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."

[London 'Cat]

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."

With how UC routinely has long scoring droughts, this does not bode well for the ‘Cats.

[sedz]

Texas Tech is an unusual offense that is efficient without getting to the rim. They are bottom 40 in rim share, with under a third of their field goals coming from close range. Instead they shoot a lot from midrange, and hit a high rate (44%). Still, 44% effective field goals is bad offense. Our goal should be to run them off the three point line where they are hitting 39% (58.5% effective field goals) and encourage them to take the midrange shot.

Their defensive splits mirror the offense. They are #17 in lowest rim share in the country and #13 in highest midrange share - only Baylor forces more midrange shots on our schedule. Texas Tech isn't great on the defensive glass and they don't block a lot of shots - hallmarks of a pack line defense that forces you to shoot over it. Might be a good chance to see if we can do just that with Simas and CJ out there together.

[GoBearcats31]

ESPNU: Eric Rothman, Tim Welsh

TTU favored on the road by 1.5