LUBBOCK – In a span of just 39 seconds at the end of the first half, Lamar University got slammed by the big “M” -- as in momentum -- and watched just a five-point deficit turn into a lopsided and embarrassing 77-54 loss to Texas Tech here Saturday night.
It was the Cardinals’ second straight loss on their four-game road swing in six days. And this must have really hurt.
LU falls to 2-2 on the season and heads to an unbeaten 3-0 Ohio University on Monday, while Pat Knight’s Red Raiders improve to 5-0 -- all home victories.
After watching Tech turn a 19-16 Lamar lead into a 28-22 Raider margin with 3:30 left in the half on a 12-1 TT run, the Cardinals got right back off the deck and trailed only by five at 31-26 with 0:39 left on a Reggie Mathis jump shot.
It was here that all heck broke loose as Tech’s D’walyn Roberts drained two straight from the line with 0:06 left in the half. Lamar abruptly turned it over with 0:02 remaining. But then Texas Tech’s Nick Okorie took the inbounds pass, dribbled a couple of steps, and fired up a desperation three from mid-court at the buzzer which hit nothing but net to send the Raiders into halftime with a 10-point lead (36-26).
It seemed the shot took some steam out of the Cardinals as Tech outscored Steve Roccaforte’s club by a commanding 41-28 margin in the second half to win in a breeze.
Card post Lawrence Nwevo opened the second half with a basket inside to cut the lead to eight, but from there, Knight’s outfit proceeded to run off and hide leading by over 20 points most of the final half. The Red Raiders’ biggest margin of the night was 25 points at 77-52 in the final minute of play.
“If you shoot 37 percent from the field, 23 percent from the three-point line, make just 41 percent of your free throws, and turn the ball over 21 times, it’s hard to win any game much less a road game and one in the Big 12,” said Roccaforte.
Roccaforte also felt the final-second three-pointer from midcourt at the end of the first half tilted the momentum Texas Tech’s way. “When they hit that last second shot from midcourt at halftime, they went in with lots of momentum,” the LU coach noted.
On the night, Lamar hit 21-of-56 shots from the floor, and just 32.1 percent (9-of-28) in the second half. On the other hand, Tech nailed 51.9 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes on 14-of-27 shooting.
LU also just hit 2-of-9 treys on the night. In their first two games, free throw shooting was a strongpoint as the Cards averaged 80 percent from the line.
But in their loss to Middle Tennessee State Thursday, the Cardinals were just 9-of-19 from the line.
Poor free throw shooting carried over to Saturday’s loss also as Lamar connected on just 9-of-22 from the charity stripe with 5-of-6 coming into the final five minutes of the game. In the first 35 minutes, LU shot a horrid 4-of-16 from the foul line.
In its three previous games, Lamar had drastically improved in the area of turnovers. But on this night on the plains of Lubbock, that was certainly not the case.
The Cardinals were pressured into 21 turnovers and Tech made them pay as the Red Raiders converted LU’s miscues into 29 points.
Leading the way for the Cards was sophomore Charlie Harper with 12 points and seven rebounds (five boards of which came in the opening six minutes). Justin Nabors also had a good game with 10 rebounds and nine points.
But after that, offensively it was a pretty difficult night for Roccaforte’s Cardinals. Pacing the Red Raiders was Dallas junior Roberts with 15 points and nine rebounds in only 26 minutes.
Following Monday’s game at Athens, Ohio (Ohio Univ.), the Cardinals will conclude their rugged four-game trip with a contest at Marshall.
