Preview & Game Day Thread: Texas Tech vs. Baylor

Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-3, 1-1)
Bad Guys: Baylor Bears (15-0, 3-0)
When to Watch: Tuesday, January 11th @ 6:00 pm
Where to Watch: Ferrell Center | Waco, Texas
How to Watch: ESPN2 | ESPN+
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: Baylor -12

Advanced Stats

TEXAS TECH STAT BAYLOR
18
KenPom
1
60
KP AdjO
4
5
KP AdjD
7
22
T-Rank
1
86
T-Rank O
5
8
T-Rank D
14
31
Haslemetric
1

Lineups

TEXAS TECH
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Kevin McCullar (6-6/210) 13.5 / 3.5*
SHOOTING GUARD Adonis Arms (6-5/200) 8.3 / 3.5
SMALL FORWARD Davion Warren (6-6/215) 11.0 / 2.8
POWER FORWARD Kevin Obanor (6-8/235) 8.6 / 5.4
CENTER Bryson Williams (6-8/240) 11.9 / 4.9
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Marcus Santos-Silva (6-7/250) 5.4 / 3.9
SEVENTH MAN Clarence Nadolny (6-3/200) 4.6 / 1.2
EIGHTH MAN Daniel Batcho (6-11/235) 3.7 / 4.6
NINTH MAN Mylik Wilson (6-3/175) 4.2 / 3.4*
TENTH MAN Chibuzo Agbo (6-7/220) 2.1 / 1.8
ELEVENTH MAN KJ Allen (6-6/255) 2.3 / 1.7
TWELFTH MAN Terrence Shannon, Jr. (6-6/215) 14.3 / 3.2
THIRTEENTH MAN Austin Timperman (6-9/190) 0.0 / 0.0
BAYLOR
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD James Akinjo (6-1/190) 14.4 / 6.1*
SHOOTING GUARD Adam Flagler (6-3/180) 12.3 / 3.6*
SMALL FORWARD Kendall Brown (6-8/205) 11.4 / 3.7
POWER FORWARD Matthew Mayer (6-9/225) 8.7 / 4.8
CENTER Flo Thamba (6-10/245) 5.3 / 4.5
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN LJ Cryer (6-1/185) 13.0 / 1.7
SEVENTH MAN Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatch (6-8/245) 8.4 / 7.6
EIGHTH MAN Jeremy Sochan (6-9/230) 7.9 / 5.9
NINTH MAN Dale Bonner (6-2/170) 2.0 / 0.7
TENTH MAN – (-/-) – / –

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. Another elite team, this time, Baylor is elite on both sides of the court, an absolutely stellar shooting team, 36th in the nation in 3-point shooting and 14th inside the arc while being 6th in the nation in offensive rebounding and only one real flaw on offense, which is free throw rate, 308th in the nation and free throw percentage, 294th. Sort of strange to have such a great shooting team not good at those things, but that’s how good they are in other categories. Defensively, not really a weakness, 5th in the nation in forcing turnovers, 45th in the nation in opposing three-point percentage, and 49th in overall eFG%.

2. Scouting. Well, Baylor is really good at the guards, they have a ton of good shooters and that’s not something I really like as a Texas Tech fan. Brown is an elite shooter inside the arc and doesn’t have a ton of attempts outside, but is still very good. The volume 3-point shooters are Cryer, Flagler, and Akinjo, with Cryer making 47%, Flagler making 37%, and Akinjo making 41%. Thamba does everything well but pass the ball and doesn’t have the ball in his hands much at all.

3. How They Match Up. My guess at the starting lineup is a guess at this point and realize that I’m throwing darts. I also think that it doesn’t matter all too much. I am relatively confident that McCullar will start and that will help with depth, 5 games in 11 days ain’t no joke and I think this is where Mark Adams’ line changes will be incredibly beneficial. I have noted that Sadaar Calhoun is no longer on the team and adjusted the lineup accordingly. Jaylon Tyson is not added as he won’t play this year.

As far as this game, Baylor has a pretty distinct advantage and is playing at home and is undefeated. The one good thing for Texas Tech is that they have not been blow out by any team thus far, which I think speaks to how this team prepares and how they play defense. At some point, that won’t be true, but for now, I think it is a calling-card and it is about how Adams gets his team ready to play. Baylor’s closest games are games where opposing teams shoot really well inside the arc so that’s part of the plan I’d say (shoot well is a plan? that’s always the plan!).

4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.

5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:

The Red Raiders (11-3, 1-1 Big 12) are coming off a 75-67 home win over No. 6 Kansas, while the Bears (15-0, 3-0 Big 12) extended an overall 21-game winning streak by earning a 76-64 victory at TCU on Saturday in Fort Worth. Tech owns an 80-62 all-time advantage in the historic series that dates back to 1937, but Baylor has won four in a row overall and five straight in Waco. TTU snapped a four-game losing streak to KU with its win on Saturday.

The Bears are currently 9-0 on their home court this season coming into the first match against the Red Raiders who are 0-2 in true road games.

Tech has a quick turnaround after its trip to Waco, hosting Oklahoma State at 6 p.m. on Thursday before playing at Kansas State on Saturday to complete the three-game, five-day stretch. Tech and OSU are playing on Thursday in a game that was originally scheduled for New Year’s Day but was moved due to COVID protocol issues within the Cowboy program.

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