Texas Tech is 2-0, but Thursday night’s 76-58 win over Bethune-Cookman left plenty of reasons for concern with No. 3 Illinois coming to Lubbock on Tuesday night.
The Red Raiders got a big scoring night from UNLV transfer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who finished with 25 points on 7 of 14 shooting and 3 of 7 from 3-point range. He also added three rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. Hofstra transfer Cruz Davis chipped in 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists, making him the only other Texas Tech starter to reach double figures.
That left the spotlight on the returners, and they were quiet again. Darrion Williams scored six points, while Donovan Atwell finished with nine. In Texas Tech’s season-opening win over Jackson State, the two combined for just five points.
Even with those struggles, the Red Raiders managed to survive a messy, foul-heavy game. Texas Tech took a 13-point lead into halftime, then watched Bethune-Cookman trim the margin to six in the middle of the second half. Atwell and Gibbs-Lawhorn helped steady things from there, with Atwell hitting three timely 3-pointers to help close the door on the Wildcats.
The bigger issue is what comes next. Illinois will bring a much tougher test, and the Red Raiders do not have much time to clean things up before facing the Illini.
The free-throw line has been a problem in both games. Texas Tech went 19-31 there on Thursday, the same exact mark it posted in the opener. That kind of wastefulness is hard to survive against a team like Illinois.
The 3-point shooting has been just as shaky. Tech was 9-30 from deep against Bethune-Cookman after going 7-30 in the opener, and that kind of production won’t cut it against a bigger, stronger opponent.
Atwell’s early-season slump stands out most. He set the Texas Tech single-season record with 130 made 3-pointers last season, but he missed his first 14 attempts from beyond the arc this year before finally connecting in the second half Thursday. He finished with three makes, but he’s shooting just 16.6% from 3-point range.
Through two games, Texas Tech is hitting only 23.3% from deep. That’s a number the Red Raiders can’t carry into Tuesday night, especially with Illinois expected to have a clear size advantage and Tech certain to be without JT Toppin and likely without UCF transfer forward JaMichael Stillwell.
So far, Texas Tech has been uneven and has not put together a complete performance in either game. The competition is about to get much better, and the Red Raiders will need to look a lot sharper if they want to handle it.
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Texas Tech Has 3 Early Storylines Fans Should Watch Tonight
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Damarion Dennis gave the Red Raiders a lift in the opener by leading the team in scoring, while Donovan Atwell will be looking to put a rough shooting night behind him and find a rhythm. Darrion Williams is also expected to matter in the areas that travel well from game to game, especially defensively and on the boards, giving Texas Tech a chance to keep building habits before the schedule stiffens. [Read more 🡒]