A (semi) Statistical Recap of Texas Tech

The game started quite not to our liking, with Texas Tech actually holding a one point lead with 5:45 left in the first half, but by halftime the lead had ballooned to 15. We were doubling them up with just under 14 minutes left, and from there Kansas cruised to an 81-46 lead.

The offense didn't look great, but ended up scoring almost 1.3 points per possession. It does seem like Kansas shoots better from three when they don't necessarily need to, going 9-21 last night, but I am sure that's equal parts truth and confirmation bias. The best note offensively was the turnover rate, as Kansas turned it over on just 14.3% of its possessions. It's just Texas Tech, but any time you can limit turnovers like that on the road wins will assuredly follow.

But enough about the offense. Let's talk about the ridiculous Kansas defense. They held Tech to just .73 points per possession and an eFG of just 32.4%. For the season the Red Raiders were making nearly 51% of their twos, and against BCS teams they are making around 47% of their twos. Last night they made 37.5% of them. Nearly everyone on the team is a good defender individually, and even the ones who aren't (you know who I mean) are good team defenders. It's time to start thinking about this defense as one of the best in the country and perhaps one of the best of the Bill Self era, as your fearless author noted near the start of the season.

• Releford didn't set another career high (what a bum!) but still had another good game, with 12 points 2 rebounds and 3 steals. He didn't shoot well from two, but he was able to get to the line a bit to compensate for that and he shot 2-4 from three. I don't think he'll ever shoot well enough to be a true three point threat, but if he shoots it well enough to open up the lane that will help the offense a lot.
• Robinson had yet another double double, yawn, going 7-9 from two and even made a three to put up 19 points and 12 rebounds. I noted this in the game thread but I think it's time to start viewing him as a potential #1 overall pick next summer, even though I think both Anthony Davis and Perry Jones will end up going before him.
• I'm officially putting out the APB for Elijah Johnson. Just 2 points, missed both his threes, and had two assists to two turnovers.
  
• it's back: THARPE WATCH! It was in garbage time, but he was 3-3 from three and had two assists.
  
• Kevin Young quietly had a good game, with 7 points and 7 rebounds.
  
• A pair of interesting notes: Kansas moved up to 2 in KenPom with the dominating win and Kentucky struggling with Auburn, and percentage wise they are favored to win every remaining game on their schedule except for one, where they're 50% to win (at Missouri).