Halftime Musings: Jayhawks stumble in first half, trail Red Raiders 37-28

A huge three-point barrage from Texas Tech put Kansas on their heels, and they couldn't dig their way all the way back out.

In case you hadn't heard about the tough schedule for the Kansas Jayhawks, they were quick to demonstrate just how big the issue was. Taking advantage of the short rest for Kansas, the Texas Tech Red Raiders ran out to an early lead, withstood a comeback to never fall behind, and then shot their way back into a big halftime lead. 

Kansas couldn't do anything to stop the three-point barrage from Texas Tech, and they trail at halftime 37-28. Here are some thoughts about what we saw in the first half and what we need to see in the second half.

Dead Legs

It's painfully obvious that the team is tired and hurting. Dajuan Harris is visibly limping at every stoppage. Hunter Dickinson is getting pushed around in the post. KJ Adams is an abysmal 1-8 from the field, a far cry from his Big 12-leading 63.8% for the season. Even Nick Timberlake, who leads Kansas with 9 points, has been a few steps slow in the first half, failing to close out on threes and picking up two early fouls. If it wasn't for the quick cuts of Johnny Furphy, I might be worried that the Jayhawks were about to be completely run out of the gym.

Unreal 3-Point Shooting

I noted in the keys to the game that Kansas had to worry about the three-point shooting of Texas Tech. They have been shooting 40% recently, and if Kansas was going to pull off the win, I didn't think they could afford to leave shooters open. While Kansas hasn't been great on closing out on three pointers, Texas Tech is still shooting much better than you can reasonably expect. The real question heading into the second half is just how much that number is going to come down. Hopefully it's a big swing.

Free Throws Might Be the Lifeline

As bad as the Jayhawks are struggling from the field, they have made that up well at the line. Kansas has gotten to the line for 9 free throws, making 8 of them. Compared to the 1 of 5 for Texas Tech, it's nice to see Kansas able to use the charity stripe to keep the game from getting entirely out of hand. The aggression should continue, and hopefully that will lead to some foul trouble for Texas Tech and some free points for the Jayhawks.