Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Face West Virginia Monday Night
January 05, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Isaiah Manderson has recorded double-digit scoring efforts in each of the last two games, while shooting better than 70 percent from the field.
January 4, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech will look to get back on track as the Red Raiders face No. 17 West Virginia on Monday night at 6 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena. The game can be seen on ESPNU.
West Virginia (13-1, 1-0) is off to its best start since 1981-82 and are coming off of a 78-67 win over TCU in Fort Worth. The win snapped TCU's 13-0 start.
Texas Tech (10-4, 0-1) is 11-1 at home, with the lone loss coming against No. 11 Texas on Saturday, as the Longhorns edged out the Red Raiders, 70-61.
The hot hand of late for Texas Tech is freshmen center Isaiah Manderson, who is averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 16 minutes of play over the last two games. Manderson is shooting better than 70 percent since the Christmas break nad leads the Red Raiders in field goal percentage (57.8 percent).
For the season, Devaugntah Williams paces the Red Raiders with 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while Robert Turner adds 9.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists. In all, eight Red Raiders are averaging 5.4 or more points per game.
West Virginia is led by Big 12 Conference preseason player of the year Juwan Staten, who is averaging 16.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. The Mountaineers also are led by Jonathan Holton (10.9 points) and Devin Williams (10.4 points).
West Virginia leads the series 5-1, but three of the last four meetings have been decided on the game's final possession, including last season in Lubbock when West Virginia walked away with an 89-86 overtime win over the Red Raiders.
Freshman Zach Smith has recorded 20 blocks through 14 team games this season, marking the most blocks for a Red Raider freshman to start season. Smith ranks sixth in the Big 12 and 128th nationally in blocks per game. Smith is on pace to record 47 blocks, which would eclipse the freshman record of 37 set by Will Flemons in 1989-90.
The Red Raiders start the sixth youngest lineup in the nation, as Texas Tech begins each game with a senior, junior and three freshmen. Texas Tech has the youngest front court in the nation, as the Red Raiders start three freshmen.
Texas Tech is on pace to shoot more free throws than any other team in the Big 12 Era for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech is second nationally in free throw attempts and eighth in made free throws. Texas Tech is averaging 18.1 made free throws per game. It is the 13th best seasonal average in program history and the best effort since 1971-72. The Red Raiders are attempting 27.6 free throws per game, which ranks 14th in school history and is the most attempts per game since 1994-95. The Red Raiders produce 26.5 percent of their offense from the free throw line and rank ninth nationally in that category. Texas Tech is also fourth nationally in free throw rate behind only Kansas State (No. 2) in the Big 12
After beginning the season with 12 of its first 15 games at home, the Red Raiders will hit the road for three of their next four games away from United Supermarkets Arena after tonight's game. Texas Tech will travel to Kansas twice -- Kansas (Jan. 10) and Kansas State (Jan. 14) -- and then head to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State (Jan. 21).
