After many a tense moment, Texas Tech burns through and earns an 82-72 decision over UNC-Wilmington.
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* Well, nobody who watched Texas Tech's 82-72 victory over UNC-Wilmington will imagine the Red Raiders are destined for San Antonio, unless it's on a team retreat in July and the team-building exercise is to see who can pound down the most tacos. Texas Tech, a 15.5-point favorite, trailed by a point with 13:18 to play and only led by three with 6:45 showing on the clock. There had to have been a genuine dread among the Red Raider faithful that this promising season was on the verge of coming to an ignominious end. I know that thought certainly crossed my mind, so much so that I was considering how to frame the postgame dirge.
Fortunately, we were all spared the misery. Texas Tech slowly, laboriously took charge of the game in the closing stages and now advances to take on the Drake Bulldogs, upset victors over Missouri.
* On a night when virtually every Red Raider went catatonic with 5:40 remaining in the first half--Texas Tech led by 16 at that point--the one player who continued to pull his weight was the unsung Kerwin Walton. He scored a career high 27 points--and all 19 of his shot attempts came from beyond the arc--and without his shooting the Red Raiders would be on a jet back to Lubbock. The team, in a very real sense, can thank Walton for saving their season.
* Even with the win, I'm sure most Texas Tech fans, and perhaps the coaches and players too, are not feeling too good. As noted above, this was not a performance for the ages. In many respects the Red Raiders simply didn't play very well, and if they uncork another one like that against Drake, that'll be the end of the road. But rocky first-round performances are not necessarily a death knell. I well remember Texas Tech's opening-round game against Stephen F. Austin in 2018. The Lumberjacks pounced upon the Red Raiders at the opening tap and led for almost the entire game before Texas Tech wore them down and won by 10 points, the same spread as tonight's victory. That team, of course, went on to the Elite Eight. I'm not predicting a similar outcome for the current team, just making the point that one subpar performance doesn't mean doom.
* Now having said this, certain things must improve if Texas Tech is to beat Drake. To begin with, it would be nice to have the injured Chance McMillian back in uniform. With him in street clothes, the Red Raiders' vaunted perimeter attack was fairly pitiful. Outside of Walton, the team's savior on this night, nobody could throw it in the Gulf of Texas. McMillian's presence almost certainly would have meant a few more trifectas and a much more comfortable win.
And second, there must be compensation for Darrion Williams' defense. In this game more than at any other time this season, his insufficiency on that end of the court was glaring. Matched up on Nolan Hodges, not even a starter on this Coastal Athletic Association team, Williams looked like dump truck trying to track down a Maserati. His lack of foot speed was extremely telling. Nolan created space for his shot off the bounce whenever he liked, and took full advantage of his torpid closeouts. Hodge was UNC-Wilmington's high point man with 18.
Williams simply has no business guarding a quick three. If at all possible, he should match up against a four, even though he would be at a size disadvantage. Failing that, if there is no power forward for Williams to defend, there must be a tag defender to assist Williams when his man drives it. This won't solve the problem of his closeouts, but it will help when he gets beaten off the bounce.
* I couldn't be bothered listening to an eighth-string broadcast crew, so I don't know if that bunch provided pertinent information on this subject, but it appeared to me that JT Toppin was under the weather. He apparently was sick in Texas Tech's recent loss to Arizona and didn't seem like himself in this game against the Seahawks. Toppin did manage to record a double-double, but he was much more passive on offense than usual and did not grab rebounds he ordinarily does. In my opinion, a healthy Toppin dominates in this game. Instead, he was solid but unremarkable.
* Forty-six of Texas Tech 69 shot attempts were from distance. That is too many. Even if Toppin wasn't 100 percent, the Red Raiders should have attacked in the paint much more often. A big part of the problem, it seemed to me, was the tendency of Toppin and Williams to hold onto the ball for too long on paint touches. Perhaps they were attempting to draw doubles, but that simply fed into the overreliance on the triple. Toppin and Williams should have looked for their shots immediately rather than allowing the defense to collapse on them.
* Texas Tech put UNC-Wilmington in the one-and-one with 11:09 to play in the game. There was a real danger the Seahawks would earn lots of easy money down the stretch. But give the Red Raiders credit--they defended without fouling in the final quarter of the game. That was my primary key to victory prior to this game, and it did play a huge role when the chips were down.
* Kudos to Elijah Hawkins with 10 assists and only two turnovers. After Walton, he was Texas Tech's second-best player in this game.
This article originates on InsideTheRedRaiders.com.