Guillaume Boucard’s performance was the lone bright spot for the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team on Wednesday night, as Rob Smart’s team fell 67-60 to the visiting Texas Tech Red Raiders. Boucard had a game-high 21 points on the night, and shot a respectable 9-for-16 from the floor in a losing cause.
Despite trailing 27-26 at halftime, the Red Raiders seemed to dominate Carleton for the entirety of the second half, thanks in large part to massive dunks and quick ball movement from the likes of Jordan Jackson and Zach Smith. While Carleton never trailed the Red Raiders by more than eleven, it always felt like a Texas Tech victory was on the cards.
Veteran Carleton hybrid man Connor Wood, typically deadly from beyond the arc, went 2-for-13 from deep and was just 7-of-19 overall from the floor. Gavin Resch, expected to pick up some of the offensive load left by the graduated Scrubb brothers, shot 1-of-11 from the floor. All things considered, it was a decidedly bad night at the office for Rob Smart’s Ravens, who shot an uncharacteristically low 10 per cent from beyond the arc.
To their credit, the Red Raiders showed depth and another level of athleticism. No player racked up more than 26 minutes for Tubby Smith’s team, while Texas Tech outscored Carleton 24-4 off the bench.
Carleton appeared overmatched at times physically—a concern that has to be present amongst the coaching staff as the Ravens are typically known for their physical ability and conditioning. It was Texas Tech, however, that ran the floor on Wednesday night, slashing to the rim and laying down emphatic dunks which elicited a response from the pro-Carleton crowd throughout the second half.
With Wednesday’s loss to Texas Tech, the Ravens wrapped up their 2015 Can-Am Shootout series of exhibition games with a 2-3 record. Carleton’s losses came against Baylor (80-78), Murray State (63-59), and Texas Tech (67-60), with its pair of victories coming against Baylor (doubleheader, 79-73) and Valparaiso (77-59).
The Ravens next officially scheduled pre-season tune-up won’t be until mid-October, when Carleton will host Acadia (Oct. 16), Toronto (Oct. 17), and Bishop’s (Oct. 18) as part of the annual House-Laughton tournament.
