The Texas Tech Red Raiders, the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, advanced to the second round over No. 12 Akron 91-71 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in Tampa, Florida. Jaylen Petty went off for 24 points in a game where the Red Raiders (23-10) never relinquished their lead after going into halftime up five. Texas Tech will greet No. 6 Tennessee/No. 11 Miami (Ohio) in the second round on Sunday. Here are three takeaways from Friday morning’s action:
Freshman Petty Explodes
Petty saved perhaps his season-high output for the opening round, as the 6-foot-1 Seattle native unloaded five triples on seven attempts for the Red Raiders.
The storyline around Texas Tech is how the team replaces minutes lost by JT Toppin, and this team simply finds a dude every game who’s willing to rise up and pour out some buckets. Christian Anderson added 18 points and Josiah Moseley hopped off the bench for 16 more as Texas Tech outperformed the Zips (29-6) from the 3-point line and around the rim
As a team, Texas Tech finished 43% from the floor, 80% at the charity stripe and outrebounded the Zips 32-25. Amani Lyles led Akron with 26 points.
Can Texas Tech Snipe its Way Through the Tournament?
This particularly matchup ended one attempt shy of 40 different 3-point field goal attempts, and with Akron making just 5 of 19 attempts (26%) it’s no surprise why this one got away from them.
Texas Tech and UCF entered the NCAA Tournament as two of the Big 12’s top 3-point shooting teams, and as the Red Raiders borough into the second round they’ve now shot 40% or better beyond the curve in six of their last eight games.
Petty led the floor on Friday with five made 3-point field goals; Atwell added four and Christian hit two.
Walking, Not Running Into Halftime
Even after garnering a 12-point lead in the opening half, Texas Tech let Akron’s 10-3 diminish its hot start and cut the ballgame within five at the break.
It certainly felt like the Red Raiders returned to the floor with some speed and they’d open up shooting 4-of-6 to kick off the second half, but in the next round it won’t be Akron on the other end of the floor. That’s not a shot at the Zips, but their defense on Friday frankly isn’t comparable to what Tennessee or Miami (Ohio) will come to the table with in the Round of 32.
The good news is Texas Tech looked especially rebound-ready in this first game, and those 25 defensive rebounds are a good indicator of where their priorities are right now.
