Coach Barnes talks with Craig Way on the post-game show

In the Big 12 Conference, protecting your home court is key for any team hoping to stake a claim for a top spot in the league. Coming into Wednesday night’s game, Texas Tech had done just that, knocking off both Kansas and Texas A&M from their Top-10 national rankings in the span of only a week. So when the Longhorns visited just seven days after barely surviving an average Nebraska team on the road, the chips seemed to be stacked in the Red Raiders’ favor. Apparently someone forgot to tell Kevin Durant that.

Durant, a leading candidate for not only National Freshman of the Year, but for the prestigious Naismith Award as well, dropped 37 points and secured a mind-blowing 23 rebounds en route to a 76-64 win in Lubbock.

Just minutes before tip-off, Tech coach Bobby Knight called Rick Barnes to midcourt for a presentation. Knight referenced a congratulatory call that Barnes had made following the General’s record-breaking 880th career win. The Texas Tech coach gave his friend a framed set of notecards from the New Mexico game where he set the record. Each card outlined the keys to the game on offense or defense, written by Knight prior to the contest.

Once the game was underway, it quickly became a back-and-forth contest. The first half saw seven lead changes despite the Longhorns outshooting the Red Raiders by nearly ten percent. Texas Tech was able to control the ball very well for the first twenty minutes, turning it over only one time while the Longhorns coughed it up six times. The Raiders turned those TOs into thirteen points and headed into the locker room leading by four.

The second half was all about Durant. The freshman phenom scored 24 of his 37 in the second frame as Texas overtook the home team and built an insurmountable lead. With 8:44 left in the game, the Longhorns led by only one. The rest of the way, they would outscore the Red Raiders by a ridiculous 29-8 margin to coast to the victory.

Durant earned his points in just about every way possible. He hit five three pointers, and made a handful of sick bank shots from just outside the lane. And of course he had dunks, such as the rim-shaking alley oop from D.J. Augustin to punctuate the victory.

KD also was able to help the team while being double-teamed in the first half. The Red Raiders would send an extra man from the opposite block to double on Durant, leaving the other Longhorn big man wide open on the back door. KD was able to find both Connor Atchley and Dexter Pittman for easy dunks when they did this, and it caused Knight to have to find another defensive scheme for the star. They clearly did not end up working.

Atchley again had a very good game, and once again did it in a very quiet way. There was a quote from Coach Barnes earlier in the year where he said that Atchley does the little things right. And I think that’s a big reason why he’s been coming up big in key sitautions these past few weeks. Against Tech, he didn’t score on any other plays besides the aforementioned dunk, but did come down with seven rebounds.

But Atchley’s best play on the night was one that likely went unnoticed by many. Coming down the court in transition during the second half, Connor was wide open at the three-point line. But he saw a single man on Durant and decided to step in toward the lane to set a perfect screen. Durant came free, grabbed the pass at the wing, and knocked down the triple without a second thought. Just like Coach Barnes said, Atchley does those little things. And that’s why he’s the most underrated player on this team in my generally meaningless opinion.

D.J. Augustin had eleven assists for the second straight game, although he had a few more turnovers in this contest. There were a few cases where he tried to force a pass that wasn’t there, but most came in the early part of the game and he seemed to adjust. He’s now the fourth-best floor general in the country, giving out 7.1 assists each game, and is even more impressive in Big 12 play with 8.8 assists per conference game.

Augustin also seems to know how to quiet a loud, hostile crowd. It seems that when opponents are threatening to go on a run and the momentum is getting away from the Horns, Augustin will take the ball to the rack for a layup and possibly even draw a foul. The buckets and free throws take the fans out of it, and he’s a consistent 80% from the line. In this one, Augustin had fourteen points, including a few highlight-reel reverse layups.

For Knight’s team, Jarrius Jackson was the man. The senior had 27 points and played every minute of the game, despite picking up his fourth foul with over eight minutes left on the clock. As the Longhorns pulled away, both Jackson and the Red Raiders went cold. Tech shot only 8-of-32 in the second half.

Injured players Charlie Burgess and Jon Plefka both ended up playing, and in fact started for Texas Tech. It seemed that their recent injuries affected their conditioning, though, as both tailed off in that cold second half. Plefka saw his minutes decrease in the second frame, and ended up playing 32 total in the game. He scored fourteen, including 6-of-7 from the line and two three pointers. Big man Burgess pulled down ten boards on the night.

As for my keys to the game? Let’s quickly revisit them:

Rebounding – The Horns had a 43-38 advantage on the boards in the game, but most importantly grabbed 67% of the rebounding chances after Red Raider misses. There were a few frustrating ones that got away from the Horns, but generally Texas — and Durant’s long arms — kept the Red Raiders in a one-and-done situation.

Tempo – With Burgess and Plefka both playing, the idea of keeping a depleted Texas Tech team tired was not as important as predicted. The Horns had only 65 possessions, which was closer to the typical Tech pace of play than Texas’ slightly-faster average tempo.

Keep the crowd out of it – Texas wasn’t able to get out to an early lead, but was able to keep Tech within arm’s reach throughout the first half. The Red Raiders grabbed a couple of six-point leads, but Texas kept their opponents from running away and letting the crowd energy fuel that momentum. In the end, Texas’ massive second-half run was able to keep the crowd quiet during the important late minutes and sent many to the exits early.