RED RAIDER PREVIEW: at Mountaineers

LUBBOCK, Texas – Following two postponements, No. 12 Texas Tech is set to return to action at No. 14 West Virginia at 8 p.m. (CST) on ESPN Big Monday in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The Red Raiders (11-4, 4-3 Big 12) had scheduled games against TCU and Iowa State postponed after splitting against top-5 teams with a 79-77 road win at No. 5 Texas and a 68-60 loss to No. 2 Baylor, while the Mountaineers (10-4, 3-3 Big 12) ended a three-game stretch of postponements with a 69-47 win over Kansas State on Saturday on the road. This is the first matchup of the season between TTU and WVU who are scheduled to meet up again on Tuesday, Feb. 9 in Lubbock.

Mac McClung was named the Big 12 Player of the Week last Monday after scoring a season-high 24 points in the loss to Baylor and dropping 22 at Texas including the game-winner with three seconds remaining. McClung leads the Big 12 with 19.7 points per game in conference play and is fourth in scoring overall at 16.3 points per through 15 games. Marcus Santos-Silva is ninth in the conference with 6.3 rebounds per game and is fourth with 1.3 blocks per game. In Big 12 games, Terrence Shannon is scoring 14.7 points and grabbing 5.7 rebounds which both rank 10th in the conference while Kevin McCullar is averaging 11.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in-conference.

Miles McBride leads WVU 15.3 points per game after going for 18 points in the win over KSU, while also adding five assists and four steals. Derek Culver leads the team in rebounding and blocks, while Taz Sherman is coming off scoring 10 points against the Wildcats. Culver had eight points, five rebounds and one block at KSU.

Tech is 3-0 on the road to start Big 12 play for only the second time ever after the 1996-97 team began with road wins at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State before a loss at Iowa State in the inaugural year of the conference. This season, Tech has earned wins at Oklahoma, Iowa State and No. 5 Texas going into its matchup at West Virginia. The longest road winning streak in Big 12 play for the Red Raiders is four games, coming as part of a nine-game winning streak to the end of the 2019 campaign and secure the Big 12 regular season title. The Red Raiders went 14-0 in the final basketball season of the Southwest Conference (1995-96), including a program-best 7-0 mark on the road.

UP NEXT: Tech is scheduled to play its final non-conference game of the regular season at LSU (10-3, 5-2 SEC) on Saturday, Jan. 30 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana before hosting Oklahoma on Monday, Feb. 1 at the United Supermarkets Arena. Tech is currently 7-1 in non-conference play going into the matchup against the Tigers. LSU is scheduled to play at Kentucky on Saturday and Texas A&M on Tuesday before hosting the Red Raiders.

MEDIA: The game will be televised on ESPN Big Monday with Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla on the call, while on the radio Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will broadcast the game locally on Double T 97.3 and on the Texas Tech Sports Network.

RANKINGS: Texas Tech is up to No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 and comes in at No. 13 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 14 in the NCAA NET Rankings after splitting against a pair of top-5 teams before the postponements. Along with the polls, Tech remains one of the most impressive teams nationally in the stat categories also including leading the nation with 382 trips to the free-throw line and the second most makes with 273. The team is fifth nationally with a 6.5 turnover margin advantage, 17th with 68 total blocks, 10th by limiting teams to only 59.9 points per game and is 12th by forcing 17.9 turnovers per game from its opponents. Individually, Mac McClung leads the Big 12 with 245 total points, 19.7 points per game in Big 12 play and with 66 made free throws (19th most nationally). Kyler Edwards is fifth in the conference with 27 3-pointers, while Marcus Santos-Silva is third with 19 total blocks.

RANKED VS RANKED MATCHUPS
1-3 (2020-21); 13- 14 (Beard era); 18-24 all-time
No. 17 Houston 64, No. 14 Texas Tech 53
No. 5 Kansas 58, No. 14 Texas Tech 57
No. 15 Texas Tech 79, No. 4 Texas 77
No. 2 Baylor 68, No. 15 Texas Tech 60

BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: A game-winning shot followed by a season-high 24 points has earned Texas Tech junior Mac McClung his first Big 12 Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor. The award for McClung is the first Big 12 award for a Red Raider this season. McClung hit the game-winning shot at No. 4 Texas with three seconds on the clock and finished with 22 points last Wednesday before going for a season-high 24 on Saturday against Baylor. Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham was named Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season. A transfer from Georgetown, McClung was a two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week selection last season as a sophomore and earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors twice during his first collegiate season. McClung, who was named an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection, comes into this week with 955 points through 65 games in his career.

SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech is 5-5 against West Virginia under Beard and 6-14 all-time. The Red Raiders earned their first win in Morgantown on Jan. 2, 2019 with a 62-59 victory to begin Big 12 play and begin their run to the program's first Big 12 regular season championship. Tech is 1-7 all-time at the WVU Coliseum. The two teams split last season with WVU taking a 66-54 decision on Jan. 11, 2020 on its home court before Tech responded with an 89-81 win on Jan. 29, 2020 in Lubbock.

1/29/2020: Texas Tech 89, West Virginia 81
Terrence Shannon, Jr. – 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Kyler Edwards – 5 points, 2 assists
1/11/2020: West Virginia 66, Texas Tech 54
Kyler Edwards – 9 points, 9 rebounds
Kevin McCullar – 6 points, 4 rebounds
Avery Benson – 5 points, 4 rebounds

THE 'A WIN WOULD THING': Tech would start Big 12 play with four straight road wins for the first time ever… The Red Raiders were 7-0 on the road in conference play during the final season of the Southwest Conference in 1995-96 for its best conference road record… Tech would match its longest road winning streak in Big 12 play with a win after running off four straight road wins to end the 2019 campaign at Iowa State, TCU, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma… The Red Raiders were 3-6 on the road in Big 12 play last season and would eclipse that win total with a victory on Wednesday.

RED RAIDER REPORT: McClung is coming off a week where he had 24 points against Baylor and 22 at Texas to earn his first Big 12 Player of the Week honor. A Gate City, Virginia native who transferred to Tech this season after two years at Georgetown, McClung leads the Big 12 with 19.7 ppg. in conference play and is currently averaging 16.3 ppg. overall which is the third most in the conference. He tops the Big 12 with six games of scoring 20 or more points after eclipsing his season-high twice last week. He also scored 21 points against Kansas and Oklahoma State in Big 12 action. McClung is 66-for-81 at the free-throw line (81.5 percent) which makes him the Big 12 leader in makes and 13th nationally. His 245 points are the most in the Big 12. McClung scored a career-high 38 points as a freshman at Georgetown against Little Rock on Dec. 22, 2018. He comes into Monday's game at West Virginia with 955 points through 65 games in his career (14.7 ppg.).

McCullar is coming off his second double-double of the season after going for 10 points and 10 rebounds against Baylor following a career-high 16 points at Texas. A redshirt sophomore from San Antonio, McCullar missed the first nine games of the season with an injury suffered in preseason practice but has played the past six games. He is averaging 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Along with his 10/10 against BU, he also added three assists and two steals in the win. After redshirting during the historic 2019 Final Four season, McCullar played in 29 games with six starts last season. He currently has 242 points and 136 rebounds through 35 games played at Tech. McCullar is tied for the team lead with two double-doubles after also getting his first career double-double two weeks ago at Iowa State with 15 points and 11 rebounds against the Cyclones.

Shannon is second on the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game after being limited to a season-low two points against Baylor. He was coming off a 14-point performance at Texas and had scored in double digits in four straight. A sophomore from Chicago, Shannon scored a season-high 22 points against Kansas State where he was 5-for-9 from the field and 11-for-12 at the free-throw line. He also had 20 points in the Big 12 opener against Kansas where he hit a career-high four 3-pointers and then dropped 21 points at Oklahoma by going 8-for-12 from the field. He scored a career-high 24 points as a freshman with 24 at DePaul and had a career-high 11 rebounds at Kansas. Edwards leads the Red Raiders with 41 assists this season and is currently averaging 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in his junior season. An experienced player who played in all 38 games during the run to the 2019 Final Four as a freshman, Edwards has scored 714 points, grabbed 289 rebounds and has 178 assists to his name through 84 games played. He scored a season-high 19 points twice this year against Abilene Christian in non-conference play and then against at Iowa State where he was 6-for-9 from the field with three 3-pointers. He leads Tech with 27 3-pointers this season and has hit 106 in his career. Edwards scored a career-high 24 points as a sophomore last year at Kansas State.

Santos-Silva is the only senior on this year's team and comes into the matchup against Baylor averaging 8.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. He secured his third game with double-digit rebounds by grabbing 11 rebounds against Baylor and also scored eight points in the loss. He is second in the Big 12 in total blocks with 19 after having one against Baylor and two at Texas. Santos-Silva had a career-high four blocks twice so far this season against Abilene Christian and then against Oklahoma State. He is fourth in the conference in blocked shots per game with TCU's Kevin Samuel leading the conference with 2.2 per game. A grad transfer from VCU, Santos-Silva is in his first season at Tech. He is approaching the 1,000 point milestone in his career as he enters this week with 961 career points. Santos-Silva also has 715 rebounds and 111 blocks through 112 games in his career. He scored a season-high 14 points against Kansas State and is tied for the team lead with two double-doubles after opening the season with 13 rebounds and 10 points against Northwestern State and then having 12 points and 10 rebounds against Sam Houston.

Micah Peavy has made an immediate impact as a freshman, starting 14 of 15 games where he is averaging 5.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. He contributed six points and five rebounds against Baylor and also had one steal. Peavy scored a season-high 14 points in the opener against Northwestern State and has a Big 12-best nine points against Kansas State where he was 3-for-4 from the field. He grabbed a career-high six rebounds in the conference opener against Kansas. A State Champion and Class 6A Player of the Year at Duncanville High School, Peavy was teammates with former Red Raider Jahmi'us Ramsey. After redshirting last season, Tyreek Smith is also making an impact this season as a freshman. He is second on the team with 13 blocks and is also averaging 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Smith had a career-high seven points against NSU and Troy in non-conference play and then had four points and three rebounds in both games against Kansas and Oklahoma State. A transfer from Wichita State, Jamarius Burton has played in all 15 games with four starts this season. He is averaging 4.6 points, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He scored a Big 12 best nine points at Iowa State and season-high 10 points against Grambling. He had three points and two steals against Baylor. A Charlotte, North Carolina native, Burton has scored 599 points and has 250 assists through 82 games of his collegiate career.

Avery Benson provides a spark anytime his number is called and comes into this week with 63 games played in his four years at Tech. A redshirt junior from Arkansas, Benson is the only player on this year's roster with rings from the 2018 Elite 8, 2019 Big 12 Championship and 2019 Final Four. He scored a season-high six points against Incarnate Word with a pair of 3-pointers and had a career-high 10 points last season to lead Tech to a win over No. 1-ranked Louisville at the Jimmy V Classic in New York at Madison Square Garden. He is currently 4-for-6 on 3-pointers this season and has made 13 in his career.

SECURING POSSESSION: Beard stresses a 10-or-less turnover game is one of the keys to victory in every game the Red Raiders play which the team has accomplished seven times this season after only having seven in the win at Texas. In the loss to Baylor, Tech committed a season-high 20 turnovers. The Red Raiders are currently averaging only 11.5 turnovers per game which is the second in the Big 12. In Big 12 play, Tech also had only seven turnovers against Kansas, nine in the win over Kansas State and 10 at Iowa State. Tech had only one turnover at halftime against the Cyclones to get out to a 24-point lead. The season highlight in the turnover category came against Corpus Christi where the team had only four which is a low in the Beard era. The four-turnover game was followed by only seven against KU and Incarnate Word in back-to-back games. During his five seasons, Tech has committed 10 or less turnovers 58 times under Beard. The program's low turnover output was highlighted at the 2019 Final Four with only seven in a win over Michigan State and eight in the overtime loss to Virginia in the National Championship game. Tech currently has a plus-6.5 turnover margin which is fifth nationally.

FORCING THE ISSUE: Texas Tech forced 30 turnovers against Grambling for the most since the 2009 season opener against South Dakota. In the past three games, the Red Raiders forced 16 against Baylor after 15 turnovers at Texas and Iowa State. Tech has recorded 13 steals in two games this season, against Grambling and Northwestern State. The team had eight steals against the Bears led by McCullar, Shannon and Burton who had two each. The 13 steals against Grambling and Northwestern State is the most steals in a game since a 15-steal game by the team against Rice on Dec. 16, 2017.

GAME-BY-GAME TURNOVERS (TTU-OPPONENT): TTU 10-NSU 19; TTU 12-SAM 18; TTU 18-HOU 14; TTU 13-TROY 22; TTU 13-GRAM 30; TTU 16-ACU 22; TTU 4-TAMUCC 20; TTU 7-KU 16; TTU 13-OU 16; TTU 7-UIW 20; TTU 14-OSU 13; TTU 9-KSU 14.; TTU 10-ISU 15; TTU 7-UT 15; TTU 20-BU 16.

BLOCK PARTY: The Red Raiders are currently 17th nationally and lead the Big 12 with 68 total blocks after having a season-high nine blocks against Baylor. McCullar and McClung both had career-high block totals in the game with four and three blocks, respectively. Santos-Silva leads the team with 19 blocks and Smith has 13. Tech is averaging 4.5 blocks per game this season after having 4.0 per game last year.

SHARING THE WEALTH: Texas Tech is averaging 12.9 assists per game after having 15 at Iowa State on 33 field goals and 11 on 24 made baskets against KSU. Assists have been down the past two games with Tech having five against Baylor and only seven assists on 25 makes at Texas. The team has seven games with 15 or more assists. Tech had a season-high 25 assists in the opener against Northwestern State. Edwards has the individual high this season with seven in that game against NSU. McCullar led the Red Raiders with three assists against Baylor.

STIFLING STARTS: The Texas Tech defense has been strong throughout the first 15 games, but especially solid in the first half where it has outscored its first 13 opponents by a combined 536-409 margin. The Longhorns were an anomaly, outscoring the Red Raiders by a 48-38 margin before Tech made its second-half comeback for the win. Tech trailed by eight at halftime to Baylor, but limited the Bears to 26 points on 35.7 percent shooting. Only six of the first 15 opponents have scored over 30 points through the opening 20 minutes of games. ACU was limited to only 14 points in the opening 20 minutes and Sam Houston was at 15. The 14 points scored by ACU at the break was the lowest since Northwestern State was held to 10 points at halftime in 2018.

ROAD STREAK: Texas Tech has opened Big 12 play with three road wins over Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas. It is the first time since the 1996-97 season that the team has opened with three straight road victories. The Red Raiders won four straight Big 12 road games to end the 2018-19 regular season for the longest road streak since that 1996-97 season that had wins at Oklahoma, Oklahoma and Kansas State before a loss at Iowa State. Tech went 7-0 on the road in conference play in the final year of the Southwest Conference in 1995-96.

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Players Mentioned

Avery Benson

Jamarius Burton

Kyler Edwards

Mac McClung

Kevin McCullar

Micah Peavy

Jahmi'us Ramsey

Marcus Santos-Silva

Terrence Shannon, Jr.

Tyreek Smith

Texas Tech University Athletics