Men’s Basketball Faces Off with Missouri Western State in Lone Exhibition Tilt
November 03, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Fans receive free admission and a voucher for two complimentary tickets to a November or December nonconference game at Friday’s exhibition.
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's basketball team welcomes Missouri Western State for its lone exhibition game Friday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
Tipoff is scheduled for no earlier than 7:30 p.m. CT or 35 minutes following the volleyball match against Iowa State. In addition to free admission to the exhibition game, fans in attendance will receive a voucher to exchange for two free tickets to any November or December non-conference home game.
There is no television or radio for Friday's exhibition game, but www.TexasTech.com will provide game highlights along with the team's postgame press conference afterwards.
"We're looking forward to tomorrow night playing in front of our fans," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "It'll be nice to play against some outside competition. We've got a long ways to go on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the guys are trying really hard. The effort is there, we've just got to hit the execution better."
"There's so many things about defense," Beard continued. "We've talked a lot with our guys the last few days about playing a patient defense. A lot of people associate patience with offense, but patience defensively is key. You don't want to try too hard trying to limit fouling. We want to be a team that our opponents don't get into the bonus until later on in the half. We want to be a team plays hard and competes that also doesn't foul. That's something we try really hard to embrace at practice, and hopefully we can have some carry over in tomorrow night's game."
The Red Raiders return five players who started 10-plus games from last year's NCAA Tournament team which posted a 19-13 record and earned the program's first NCAA appearance since 2007 when Chris Beard served as an assistant coach.
Texas Tech brings back its leading scorer (Aaron Ross – 12.5 PPG), leading rebounder (Zach Smith – 7.5 RPG) and leading assist man (Keenan Evans – 2.6 APG) from Big 12 play last season. The Red Raiders also return over 65 percent of their points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals from the 2015-16 season.
Texas Tech has added a pair of National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Americans in Niem Stevenson and Shadell Millinghaus. The Red Raiders also have brought in three graduate transfers in Thomas Brandsma, Anthony Livingston and Giovanni McLean. Livingston was an All-Sun Belt performer last season.
Former four-star recruit Brandone Francis and Tommy Hamilton IV have transferred to Texas Tech and will sit out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
"It starts with the six seniors," Beard said. "They are some of the guys that we're really counting on. It also starts with the guys that played a lot last year – Keenan, Justin, Norense, and Zach. We're looking for these guys to take it to the next level of their game. I talk to them all the time. 'What do you want your story at Texas Tech to be? Is it already written? An NCAA tournament appearance as sophomores, or is there more to come?' I think all of those guys have themselves in the mix as potential starters, but more importantly we've got to get everybody playing well."
Up Next
The Red Raiders begin their regular season slate next Friday against Houston Baptist at the United Supermarkets Arena. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by FOX College Sports in addition to the FOX Sports Go App.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB and @TexasTechMBB on Twitter.
Tipoff is scheduled for no earlier than 7:30 p.m. CT or 35 minutes following the volleyball match against Iowa State. In addition to free admission to the exhibition game, fans in attendance will receive a voucher to exchange for two free tickets to any November or December non-conference home game.
There is no television or radio for Friday's exhibition game, but www.TexasTech.com will provide game highlights along with the team's postgame press conference afterwards.
"We're looking forward to tomorrow night playing in front of our fans," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "It'll be nice to play against some outside competition. We've got a long ways to go on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the guys are trying really hard. The effort is there, we've just got to hit the execution better."
"There's so many things about defense," Beard continued. "We've talked a lot with our guys the last few days about playing a patient defense. A lot of people associate patience with offense, but patience defensively is key. You don't want to try too hard trying to limit fouling. We want to be a team that our opponents don't get into the bonus until later on in the half. We want to be a team plays hard and competes that also doesn't foul. That's something we try really hard to embrace at practice, and hopefully we can have some carry over in tomorrow night's game."
The Red Raiders return five players who started 10-plus games from last year's NCAA Tournament team which posted a 19-13 record and earned the program's first NCAA appearance since 2007 when Chris Beard served as an assistant coach.
Texas Tech brings back its leading scorer (Aaron Ross – 12.5 PPG), leading rebounder (Zach Smith – 7.5 RPG) and leading assist man (Keenan Evans – 2.6 APG) from Big 12 play last season. The Red Raiders also return over 65 percent of their points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals from the 2015-16 season.
Texas Tech has added a pair of National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Americans in Niem Stevenson and Shadell Millinghaus. The Red Raiders also have brought in three graduate transfers in Thomas Brandsma, Anthony Livingston and Giovanni McLean. Livingston was an All-Sun Belt performer last season.
Former four-star recruit Brandone Francis and Tommy Hamilton IV have transferred to Texas Tech and will sit out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
"It starts with the six seniors," Beard said. "They are some of the guys that we're really counting on. It also starts with the guys that played a lot last year – Keenan, Justin, Norense, and Zach. We're looking for these guys to take it to the next level of their game. I talk to them all the time. 'What do you want your story at Texas Tech to be? Is it already written? An NCAA tournament appearance as sophomores, or is there more to come?' I think all of those guys have themselves in the mix as potential starters, but more importantly we've got to get everybody playing well."
Up Next
The Red Raiders begin their regular season slate next Friday against Houston Baptist at the United Supermarkets Arena. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by FOX College Sports in addition to the FOX Sports Go App.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB and @TexasTechMBB on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
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