The No. 14 Texas Longhorns lost to No. 18 Texas Tech for the second time this year on Saturday.
Not only did Texas have the lead for the majority of the first half, but despite a surge from the Red Raiders, the Horns were able to keep the game a tie at 33 through the first 20 minutes.
The game was a tough, defensive battle from the Longhorns who kept key Texas Tech players such as Terrance Shannon Jr. and Mac McClung at bay. It looked like a game Texas could win.
Instead, the Longhorns only scored 26 points in the second half and were lagging from key players shooting the ball.
All season long, Texas has been ‘live and die’ by their guards. The team needs good performances from Courtney Ramey, Matt Coleman III and Andrew Jones, or at the very least two of those three. Here were their stat lines:
Ramey – 6 points (10% FG, 20% 3PT), 4 rebounds and 4 assists
Coleman – 10 points (50% FG, 66.6% 3PT), 3 rebounds, 6 assists
Jones – 8 points (25% FG, 20% 3PT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist
They only combined for 24 of the teams 59 points. Aside from Coleman, they didn’t have a good day shooting the ball, collectively scoring on only 25% of their shots.
On top of that, the defensive effort didn’t show up in the second half as it did in the first half. Mac McClung, the Red Raiders leading scorer, only scored five points in the first half but exploded for 11 points in the second half for a total of 16, leading all scorers.
Texas Tech had five players score in double figures, including 11 from Terrance Shannon Jr. off the bench.
To put it in perspective, the Longhorns five top scorers scored 45 points, with 31% shooting from three-point range. While Tech’s top five scored 57 points, with 40% shooting from three-point range.
This isn’t the first time Texas has had meltdowns. Just a week ago, Texas lost a 19-point lead to West Virginia through a second half meltdown. Texas is a likely NCAA Tournament team, but they also look like another game-one loss if they can’t sustain leads against good teams.