Texas Tech 2/3 6:00 ESPN+

[GoBearcats31]

We're on to Lubbock.

UC travels to face #15 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 16-4 (5-2), coming off a 7 point loss at TCU.

TTU is coached by Grant McCasland, who won the NIT last season at North Texas.

Top performers:
- Richard "Pop" Isaacs, a 6'2 sophomore: 17.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists
- Joe Toussaint, a 6'0 super senior (Iowa/WVU): 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists
- Warren Washington, a 7'0 senior (fourth school): 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks
- Chance McMillan, a 6'3 senior (via Grand Canyon): 10.4 points, 3.5 rebounds
- Darrion Williams, a 6'6 sophomore (via Nevada): 9.0 points, 6.9 rebounds

* Third-leading scorer Devan Cambridge suffered a season-ending injury in December

Looks like UC, in theory, should have the edge inside but do they have the speed and length on the perimeter? Seems like a good game to get Jizzle some more minutes.

Ken Pom: #27 (14th offensive efficiency, 78th defensive efficiency)
NET: #29

TTU scores 77.2 points per game, including 37.6% from three and 77.5% from the FT line.
UC scores 77.0 points per game, but just 32.8% from three and 67.8% from the FT line.

Big 12 results
- W at Texas by 11
- W vs Oklahoma State by 17
- W vs Kansas State by 1
- L at Houston by 23
- W vs BYU by 7
- W at Oklahoma by 1
- L at TCU by 7

On paper, this seems like a good but not great team. With a home game versus Houston next, this would be a great one for UC to steal; otherwise they will be 3-6 heading into a game versus a national title contender in Houston.


Bob Huggins, 2022: "They better get ready. Because it is hard, and the travel is hard. When you travel to where we are traveling and now we are going to travel to BYU and travel to Lubbock, you ever been to Lubbock? ... It's hard man, we go there and play a nine o'clock game in Lubbock and you go out and get on a plane at midnight our time, or one o'clock in the morning our time and you get back at four or five in the morning and you know what you're supposed to do? Get your butt up and go to class." (source: https://www.si.com/college/cincinnat...use-it-is-hard)

[Lobot]

Prepare for Tortillas. They throw them (hopefully not at the players).

https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...s/69915077007/

This game spooked me as soon as it was put on the schedule. Road game with long flight after another road game. Add that to the fact that TTU is much better than expected this year and this is going to be a problem for us. Absolutely have to hit 3s in this game at a decent clip and the right people need to take them.

I'm not going to post bulletin board material but if you want to know how to completely tick off a Texas Tech fan, go search "Tuberville Iraq"

[GoBearcats31]

BRB, going to Google "Tuberville Iraq"

[sedz]

... Absolutely have to hit 3s in this game at a decent clip and the right people need to take them.
...

Who are the right people to take threes right now? Not a very long list.

[longtimefan]

Prepare for Tortillas. They throw them (hopefully not at the players).

https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...s/69915077007/

I'm not going to post bulletin board material but if you want to know how to completely tick off a Texas Tech fan, go search "Tuberville Iraq"

I know what that’s about. Honestly, any mention of Tuberville should tick off both fan bases. Both would love to send that guy to the real Iraq.

[swilsonsp4]

When TTU's HC, Grant McCasland, put his team together he brought in six transfers, all who have NCAA tourney experience. One of those is Pop Isaacs, who is the Red Raiders' top player. Isaacs is heavily involved in their offense and never met a shot he didn't like.

On the negative side, TTU cleared Pop to play while he's being sued by the family of an underaged girl whom Isaacs allegedly raped during the team's trip to the Bahamas in November. The girl was drunk, as was Pop, with a booster providing the drinks. The girl is the sister of a former TTU teammate who left the team after the incident.

[Lobot]

Who are the right people to take threes right now? Not a very long list.

Good question. I’d say Simas but he’s cold on the road generally . Day Day is marginal. I’m going with Skillings if he’s hot and Newman if he’s healthy and Reed if he’s playing. I can deal with Vik if he’s full go for 1 or 2. Jizzle if we’re lucky.

I’ve not heard a thing on Newman btw.

[Lobot]

When TTU's HC, Grant McCasland, put his team together he brought in six transfers, all who have NCAA tourney experience. One of those is Pop Isaacs, who is the Red Raiders' top player. Isaacs is heavily involved in their offense and never met a shot he didn't like.

On the negative side, TTU cleared Pop to play while he's being sued by the family of an underaged girl whom Isaacs allegedly raped during the team's trip to the Bahamas in November. The girl was drunk, as was Pop, with a booster providing the drinks. The girl is the sister of a former TTU teammate who left the team after the incident.

I had forgotten he was involved. Surprised he’s still on the team

[Lobot]

Newman's status for this game is unknown. It's a rib injury. He's going to try and play through it per Wes.

[GoBearcats31]

Chuckie Kempf / Tom Crean (!) on ESPN+

[red_n_black_attack]

We're on to Lubbock.

UC travels to face #15 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 16-4 (5-2), coming off a 7 point loss at TCU.

TTU is coached by Grant McCasland, who won the NIT last season at North Texas.

Top performers:
- Richard "Pop" Isaacs, a 6'2 sophomore: 17.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists
- Joe Toussaint, a 6'0 super senior (Iowa/WVU): 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists
- Warren Washington, a 7'0 senior (fourth school): 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks
- Chance McMillan, a 6'3 senior (via Grand Canyon): 10.4 points, 3.5 rebounds
- Darrion Williams, a 6'6 sophomore (via Nevada): 9.0 points, 6.9 rebounds

* Third-leading scorer Devan Cambridge suffered a season-ending injury in December

Looks like UC, in theory, should have the edge inside but do they have the speed and length on the perimeter? Seems like a good game to get Jizzle some more minutes.

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I'd like to see more Jizzle in place of Day Day too, but more Reed could be good too. Both have defended well on the perimeter. I'd also like to shift away from the three, and take more two's, either dribble pentrate and take a shot from foul line or dish to our bigs. We score more total points if we shoot 50% or greater from inside the arc versus 20-25% beyond the arc.

Who are the right people to take threes right now? Not a very long list.

CJ, then Simas, then Skillings or Reed. Please Aziz/Jamile/Vik - do not take shots beyond where you can dunk the ball.

[Lobot]

Chuckie Kempf / Tom Crean (!) on ESPN+

Broadcast expectations......

https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015...e-photos-guide

[GoBearcats31]

UC topped TTU en route to the 1961 title
https://twitter.com/GoBearcatsMBB/st...63360631304214

[sedz]

Texas Tech is elite on the offensive end, putting up over 1.2 points per possession against an average opponent, good for 11th best in the country. They don't dominate any one area, with their 40th ranked effective field goal percentage being the only top 50 of the "four factors". They are above average across the board though. They shoot a lot of threes - 41.5% of their shots come from beyond the arc and they make them at a top 30 rate. Guards Isaacs and Toussiant run the show, but neither are very efficient, each sporting effective field goal percentages below 50. Isaacs has been better in conference at 53% (41% from three), still just ok efficiency. Instead it's the three point shooting wings McMillian and Walton and big man Washington who are converting at a high rate. Darrion Williams is a decent all around 6'6 forward who can score inside and out, rebound, and create at low usage.

Offensively, this team profiles very similar to what we just faced at West Virginia, with a poor shooting creator (two of them actually), good three point shooting wings, and a rim running big. So right away we'll get to see if we made any adjustments. Isaacs and Toussiant will gladly take midrange jumpers, and we should invite them to do that. They both shoot under 38% from there, so it's a terrible shot. We've got to be aware of Walton and McMillian at all times on the perimeter. They are one dimensional set shooters who have taken 164 threes at a 48% clip, of which over 90% were assisted. McMillian is also effective on backdoor cuts, as 70% of his rim looks are assisted. He's been especially deadly over his last three games, going 12 of 19 from three and 8 of 10 at the rim. Washington is not an outside scoring threat and is exclusively looking to score at the rim. I think we need to play Isaacs and Toussiant straight up with no help outside the lane. On ball screens, the big should stay with Washington and invite the guards to shoot. We'll have a better chance of slowing them down if we force the guards to take contested shots rather than letting their receiving high efficiency guys get open looks.

On the defensive end, TTU barely cracks the top 100 in overall efficiency, giving up just over a point per possession to an average opponent. Keeping opponents off the free throw line is the only area they are top 100. They are a poor defensive rebounding team, allowing opponents to grab over 30% of their misses. Washington is the 7th best rim protector in the Big 12, blocking 6.8% of shots, higher than anyone on our team. He's the only rim protector though, as the PF Williams only blocks 1.7%, less than Skillings. Washington is the only starter with a defensive box plus minus above 2. Isaacs is a poor defender with a negative DBPM.

Outside of Washington, this is a small team. They run two small guards out there with an undersized PF. We should be able to rebound from all positions. And it's a 6 man rotation so they are not defending aggressively. In fact, I wonder if they play a lot of zone. Over 40% of opponent shots are threes, only 30% of looks are at the rim, they play a slow pace, don't foul, and don't clean up the defensive glass well. Those are statistical hallmarks of a zone defense, and their one true big lineup with two small guards would fit a 2-3 zone well. If that's the case, quick passing and offensive rebounding will be the things to focus on. Of course it would be great if we can hit threes, but we should still be able to score a point per possession with some interior passing and hitting the boards.

[swilsonsp4]

I rewatched the first half of the TTU-TCU game from Tuesday night. Both Isaacs and Toussaint try to attack downhill a lot. Isaacs doesn't necessarily start the offense, but he touches the ball on virtually every possession. He's very crafty, being able to drive and pitch or keep it and use the rim as a shield off the baseline. Toussaint took only three shots but dished out nine assists. McMillian came off the bench, scoring 19 points in 30 minutes (5/9 treys).

The Red Raiders played exclusively man-to-man in the half; no zone possessions. For the game, TCU outrebounded TTU 34-27 (12-4 offensive). The Raiders aren't very big, especially when employing four guards, which they did extensively. Six players saw at least 25 minutes of action. Two others, who failed to score (two rebounds), played a combined 12 minutes. The team plays at a slower than average pace.

It would really help if John Newman can play and do so effectively. Also, Vik needs to be healthy and snap out of the funk he was in in Morgantown.