those three outings, good enough for 63 percent of his scoring production. That's par the course for the whole seven game stretch and makes sense, right?

But where things really shine is in crunch time. 33.7 percent of his points came in the final five minutes, and 19 percent came in the final two minutes, already noticeable jumps in late game production from the seven game total.

The jaw, mic, whatever-you-may-fancy-dropper? 17 percent of his points came in the final 60 seconds of those three contests. Of the 40 possible minutes in a contest - 45 in the case of the overtime game against UT - He scored 17 percent of his points in what amounts to the final 3.2 percent sliver of these three games combined.

In March Madness, you need two things above all else to have a chance for a deep run:

First, you need to play good defense. Well, that's a certainly a check.

Second, you need a stud guard who can take over when the offense is falling apart, when shots aren't falling, and when the momentum is against you.

Keenan Time earns you that check mark.

And it's on track to earn these Red Raiders one of the greatest seasons in program history.