Date: Tuesday, December 29th
Time: 4:00 pm
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-1, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Richmond Spiders (8-3, 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 / 3.0* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Devaugntah Williams (6-4/205) | 14.2 / 4.2 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Toddrick Gotcher (6-4/205) | 11.4 / 4.7 |
| POWER FORWARD | Zach Smith (6-8/215) | 10.4 / 7.0 |
| CENTER | Norense Odiase (6-9/260) | 8.9 / 4.4 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Aaron Ross (6-8/225) | 7.1 / 5.0 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Justin Gray (6-6/210) | 7.3 / 2.6 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Devon Thomas (6-0/170) | 3.5 / 1.5* |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | ShawnDre’ Jones (5-11/165) | 14.2 / 3.9* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Trey Davis (6-5/215) | 7.1 / 4.5 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Deion Taylor (6-7/215) | 5.0 / 4.0 |
| POWER FORWARD | T.J. Cline (6-9/235) | 15.5 / 4.3 |
| CENTER | Terry Allen (6-8/240) | 20.5 / 8.6 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Marshall Wood (6-8/220) | 9.7 / 4.6 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Khwan Fore (6-0/175) | 4.1 / 2.5 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Jesse Pistokache (6-2/180) | 2.2 / 0.5 |
* Assists.
1. KenPom has Richmond as the 59th best team in the nation with an offensive adjusted rating of 25th in the nation and a defensive adjusted rating of 157th. Meanwhile, Texas Tech is slowly but surely climbing, as the Red Raiders are 46th overall and have an adjusted offensive rating of 112th and adjusted defensive rating of 24th overall.
2. The best player for Richmond is Terry Allen, a big guy for the Spiders, averaging 21 points a game, nearly 9 boards, 2.6 assists, 2.4 steals and to top it off, he shoots 52% from the field and 79% from the free throw line. That’s filling up a box score. The fact that he’s adept at passing the ball and generating steals is pretty danged impressive. He’s also pretty athletic:
3. In addition to Allen, fellow big man T.J. Cline is also impressive, averaging 16 points a game, 4 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Cline also shoots 57% from the floor and has made 58% of his three-point shots. That’s a tough frontcourt to handle if you include Allen. LAJ’s Krista Pirtle notes that Cline is the son of Nancy Lieberman and Kings assistant coach Tim Cline, so he’s got some basketball upbringing.
It also appears that ShawnDre’ Jones commands the offense and does lead the team with nearly 4 assists a game and only 1.5 turnovers. You can read the game notes from the official Richmond site.
4. Norense Odiase hasn’t had a ton of work because of match-ups and smaller teams, but he’ll get a workout against Allen and Cline. Smith will as well, but Odiase will need to be on his game and be a force down low as well as being smart with fouls. Smith is usually pretty good with that, but his defense will be very important. One other note, is that Matt Temple has been a foul machine. He’s going to have to be better about not fouling. He and Ross will be key components coming off the bench.
5. Don’t look now, but Keenan Evans is also about to double-up his assist to turnover ratio. On the year, Evans has 30 assists to 16 turnovers. Last year, Evans was 44 assists to 43 turnovers on the year and he’s doing very well to improve on that. If you want to look at one spot where this team has improved over last year is the turnovers. Last year, Texas Tech averages 13.8 turnovers and 11.1 assists a game, while this year, the turnovers are down slightly, 11.9 per game, and the assists are up, 13.6 per game. That makes a difference.