Mac McClung looks to lead Texas Tech Basketball over Utah State Aggies

Defense, Defense, Defense

I touched briefly on this in the last slide, but Texas Tech’s focus needs to be on defense against the Aggies. Texas Tech has the capability of playing stifling defense, but this does not always happen, which to me speaks more to effort.

Of the 17 wins the Red Raiders secured this year, they held opponents to less than 60 points in 11 of those games. In games when opponents scored over 60 points, they have a record of 6-9. Sixty points appear to be the magic number since nine of the team’s ten losses have come when the opponent surpasses that threshold.

This will be an extremely tall task against a Utah State team that is averaging over 73 points per game. The Red Raiders could be in for a shootout and that is not something they want, as seen in the stats mentioned above.

Due to the Aggies rebounding prowess, the best way for Texas Tech to shift the game in their favor on the defensive side of the ball is winning the turnover battle. Luckily this happens to be a strength of theirs; they rank 25th in D-I basketball this year forcing 16 turnovers per game. Texas Tech can apply aggressive pressure, the likes Utah State has not seen this season having played most of their games against Mountain West Conference teams.

As the saying goes, offense sells tickets, defense wins Championships. If Texas Tech wants any chance of making a run in this Tournament, it starts with proving their talent and potential on Friday against Utah State.