Texas Tech 1/21 7:00 ESPNU

[Lobot]

The Red Raiders come to town for the first (?) time. TTU is 13-4 on the season. They've been in the game every time and all the losses have been close. One thing about their schedule is that they've only played 2 true road games so far both in Utah. A couple of their losses were neutral court but the two in conferences losses took place in Lubbock. We have one common opponent in Arizona which Tech beat 72-54

This is a good all round roster we're facing. JT Toppin leads the team in several categories and almost averages a double double. Fun fact: His Twitter handle is @J1izzle. He's balanced out by 2 double figure scorers and a high assist point guard in Elijah Hawkins. Hawkins is averaging 6.3 assists per game.

Tale of the Tape favors TTU in this one. Basic stats are about even but they score about 10 more point pergame than we do. ESPN Predictor likes UC at about 53%. I have not seen a line yet.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...tats/_/id/2641

[swilsonsp4]

Here’s what the Bearcats defense will face tomorrow night. First of all, the Red Raiders can really shoot, and that’s across the board among the nine players who put in at least 17 minutes per game. As a team they hit 49.6% from the floor, with 38.9% outside the arc and another 77.9% from the line. The only contributor who makes free throws at less than 75% is JT Toppin (67.9%). Five of the nine make well over 80%.

Their KenPom metrics are quite good across the board (#10 offensive efficiency and #35 defensive efficiency). By comparison, the Cats are #132 and #7, respectively).

The fact that they have a nine-man rotation makes this game quite different from facing the Sun Devils. The only Raider averaging over 30 minutes per game is Chance McMillian (32.8), with Darrion Williams nearly there at 29.2.

In similar fashion to the Bearcats, Tech played a very soft non-conference schedule (#331 per KenPom, versus #311 for UC).

This is the next game in the climb up to the top half of the B12, with 13 more to go after that. The Cats need to capture multiple Q1 wins. At present, the next seven games present five Q1 and two Q2 opportunities. That needs to start with protection of the home court tomorrow night.

[swilsonsp4]

Here's an interesting tidbit I picked up from the Tech website:

"The Red Raiders (13-4, 4-2 Big 12) have not allowed a single point in the final five minutes of the past two games."