In the Red Raiders first win of the 2012 season on Friday,
Texas Tech dominated the first half but then was outscored in the second half
despite getting the victory.
On Wednesday, in Tech’s second true test of the season, the
Red Raiders looked the same in the first half and unlike the first game, put
the throttle down in the second half outscoring Omaha 48-26 en route to a 91-63
victory.
“It
felt great, and like Dejan (Kravic) said we usually do it the first half,” Tech
junior Jaye Crockett said. “We usually come out sluggish in the second half, so
I’m glad we came out and put the hammer on them. We just have to be more
consistent and go hard that first four minutes of the first half and do the
same in the second.”
Three different players including Crockett and Dejan Kravic,
who both turned in career nights, powered tech’s offensive surge against Omaha
(1-2)
Kravic, who is playing his first season for Tech (2-0) after
sitting out last season, has made an impact quickly.
In the first outing, Kravic chipped in just nine points and
seven rebounds, but in Wednesday’s game the London, Ontario, Canada native
showed how he can use his size to his advantage going for 20 points, 18 coming
in the second half, on 9-for-11 shooting and grabbing six rebounds as well.
It was a message from Tech interim head coach Chris Walker
at halftime that got him ready to go for the second half, Kravic said, and he
got a lot more confidence from it and – message apparently received.
“Confidence,
and just being more aggressive,” he said. “Coach (Chris) Walker sent the
message that I had to be more aggressive if I want to score, and the coaches
and players just gave me great motivation and their the reason I played well
that second half.”
Kravic
was not alone in leading the offensive charge in the second half for the Red
Raiders as Crockett played a team-high 25 minutes and nearly averaged a point
per minute.
Crockett, who was held to just five points in the season
opener, changed his average quickly with a 22-point performance against the
Mavericks on a 9-for-12 shooting night also grabbing 10 rebounds for his fifth
career double-double.
It marked the first time since March 6, 2010 that two Red
Raiders have scored at least 20 points in a single game.
The Clovis, New Mexico native has now come off the bench for
the second-straight game and even with the 22-point showing on Wednesday night,
Crockett said he really doesn’t care when he comes into the game, either
starting or off the bench, just glad he contributed to the win.
“I
really don’t pay attention to the whole come off the bench or starting thing,”
he said. “As long as I am playing I’m happy, but we just came out there and got
the job done and I’m happy about that.”
Other key contributors to the Red Raiders success on Wednesday
included Josh Gray, going 6-for-13 for 15 points marking his second-straight
double-digit performance this season and Walker said these results are just
from Gray sitting down and being a real student of the game as he continues to
get better with each day.
But overall when looking at his squad’s performance in the
victory, Walker was pleased with some things and the style he wants his team to
play is coming along.
“I
thought it was a great effort overall by our guys,” he said. “It was nice to
see that after we started off great in the first two games that we played in
the first half and this time we started off pretty good and towards the end of
the first half we did not so good, so it was good to see in the second half we
actually picked it up and in the second half of the last two games we weren’t
so good, weren’t so crisp and I know sometimes it looks a little ragged and
like the other team is scoring but as I tell the guys, our style is to wear the
opponent down.
“We
wear them down, we have more bodies, I have more confidence in everyone of my
guys to get in the game and play and to take whatever shot, I think that if
they can make it they should take it and the bottom line is we prey on guys
that think there is a weak link among our guys.”