Red Raider Preview: Florida Atlantic

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 21 Texas Tech men's basketball team heads into its final week of nonconference action and squares off with Florida Atlantic on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

Tipoff is on-tap for 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by FOX Sports Southwest Plus along with the FOX Sports Go app. John Harris, Chris Level and Adam Doyle will serve as the announcing team.

The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations Double T 97.3 FM, 100.7 FM The Score and 950 AM in Lubbock. Geoff Haxton and Clark Lammert will have the radio call. The radio broadcast also will be available on the Texas Tech Sports Network radio affiliates, online at www.TexasTech.com and the Tune-In Radio app. Fans can interact live with Tuesday's broadcast by following @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.

The Red Raiders (9-1) are up three spots in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings and check in at No. 21 after a pair of convincing wins over Kennesaw State and Rice last week. Texas Tech has been ranked three times in the AP Top 25 and it marks the first time since Dec. 7-Jan. 4 in 2009-10 that the program has been ranked during multiple weeks.

Florida Atlantic (6-4) is coming off a 64-63 loss at the buzzer to Arkansas State but has a true road win over NCAA Tournament mainstay Florida Gulf Coast. The Owls are leaving the Sunshine State for the first time this season.

"We have 80 minutes of basketball left before the Christmas break so it's a two game season," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "It starts with a really good Florida Atlantic team. They are a team that's 6-4 where two of their four losses were by one point each so they are two points away from being 8-2. They have a coach that I have a lot of respect for. Coach Curry was a great player. He played in the NBA, and he's an outstanding coach. I've had the chance to spend some time with him during the summer on the recruiting trail. It's a game that we knew when we scheduled that it was going to test our team. FAU is a team that is going to compete for their conference championship, and a team that is going to compete for a spot in the 68-team national tournament. We will have to play our best, and I think our players understand that. It's just another game that is going to be tough for us."

Tickets to Tuesday's game can be purchased for as low as $10 at the United Supermarkets Arena Box Office which opens on gameday starting at 5 p.m. CT.

Fans are reminded that the S1 Parking Lot at the John Walker Soccer Complex which is located at 3901 10th Street is the lone free parking lot for all fans which includes ADA parking for all men's basketball games. A free shuttle service begins 75 minutes prior to tipoff and runs up to 60 minutes following the game to transport fans to and from the United Supermarkets Arena. Buses also are ADA accessible. There is no longer free parking available in the West Lot across from the United Supermarkets Arena.

Traffic patterns around the United Supermarkets Arena have changed for the 2017-18 season. All patrons with North Lot passes must enter their lot from the Main and Flint intersection. All fans with South Lot passes must enter their lot from the 18th and Flint intersection. All West Lot pass holders must enter their lot at the Texas Tech Parkway and Knoxville Avenue intersection. All vehicles will be blocked from Indiana Avenue off of the Texas Tech Parkway.

Fans are reminded to go clear at all Texas Tech basketball games. The clear bag policy provides a safer atmosphere and speeds up the entry process into the United Supermarkets Arena.

ABOUT TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders are among the nation's Top 10 in four categories which include scoring margin (+21.3 – 3rd), scoring defense (60.3 – 7th), field goal percentage defense (36.6) and turnover margin (+6.2 – 7th). Texas Tech has used a 10-man rotation and every player has secured over 4.6 points per game.

Keenan Evans has dialed up 17.2 points per game which is fifth on the Big 12 leaderboard and tucked away double figures in nine of 10 games. He has climbed up to No. 27 on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,110 career points. Evans also has provided 3.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Jarrett Culver and Zhaire Smith continue to impress through the team's opening 10 games with 10.3 and 10.0 points per game, respectively. The duo has reached double figures a combined 12 times. Smith has strung together a five-game run in double figures. He has notched 12.6 points per game on an efficient 24-of-33 shooting clip during the stretch.

Niem Stevenson has tallied 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He has come away with 10-plus points in five of his last six and six of his last nine appearances. Stevenson chipped in 10 points versus Rice last time out.

Zach Smith has made an impact in all facets of the game with 7.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. He is 40 points shy from becoming the 41st member of Texas Tech's 1,000 points club. Smith also has crept within 14 blocks on Tony Battie's program record.

Tommy Hamilton IV and Justin Gray have managed 5.8 and 5.4 points per game followed by Norense Odiase and Davide Moretti who have added 5.3 and 5.2 points per game. Moretti recorded eight points, three assists and three steals during the Rice game.

"We haven't achieved much of anything. That's not disrespecting to our opponents that we have been fortunate enough to beat," Beard said. "We are in the Big 12 conference, and we all know what's coming. I don't ever know if you will really know if you have accomplished what you needed to until we get into league play. I know this, we have tried to challenge ourselves and play a tough schedule. We have played multiple Top 25 teams. The teams like Florida Atlantic and Nevada that we bring in for home games are teams that we thought are really good. I think a lot of the teams from our nonconference schedule will be in the NCAA tournament. We have tried to play multiple guys, we have got our young guys a lot of experience and we have played against different styles. If we end up having the Big 12 season that we want to have then I think we will look back and know we did well in the nonconference."
ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC
The Owls have three players who have averaged in double figures highlighted by Gerdarius Troutman at 14.0 points per game and Justin Massey at 13.8 points per game. The duo has knocked down 49 of FAU's 63 three-pointers on the season.

Troutman has pumped in 10-plus points in eight of his 10 outings. He has eclipsed 20 points twice most recently a 20-point outing versus Webber International on Dec. 10. Massey has exploded for double figures in four of his last five games fueled by a trio of 20-plus point efforts. He filled it up for 31 points against Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 2.

Ronald Delph has amassed 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. The 7-footer has provided double figures in five straight games in double figures. He fired in a season-high 19 points on 8-of-14 from the floor at FGCU on Dec. 5.

Anthony Adger has garnered 9.8 points and 3.2 assists per game. He has secured 10-plus points in three of his last four games. Adger worked his way to 13 points and five assists versus Arkansas State last time out.

"Troutman takes and makes tough shots," Beard said. "He's playing for a coach that instills confidence in him and puts the ball in his hands. These guys have a legitimate 7-footer [Ronald Delph] that can dunk. The guy is averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds and is a walking double-double. He is not one of these big guys in college basketball that plays a couple of minutes here and there. He's a legitimate player for them. He has to be getting NBA looks because of his size and his numbers. He has to be one of the top big guys we have played at this point in this season. It will have to be team defense to stop him. They just have really good players and a good coach."

UP NEXT
Texas Tech will complete a stretch of four games in 10 days versus Abilene Christian on Friday before taking the holiday break. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. CT from the United Supermarkets Arena.

Fans are encouraged to take advantage of the $5 ticket special for the ACU game exclusively available on Thursday at www.TexasTech.com as part of the Wreck The Halls promotion.

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 by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Keenan Evans

Justin Gray

Tommy Hamilton IV

Norense Odiase

Zach Smith

Niem Stevenson

Texas Tech University Athletics