Date: Wednesday, December 2nd
Time: 8:00 pm
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-1, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Sam Houston State Bearkats (2-4, 0-0)
Location: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas
TV/Stream: FOX Sports Southwest Plus
Radio/Stream: 93.7 FM/104.3 FM/950 AM
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Kennan Evans (6-3/180) | 8.8 / 2.2* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Devaugntah Williams (6-4/205) | 18.8 / 5.2 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Toddrick Gotcher (6-4/205) | 8.6 / 4.4 |
| POWER FORWARD | Zach Smith (6-8/215) | 11.4 / 5.4 |
| CENTER | Norense Odiase (6-9/260) | 7.6 / 4.8 |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Jalin Barnes (6-1/185) | 4.7 / 3.0* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Dakarai Henderson (6-2/188) | 15.2 / 2.0 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Jamal Williams (6-4/190) | 7.2 / 4.5 |
| POWER FORWARD | Torry Butler (6-5/200) | 8.0 / 7.8 |
| CENTER | Aurimas Majauskas (6-7/245) | 12.3 / 5.0 |
* Assists.
1. Sam Houston State is 2-4 on the year and they do not appear to be a very good basketball team. That’s probably being nice. They lost to SMU by 35, Southern Illinois by 5, by 20+ to Cal and by 1 to Wiley College in an upset. Their lone wins came against St. Thomas and Bethune Cookman.
2. Texas Tech has jumped up a bit and is actually now the 78th best team in the nation according to KenPom, sandwiched between Hofstra and Arizona State. Texas Tech is 106th in the nation in adjusted offense and 74th in adjusted defense. Meanwhile, Sam Houston State is 236th in adjusted offense and 165th in adjusted defense for an overall rating of 208th in the nation.
3. Texas Tech does have a bit of team news. Isaiah Manderson has decided to leave the program, which is really a surprise in a way. Manderson was backing up Norense Odiase, but I suppose he felt that he needed to have additional playing time. Manderson was an important cog and very much needed in Big 12 play. In addition to losing Manderson, Texas Tech did gain a player in Rokas Ulvydas, who was supposed to be ineligible for the entire year, is now eligible this year (via Chris Level on TechTalk). Level mentioned that Ulvydas is very raw and the coaches would like to redshirt him this year to give him a year to develop with the hope he would have 3 years to play after this year. There is also the hope that Texas Tech will have Matt Temple available in December and the coaches think that Temple could maybe contribute.
4. Henderson is the main scorer for SHSU, but he’s not the best shooter, around 35% on the year. One of the guys that is not listed as a starter is Aurimas Majauskas, who averages 11 points a game, but has only played in 4. Not sure if he’s completely out, but he was a pretty nice small forward or off-guard. There’s not a lot of scoring here and maybe more importantly, not a lot of efficient scoring. Only Mahauskas and Butler have an eFG% above .500.
5. Texas Tech should have a huge advantage here. This should not be a close game and if it is close, then it’s a lack of focus. it’s been some time since Texas Tech was ranked so high with the KenPom rankings.