Kentucky Basketball: 2019-20 keys to a win over Texas Tech Red Raiders
1. Kentucky needs to assert themselves on the defensive glass
The first big key to a Kentucky win in this game will be their ability to control the defensive glass and holding Texas Tech to just one shot on their possessions. The reason this will be important for the Wildcats is that Texas Tech is a middle-of-the-road when it comes to both rebounding, with nearly identical ranks in offensive and defensive categories (188 and 192 respectively) as is their 44% field goal percentage is 153rd best in the country.
So taking advantage of those numbers and keeping the offensive opportunities of Texas Tech to a minimum will be important, not because the Red Raiders are a strong offense club, but because they are such an elite team on defense.
As a part of this key it will be important for Kentucky to try and put the clamps on guards Jahmi’us Ramsey, Terrence Shannon, Jr. and Chris Clarke, as well as senior forward TJ Holyfield as those, are the players who are currently shooting at least 44% from the field. Focusing their defense on those players will give Davide Moretti and Kyler Edwards more opportunities, but the pair have shot just 40.7% from the field so far this season, with Moretti being the one who is really struggling, as he shot nearly 50% from the field last season and is shooting under 42% this year.