Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-2, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (3-7, 0-0)
When to Watch: Monday, December 16th @ 7:00 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 -26.5
Advanced Stats
| TEXAS TECH | STAT | ORAL ROBERTS |
|---|---|---|
Lineups
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Elijah Hawkins (5-11/160) | 6.9 / 5.4* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Chance McMillian (6-3/190) | 15.7 / 3.9 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Kerwin Walton (6-5/210) | 6.3 / 1.8 |
| POWER FORWARD | Darrion Williams (6-6/225) | 16.4 / 5.8 |
| CENTER | JT Toppin (6-9/225) | 18.6 / 11.0 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Kevin Overton (6-5/200) | 11.7 / 3.9 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Christian Anderson (6-2/165) | 7.1 / 2.9* |
| EIGHTH MAN | Federiko Federiko (6-11/215) | 5.4 / 4.0 |
| NINTH MAN | Eemeli Yalaho (6-8/240) | 2.3 / 1.7 |
| TENTH MAN | Leon Horner (6-4/215) | 0.0 / 0.5 |
| ELEVENTH MAN | Jack Francis (6-3/185) | 0.0 / 0.3 |
| TWELFTH MAN | Corbin Green (6-5/230) | 0.0 / 0.7 |
| THIRTEENTH MAN | Jazz Henderson (5-11/175) | – / – |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Issac McBride (6-0/175) | 16.3 / 2.7* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Darius Robinson, Jr. (6-1/155) | 10.1 / 1.9 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Jalen Miller (6-2/195) | 7.9 / 2.1* |
| POWER FORWARD | Sam Alajiki (6-6/237) | 13.7 / 6.7 |
| CENTER | Josh Jones (6-8/242) | 6.6 / 4.5 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | JoJo Moore (6-4/200) | 6.3 / 2.8 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Carlos Rosario (6-7/195) | 6.3 / 2.6 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Luke Gray (6-6/235) | 2.6 / 1.7 |
| NINTH MAN | Pablo Navarro (6-4/205) | 3.6 / 2.9 |
| TENTH MAN | Mathok Majok (7-3/230) | 0.6 / 1.3 |
* Assists.
Starting 5
1. Stats. This should not be a contest. The only thing that ORU does moderately well is make free throws. The Golden Eagles are 320th in 2-point percentage, 177th in 3-point shooting, 331st in offensive rebounding, 196th in free throw rate, and 162nd in turnover rate. The defense is worse. ORU are 344th in 2-point defense, 299th in 3-point defense, 310th in turnover percentage, 298th in allowing offensive boards, and 295th in allowing free throws.
2. Scouting. With or without Toppin, this is a game where Texas Tech should win by 30, there’s just nothing that is an issue statistically that’s an issue. Texas Tech isn’t great at getting to the foul line, 273rd in the nation, but as mentioned above, ORU isn’t great at limiting that, so that’s a push at best.
3. How They Match Up. On the 13th, Grant McCasland said that Toppin was still not at practice, but everyone else was back, so a week after the TAMU loss, which he said that the team played poorly and was his fault. The news is that Toppin is not ready and maybe McCasland is holding him out until after the Lamar game, which is the 21st of December. At this point, there’s no reason to rush him back. This makes me nervous, to see Toppin sit out so long, but Toppin is a plug-and-play player that doesn’t need a ton of time to get into what he does.
4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.
5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:
Two more basketball games before the Christmas break begins on Monday night when Texas Tech hosts Oral Roberts in its seventh of 18 home games this season at 7 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are 6-0 at home this season and currently on a 36-game non-conference home winning streak after a win over DePaul last Wednesday in a Big 12-Big East Battle matchup before a neutral-court loss to No. 22 Texas A&M in Fort Worth on Sunday at Dickies Arena. ORU will arrive in Lubbock with a 3-7 overall record. Going into its 10th game of the season and with only two non-conference contests remaining, Texas Tech (7-2) currently leads the Big 12 and is fifth nationally with a 59.2 effective field goal percentage along with topping the conference by shooting 79.7 percent at the free-throw line (126-for-158).
“Our team has embraced the fact that we didn’t play well (against A&M) and I think we have the right mindset with this group moving forward,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “The ownership of being honest about what we’re not good at and what we need to be better at has been at the forefront of this team’s mind. We’re really embracing it. I love our group and love our potential. We’re excited about the Oral Roberts game and getting back in the USA and competing and improving to put ourselves in a better position to compete in Big 12 play.”