Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-2, 0-0)
Bad Guys: UT Arlington Mavericks (6-4, 0-0)
When to Watch: Thursday, December 21st @ 1:00 pm
Where to Watch: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas
How to Watch: ESPN+
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -14.5

Advanced Stats

Lineups

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. We’re back at it. The UTA offense is okay, they are a terrible turnover team, 348th in the nation, which is really bad. If they could solve that, they’d be pretty decent. The Mavericks are really a middle of the road shooting team, 169th in 3-point shooting and 148th in 2-point shooting. They also get a ton of shots blocked, 331st in the nation. They do get to the line, which helps the offense quite a bit, 61st in the nation. Defensively, it is sort of the same thing, they are a team that does not turn opponents over at all, 321st in the nation and they put teams on the charity stripe a lot, 271st. The thing they do well? Keeping opponents off of the offensive boards, 61st in the nation.

2. Scouting. Russell is the engine, but for just 1 game? That’s all he’s played and he scored 28 points, was terrific from the outside, 4 of 9 from deep, and 5 of 8 inside. High assist rate, but also a high turnover rate and high steal rate. I have no idea what he’ll do in game two. Wilson is also very good, terrific rebounder on both ends and the team’s best shot-blocker. Douglas and Talbot almost exclusively shoot 3’s, Douglas is good at it and makes 48%, while Talbot only makes 36%.

3. How They Match Up. Texas Tech’s biggest downfall defensively is that they are allowing teams to shoot really well from deep, 308th in the nation in 3-point defense and they’ll have to guard against that with the Mavericks along with keeping UTA off the free throw line. Texas Tech should be good on the boards. Just a quick shooting update, Walton is still shooting 63% from deep and McMillian is shooting 41%. That’s pretty amazing. I feel like Isaacs is digging his way out a bit, he’s shooting 25% from deep, but 51% inside the arc.

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

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

The Red Raiders (8-2) are coming off their third 20-plus point victory of the season after rolling to a 76-54 neutral-court win over Vanderbilt on Saturday night in Fort Worth, while the Mavericks (6-4) picked up a 76-73 win over Air Force in the game before Tech’s at Dickies Arena. Tech finished the game against Vandy with 22 assists and were 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) on 3-pointers in a game it never trailed after jumping out to a 9-0 lead with two 3-pointers from Pop Isaacs and one from Kerwin Walton to start the game. Isaacs finished with a team-high 19 points and a career-high seven assists and was joined in double-figure scoring by Chance McMillian who had 14 points and 12 points each from Toussaint and Walton.

“You have to keep pushing every day,” McCasland said. “You have to do it mentally and physically. That’s how you keep improving. With this group, I’m excited because there is a look of expectations within the team and program. At first everyone was trying to figure out their roles and where we were going. There’s a real move toward everyone understanding how we need to play in order to win and how we need to compete everyday in order to win. They’re embracing the hard things that go with that. I know we’re not there yet, but I can see growth in our approach.”