Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (19-7, 8-5)
Bad Guys: UCF Knights (13-12, 4-9)
When to Watch: Saturday, February 24th @ 3:00 pm
Where to Watch: Addition Financial Arena | Orlando, Florida
How to Watch: ESPN+
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -1
Advanced Stats
Lineups
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Joe Toussaint (6-0/195) | 12.6 / 4.3* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Pop Isaacs (6-2/180) | 16.2 / 3.7* |
| SMALL FORWARD | Kerwin Walton (6-5/210) | 8.4 / 2.1 |
| POWER FORWARD | Darrion Williams (6-8/225) | 10.5 / 7.3 |
| CENTER | Warren Washington (7-0/235) | 10.3 / 7.7 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Chance McMillian (6-3/185) | 10.1 / 3.6 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Robert Jennings (6-7/230) | 3.7 / 2.7 |
| EIGHTH MAN | KyeRon Lindsay (6-8/215) | 3.4 / 1.7 |
| NINTH MAN | Lamar Washington (6-4/200) | 2.4 / 1.5 |
| TENTH MAN | Eemeli Yalaho (6-8/240) | 0.3 / 0.2 |
| ELEVENTH MAN | D’Maurian Williams (6-3/195) | 0.3 / 0.4 |
| TWELFTH MAN | Jack Francis (6-3/185) | 0.5 / 0.8 |
| THIRTEENTH MAN | Devan Cambridge (6-6/210) | Out for Year |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Darius Johnson (6-1/200) | 14.2 / 3.9* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Shemarri Allen (6-4/190) | 7.3 / 3.9 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Jaylin Sellers (6-4/196) | 16.5 / 4.0 |
| POWER FORWARD | C.J. Walker (6-8/215) | 6.8 / 5.1 |
| CENTER | Ibrahima Diallo (7-0/246) | 6.0 / 6.0 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Marchelus Avery (6-7/210) | 8.7 / 4.3 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Omar Payne (6-10/228) | 4.5 / 3.9 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Nils Machowski (6-2/180) | 2.1 / 1.2 |
| NINTH MAN | Antwann Jones (6-6/215) | 4.4 / 1.8 |
| TENTH MAN | Thierno Sylla (6-11/216) | 4.3 / 3.7 |
* Assists.
Starting 5
1. Stats. UCF is on a bit of a slide and that worries me. Just like the last time, UCF isn’t very good offensively, 294th in 3-point shooting and 278th in 2-point shooting, so they are just not a good shooting team. The Knights are 207th in turnover rate, maybe they won’t be as bad at home, but are okay at offensive rebounding, 68th in offensive rebounding, and 106th free throw rate. The defense shines, 12th in the nation and are fantastic at defending the 3-point shot, 19th in the nation. They are great at turning teams over, 28th in the nation, and 3rd in blocking opposing team shots. The worst thing that they do is put teams on the line, 300th in free throw rate.
2. Scouting. Sellers is the most high usage rate and doesn’t turn the ball over, but just shoots a lot. He only shoots 30% from the 3-point line and has 142 attempts. Johnson is a terrific passer and the team leader in steals. UCF doesn’t really have a guy that’s a great shooter from deep, Johnson shoots 37% which is okay, but not great. Not a great shooter, but am guessing he’s great defensively. Diallo, Payne and Avery are the main rebounders with Diallo being a fantastic offensive rebounder and Diallo and Payne are your main shot blockers.
3. How They Match Up. This is a toss-up game, UCF is only predicted by T-Rank to lose by 1 point so I’m not feeling good vibes about this game. Texas Tech doesn’t put teams on the line so that helps any offensive run that they might go on and maybe just UCF shoot themselves out of this game? Probably a bad plan, but I would not want those big guys to get easy buckets especially if Warren Washington doesn’t play. UCF has some talented bigs and being small is a problem. No bold proclamations about Lindsay needing to play more as that’s already happened, but he should continue to get more minutes.
4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.
Thoughts on playing UCF on Saturday in Orlando pic.twitter.com/4lQOPaGcWi
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 24, 2024
5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:
No. 23 Texas Tech is intent on a season sweep of UCF when it travels to Orlando, Florida for a matchup against the Knights at 3 p.m. (CST) on Saturday at Addition Financial Arena. The Red Raiders (19-7, 8-5 Big 12) are coming off an 82-81 win over TCU and are now one win away from reaching the 20-win milestone for the 17th time in 99 seasons of program history. UCF (13-12, 4-9 Big 12) dropped its fourth straight game with a 77-67 loss at West Virginia on Tuesday in a losing streak that started with a 66-59 defeat on Feb. 10 in Lubbock.
Tech is currently ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll along with being at No. 25 in Kenpom and No. 28 in the NCAA NET Rankings going into its first trip to the UCF campus. The Red Raiders are 2-4 on the road in Big 12 play with wins at Texas and Oklahoma. Tech will return from Florida to host Texas at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at United Supermarkets Arena.