Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (1-0, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Northwestern State Demons (1-0, 0-0)
When to Watch: Friday, November 8th @ 8:00 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 -34
Advanced Stats
| TEXAS TECH | STAT | NORTHWESTERN ST. |
|---|---|---|
Lineups
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Elijah Hawkins (5-11/160) | – / – |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Chance McMillian (6-3/190) | 17.0 / 5.0* |
| SMALL FORWARD | Kerwin Walton (6-5/210) | 21.0 / 4.0 |
| POWER FORWARD | Darrion Williams (6-6/225) | 17.0 / 6.0 |
| CENTER | JT Toppin (6-9/225) | 19.0 / 8.0 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Federiko Federiko (6-11/215) | 5.0 / 5.0 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Kevin Overton (6-5/200) | 10.0 / 2.0 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Christian Anderson (6-2/165) | – / – |
| NINTH MAN | Devan Cambridge (6-6/210) | 5.0 / 7.0 |
| TENTH MAN | Eemeli Yalaho (6-8/240) | – / – |
| ELEVENTH MAN | Leon Horner (6-4/215) | – / – |
| TWELFTH MAN | Corbin Green (6-5/230) | 0.0 / 0.0 |
| THIRTEENTH MAN | Jazz Henderson (5-11/175) | – / – |
| FOURTEENTH MAN | Jack Francis (6-3/185) | 0.0 / 0.0 |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Micah Thomas (6-0/175) | 5.0 / 5.0* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Jon Sanders II (6-2/190) | 16.0 / 1.0 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Addison Patterson (6-7/205) | 14.0 / 5.0 |
| POWER FORWARD | JT Warren (6-7/205) | 12.0 / 3.0 |
| CENTER | Jerald Colonel (6-9/200) | 8.0 / 4.0 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Love Bettis (5-11/165) | 12.0 / 0.0 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Landyn Jumawan (6-4/190) | 6.0 / 1.0 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Willie Williams (6-6/235) | 7.0 / 5.0 |
| NINTH MAN | J.C. Riley, Jr. (6-10/250) | 4.0 / 5.0 |
| TENTH MAN | C Mubiru (6-5/199) | 9.0 / 3.0 |
* Assists.
Starting 5
1. Stats. We’re not going to get a lot of advanced stats from Northwestern State since they played a team that probably barely is a college team, Dallas Christian (which I thought was a high school to be honest). they are obviously projected to be a pretty bad team and this might be a blowout greater than Bethune-Cookman.
2. Scouting. Thomas is supposed to be their best player and they are a guard-heavy team with Sanders and Bettis being their projected best players. Warren is likely to be the best rebounder and that’s the extent of my knowledge.
3. How They Match Up. Difficult to figure this out, the early season stats are difficult, the stats are too much with just 1 game, McMillian, Williams, Toppin and Walton all have offensive ratings highter than 140 and McMillian has a rating of 176, Williams is 160 and toppin is 152. That’s high and not sustainable, although it could be for very sustainable for this game.
4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese: High school teammates JT Toppin, Jazz Henderson reunited with Texas Tech basketball
“The epitome of what it is that you want in young men,” Thomas said of his former players. “The epitome of hard work. The epitome of excellence, self-determination, self-motivation. They challenge you as coaches because they want to be so good at what it is that they’re trying to do, and it’s way bigger than basketball for those guys.”
Toppin was an all-state tournament selection in leading the Eagles to state titles in 2022 and 2023, earning championship game MVP honors in the latter. He turned his high school success into a solid collegiate debut, winning Mountain West freshman of the year at New Mexico before trying his hand at the NBA draft combine.
5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:
Back for the second game of a four-game homestand to start the season, Texas Tech will host Northwestern State at 8 p.m. on Friday at United Supermarkets Arena after putting on a sharpshooting display where the team matched a 3-point program record with 16 in a 94-61 win over Bethune-Cookman during Tuesday’s season opener. All five starters scored in double figures in the win, led by Kerwin Walton’s 21 points, JT Toppin going for 19 points and Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams finishing with 17 points each. Kevin Overton added 10 for the Red Raiders who used a 17-0 run to build a 50-28 lead going into halftime and finished the game shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 16-for-30 (53.3 percent) from deep.
“When you start off the game, you can see your team settle into what really is your identity,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “We shared the ball well and I was excited about the way we rebounded. The emphasis is on how well we can guard the ball and be disruptive defensively while maintaining aggressiveness on offense to put people on their heels. It will be important for us to take a big step in this one. How well do we guard actions and how we finish possessions with rebounds so that we push in transitions. It was a great first start and we’re excited to be back in front of the home crowd in the USA again on Friday night.”