Baylor’s Dunn dooms Raiders once again
January 10, 2009 · Print This Article
BY JEFF WALKER
A-J SPORTS EDITOR
WACO — LaceDarius Dunn is becoming a thorn in the side of the Texas Tech men’s basketball team.
The sophomore guard scored 11 consecutive points on Saturday to help No. 23 Baylor surge ahead for good, and the Bears hung on for a 73-61 victory in front of 8,032 fans at the Ferrell Center.
Dunn, who scored a game-high 20 points off the bench, set his career high last season in Lubbock with a 38-point effort in Baylor’s 86-73 victory at United Spirit Arena.
“He’s just good,” Tech head coach Pat Knight said. “We were deciding before the game if we were going to stick on somebody, but they’ve got three or four guys out there that can hurt you, so it’s not your typical scout.
“We didn’t stay on (Dunn) until he hit a couple. Maybe we should have stayed on him, but if you stay on him, one of the other guys will step up and hurt you.”
Despite committing 23 turnovers — 15 in the first half — the Red Raiders kept the Big 12 Conference opener close throughout the game.
Dunn scored only nine points in the first 28 minutes, but he got hot starting at the 12:15 mark of the second half when he nailed his first of three 3-pointers in a span of less than three minutes.
Back-to-back shots from the left wing gave the Bears a 48-45 lead. Five more points from Dunn and a layup by Henry Dugat gave Baylor its first double-digit lead of the game (55-45) with 8:55 remaining.
Tech (10-6, 0-1 Big 12) trimmed the deficit to five (60-55) with 4:44 to play, but the Bears scored on three consecutive possessions, then hit free throws down the stretch to put away the game.
“I told the kids after the game that we’re 1-0 in effort and 0-1 in the won-loss (column),” Knight said. “Baylor is just too good to have lapses. I thought we competed really well for 35 minutes and then we just had some bad mistakes there in the last five minutes and they have the guys, two very good guards, that are going to come down and make plays.”
Tech, 0-3 on the road prior to this game, couldn’t have picked a tougher game to open conference play. The Bears (13-2, 1-0), ranked in The Associated Press poll entering conference play for the first time in school history, had one non-conference victory against a ranked opponent (Arizona State) and were coming off a one-point home loss to South Carolina.
The Red Raiders scored the first seven points, though, and led until Dunn made his first 3-pointer at the 12:16 mark that tied the score at 15-15.
The game turned in Baylor’s favor, though, when Tech went nearly eight minutes between field goals.
Nick Okorie’s jumper gave Tech a 14-9 lead at the 13:50 mark. The Red Raiders’ next field goal came on a layup by Okorie at the 6:08 mark. The Bears led 25-18 following Okorie’s layup.
“I thought Texas Tech did a good job coming out ready for the game, especially jumping out to an early lead,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “They were ready to play from the opening tip and I thought our upperclassmen did a good job of rallying us. … The first half, they did a good job of keeping us off balance.”
The Bears maintained the lead until Okorie’s 3-pointer gave the Red Raiders a 40-39 edge with 14:50 to play.
Alan Voskuil hit a jumper at the 12:40 mark to put Tech ahead 44-42, the last time the Red Raiders led the rest of the game, setting up Dunn for his scoring barrage.
“The most important thing was we got stops,” Dunn said. “I’ve got great guards and we always say to get it to the hot guy. I was just the hot hand and taking advantage of it.”
jeff.walker@lubbockonline.com uE06C 766-8735
terry.greenberg@lubbockonline.com uE06C 766-8700
Note to Red Raiders. Better job, but there’s this guy named LaceDarius Dunn who scored 38 on you in Lubbock last year. Might try guarding him and not letting him have wide open threes.
You played hard almost 35 minutes. Try playing harder for 40.
Tech needs better decision making and passing by the point guard. Point guard needs to be the leader and not seeing it. I keep hearing how good a passer he is but only see it a couple times a game and a lot of bad passes and poor decisions. Quicker passing opens up shots. Everyone looks lethargic when passing.
The whole team needs to work on concentration. Missing simple 2 to 4 foot uncontested baskets are inexcusable.
Don’t rely on the center alone to crash the board. Everyone help out. If you can’t get the rebound try to tip it out to the guards. Prince is good at that but don’t see much from the others. Very little effort under the basket. Need better team play.
You can see the talent…but everyone is not working as a team. Saw a couple of players putting out very little effort and standing around. Movement and quick passes.
23 turnovers; 15 in the 1st half. Roberson is getting worse, not better; and while he makes some spectacular plays, he is about 3 to 1 – bad to good.
Free throw shooting was horrible too.
When you are on the road, and not going to wow them with your talent, protect the ball and make free throws.
52 turnovers this year for Roberson. You can’t win with sloppy play like that…especially if it is your point guard.