Texas Tech University Athletics
Saturday, February 17
Waco, Texas
6:30 PM
Texas Tech Athletics
at
Baylor
Red Raider Preview: Baylor
February 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball
The Red Raiders begin a stretch of three of their next four games on the road.
WACO, Texas – The No. 7 Texas Tech men's basketball team continues its February grind and opens up a run of three of its next four games on the road at Baylor on Saturday from the Ferrell Center.
Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU along with the ESPN app. Chuckie Kempf and Reid Gettys 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 and 100.7 FM the Score in Lubbock. Geoff Haxton and Chris Level 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 Saturday's broadcast by following @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.
Texas Tech (22-4, 10-3 Big 12), winners of seven straight, enter Saturday's play in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 race and are one game up on 13-time defending regular season champion Kansas. The Bears (16-10, 6-7 Big 12) have moved into a fifth place tie with Oklahoma on the Big 12 leaderboard on the heels of four consecutive victories.
Texas Tech's 22-4 start is the second best mark in program history. This year's team is only behind the 1995-96 squad which started 25-1 under James Dickey and made the NCAA Sweet 16.
Baylor has pieced together wins over Iowa State, Oklahoma State, then No. 10 Kansas and Texas. Last time out, the Bears edged the Longhorns by a 74-73 dramatic double overtime.
Texas Tech has won three of the last four and collected a 79-56 overall series edge over Baylor. The Red Raiders registered a 77-53 victory over Baylor to begin Big 12 action on Dec. 29. Texas Tech's last win in Waco was an 84-66 triumph on Feb. 13, 2016.
"It's going to be a difficult game for us on Saturday," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "Baylor is playing great. They've won four straight games in our conference. I've always had a lot of respect for Coach Drew. He's been great to me my whole career. It started when I was an assistant here for Coach (Bob & Pat) Knight. The story of how he built that program up to the point of where it is at now with a NCAA Tournament spot every year and NBA players. That story speaks for itself. I think this is just the next chapter in the Baylor story. They are another great team this year that has persevered through some injuries. They are playing great basketball now in February when it matters most. We know we are going to have to play well to have a chance in this game. We have a lot of respect for Coach Drew, Jerome (Tang) and all of those guys. Obviously, they have great players."
ABOUT TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders have piled up seven consecutive victories with the last four coming by a total of 59 points over TCU, Iowa State, Kansas State and No. 23 Oklahoma.
Texas Tech's defense holds NCAA Top 10 marks in scoring defense (62.7 PPG – T-6th), field goal percentage defense (39.3 – 8th) and scoring margin (+14.0 – 9th).
Keenan Evans has tallied 18.7 points, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. All three marks are ranked inside the Big 12's Top 11 highlighted by the points which are second in the Big 12 rankings. He is a Bob Cousy Award finalist, Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List and Naismith Trophy Watch List member. Evans has reached double figures in 24 of 26 games. He racked up 26 points during the Oklahoma game last time out.
Jarrett Culver and Zhaire Smith have been strong contributors to starting lineup in the last eight games. The freshman pair have managed 10.8 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. Culver and Smith have claimed 32 games in double figures between them.
Smith stuffed the stats sheet with 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game over his three games last week. He is 14-of-23 from the floor.
Culver has pumped in 13.2 points per game in his last four games and has notched two of his three games of 20-plus points over his last seven appearances. He has secured double figures in three of his last four outings.
The Texas Tech bench has racked up a Big 12 best with 824 points for a 31.7 points per game average. The Red Raiders have corralled a 339-209 edge over its 13 games in league action.
The bench crew is sparked by Niem Stevenson (6.8 PPG), Tommy Hamilton IV (5.9 PPG), Brandone Francis (5.7 PPG) and Davide Moretti (3.7 PPG).
Hamilton IV has pumped in 7.8 points per game on 17-of-34 from the floor over his last seven games. He came away with a season's best 14 points at Kansas State last Saturday. He also garnered eight points versus Oklahoma last time out. Hamilton IV has moved within 41 points away from 1,000 for his career.
Norense Odiase provided a season-high 14 points against Oklahoma and is the team's top rebounder with 5.0 rebounds per game. Justin Gray has chipped in 4.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Gray is the only player to start all 26 games.
ABOUT BAYLOR
The Bears have kicked into high gear and posted 80.2 points per game over their last six Big 12 outings after averaging 66.0 points per game in their first seven Big 12 games. Baylor played the first meeting against Texas Tech without Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. It also marked Terry Maston's first game back from a broken shooting hand.
Manu Lecomte checks in with 16.8 points and 3.7 assists per game. He has knocked down 76 of his 128 field goals from beyond the three-point line. He is riding a career-best streak of nine straight games in double figures where he has averaged 18.1 points per game. Lecomte has drained 40.1 percent of his three-point attempts, good enough for second on BU's all-time list.
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Nuni Omot have done their damage on the interior for the Bears. Lual-Acuil Jr. has amassed 14.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He is third in the Big 12 with 11 double-doubles on the season and ranks seventh on Baylor's career list with 132 blocks.
Omot has garnered 9.9 points and 1.8 assists per game. He has come off the bench in his last 11 appearances. Omot has registered 16 more bench points (65) over his last five games than BU's opponents combined (49). He posted 17 points during the Kansas game.
Terry Maston has posted 10.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He has reached double figures nine times and fired in a career-best 26 points against Texas highlighted by 12 points during the two overtime periods last time out.
"Maston is one of the best players in the Big 12," Beard said. "He's the classic undersized-big as we say in the coaching world. He's just a mismatch problem. He can do some things on the perimeter against bigger guys, and he can dominate smaller players in the post. He's very talented. He's one of those guys that can play in the NFL next year if he chose to or play in the NBA next year if he chooses to. He's a special talent in the Big 12. Coaching against him, you prepare and you try to work. You hope and pray that he doesn't have one of those 30 point games he's capable of."
UP NEXT
Texas Tech continues is stretch of three of four and four of its six games on the road at Oklahoma State on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from Gallagher-Iba Arena. The game will be televised by ESPNU and the ESPN 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 by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU along with the ESPN app. Chuckie Kempf and Reid Gettys 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 and 100.7 FM the Score in Lubbock. Geoff Haxton and Chris Level 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 Saturday's broadcast by following @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.
Texas Tech (22-4, 10-3 Big 12), winners of seven straight, enter Saturday's play in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 race and are one game up on 13-time defending regular season champion Kansas. The Bears (16-10, 6-7 Big 12) have moved into a fifth place tie with Oklahoma on the Big 12 leaderboard on the heels of four consecutive victories.
Texas Tech's 22-4 start is the second best mark in program history. This year's team is only behind the 1995-96 squad which started 25-1 under James Dickey and made the NCAA Sweet 16.
Baylor has pieced together wins over Iowa State, Oklahoma State, then No. 10 Kansas and Texas. Last time out, the Bears edged the Longhorns by a 74-73 dramatic double overtime.
Texas Tech has won three of the last four and collected a 79-56 overall series edge over Baylor. The Red Raiders registered a 77-53 victory over Baylor to begin Big 12 action on Dec. 29. Texas Tech's last win in Waco was an 84-66 triumph on Feb. 13, 2016.
"It's going to be a difficult game for us on Saturday," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "Baylor is playing great. They've won four straight games in our conference. I've always had a lot of respect for Coach Drew. He's been great to me my whole career. It started when I was an assistant here for Coach (Bob & Pat) Knight. The story of how he built that program up to the point of where it is at now with a NCAA Tournament spot every year and NBA players. That story speaks for itself. I think this is just the next chapter in the Baylor story. They are another great team this year that has persevered through some injuries. They are playing great basketball now in February when it matters most. We know we are going to have to play well to have a chance in this game. We have a lot of respect for Coach Drew, Jerome (Tang) and all of those guys. Obviously, they have great players."
ABOUT TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders have piled up seven consecutive victories with the last four coming by a total of 59 points over TCU, Iowa State, Kansas State and No. 23 Oklahoma.
Texas Tech's defense holds NCAA Top 10 marks in scoring defense (62.7 PPG – T-6th), field goal percentage defense (39.3 – 8th) and scoring margin (+14.0 – 9th).
Keenan Evans has tallied 18.7 points, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. All three marks are ranked inside the Big 12's Top 11 highlighted by the points which are second in the Big 12 rankings. He is a Bob Cousy Award finalist, Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List and Naismith Trophy Watch List member. Evans has reached double figures in 24 of 26 games. He racked up 26 points during the Oklahoma game last time out.
Jarrett Culver and Zhaire Smith have been strong contributors to starting lineup in the last eight games. The freshman pair have managed 10.8 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. Culver and Smith have claimed 32 games in double figures between them.
Smith stuffed the stats sheet with 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game over his three games last week. He is 14-of-23 from the floor.
Culver has pumped in 13.2 points per game in his last four games and has notched two of his three games of 20-plus points over his last seven appearances. He has secured double figures in three of his last four outings.
The Texas Tech bench has racked up a Big 12 best with 824 points for a 31.7 points per game average. The Red Raiders have corralled a 339-209 edge over its 13 games in league action.
The bench crew is sparked by Niem Stevenson (6.8 PPG), Tommy Hamilton IV (5.9 PPG), Brandone Francis (5.7 PPG) and Davide Moretti (3.7 PPG).
Hamilton IV has pumped in 7.8 points per game on 17-of-34 from the floor over his last seven games. He came away with a season's best 14 points at Kansas State last Saturday. He also garnered eight points versus Oklahoma last time out. Hamilton IV has moved within 41 points away from 1,000 for his career.
Norense Odiase provided a season-high 14 points against Oklahoma and is the team's top rebounder with 5.0 rebounds per game. Justin Gray has chipped in 4.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Gray is the only player to start all 26 games.
ABOUT BAYLOR
The Bears have kicked into high gear and posted 80.2 points per game over their last six Big 12 outings after averaging 66.0 points per game in their first seven Big 12 games. Baylor played the first meeting against Texas Tech without Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. It also marked Terry Maston's first game back from a broken shooting hand.
Manu Lecomte checks in with 16.8 points and 3.7 assists per game. He has knocked down 76 of his 128 field goals from beyond the three-point line. He is riding a career-best streak of nine straight games in double figures where he has averaged 18.1 points per game. Lecomte has drained 40.1 percent of his three-point attempts, good enough for second on BU's all-time list.
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Nuni Omot have done their damage on the interior for the Bears. Lual-Acuil Jr. has amassed 14.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He is third in the Big 12 with 11 double-doubles on the season and ranks seventh on Baylor's career list with 132 blocks.
Omot has garnered 9.9 points and 1.8 assists per game. He has come off the bench in his last 11 appearances. Omot has registered 16 more bench points (65) over his last five games than BU's opponents combined (49). He posted 17 points during the Kansas game.
Terry Maston has posted 10.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He has reached double figures nine times and fired in a career-best 26 points against Texas highlighted by 12 points during the two overtime periods last time out.
"Maston is one of the best players in the Big 12," Beard said. "He's the classic undersized-big as we say in the coaching world. He's just a mismatch problem. He can do some things on the perimeter against bigger guys, and he can dominate smaller players in the post. He's very talented. He's one of those guys that can play in the NFL next year if he chose to or play in the NBA next year if he chooses to. He's a special talent in the Big 12. Coaching against him, you prepare and you try to work. You hope and pray that he doesn't have one of those 30 point games he's capable of."
UP NEXT
Texas Tech continues is stretch of three of four and four of its six games on the road at Oklahoma State on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from Gallagher-Iba Arena. The game will be televised by ESPNU and the ESPN 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 by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
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