PREVIEW: Red Raiders to host Prairie View A&M

Monday, November 15

Lubbock, Texas

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Prairie View A&M

PREVIEW: Red Raiders to host Prairie View A&M

November 14, 2021 | Men's Basketball

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PVAMU at Texas Tech | 7 p.m., Monday | TV: ESPN+

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech is set to close out a three-game home stand to begin the season by hosting Prairie View A&M at 7 p.m. on Monday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (2-0) have started a season with two straight wins for the seventh straight year after opening with an 89-74 win over North Florida before taking an 88-62 victory over Grambling State. PVAMU (0-4) fell 72-59 at Oklahoma State on Sunday after playing two games in California last week and against Michigan in Washington D.C. on Saturday. TTU is 7-0 all-time against the Panthers, including a 79-51 win on Dec. 14, 2014 in the last matchup.

TTU fell to Houston in its third game of the season last year in a neutral-court matchup at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. The Red Raiders come into the matchup against PVAMU having won eight straight non-conference home games and are 62-1 in those games since a win over Saint Mary's on Dec. 30, 2013 which began a 54-game streak that ended with a 76-74 overtime loss to No. 15 Kentucky on Jan. 25, 2020.

Kevin McCullar is coming off a career-high 24 points in the win over Grambling and also added nine rebounds, while Davion Warren went for 19 points and Bryson Williams had 16 points and nine rebounds. McCullar finished the game with three assists and three 3-pointers for the Red Raiders who have still not trailed in a game this season. Williams leads TTU with 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game after beginning the season with 22 points in the win over UNF last Tuesday. McCullar is in his fourth season with the program and has now scored 414 points through 51 games in his career. He had a previous high of 16 points last season in the win at Texas in Austin and was one rebound shy of recording his third career double-double with his 24/9 performance on Friday against GSU.

A senior from Fresno, California, Williams now has 81 games in his career scoring in double figures and having scored 1,665 career points through 123 games. Warren is averaging 16.5 points per game this season after his 19 points against Grambling and 14 points against UNF. A fifth-year senior from Buffalo, New York, Warren averaged 21.1 points per game as a senior at Hampton last season which was 13^th nationally. He is currently shooting 70.6 percent from the field having made 12 of his first 17 shots as a Red Raider. Kevin Obanor is averaging 13.0 ppg. with a 17-point performance against UNF and then going for nine against Grambling. He has hit three 3-pointers in both games and has now made 128 3-pointers through 88 games of his collegiate career. A Houston native, Obanor started his career by playing three seasons at Oral Roberts where he would have three double-doubles in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He comes into the week with 30 double-doubles on his resume including having 15 last season.

Mylik Wilson leads Tech with 10 assists, including opening the season with seven against UNF. A junior from Rayville, Louisiana, Wilson is in his first season at TTU after playing two years at Louisiana where he was the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. He is currently averaging 4.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists and now has 178 assists through 57 games in his career. Wilson has committed only one turnover to go along with his 10 assists. Marcus Santos-Silva is averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds this season with a season-high 13 points in the opener against UNF where he was 6-for-9 from the field. In his second season at Tech after three years at VCU, Santos-Silva has scored 1,084 points and has 813 rebounds through 128 games in his career. He had started 93 straight games before playing as a reserve the first two games of this season. Adonis Arms added nine points for the Red Raiders in 21 minutes of play against Grambling. A super senior from Milwaukee, Arms transferred to Tech this season after playing last season at Winthrop where he played in the NCAA Tournament. Arms is at his fourth school, beginning at Mesa Community College, Northwest Nazarene and Winthrop.

TTU has began the season with a starting lineup of Obanor, Williams, Warren, Wilson and McCullar. The Red Raiders have played the first two games without Terrence Shannon, Jr. who is being held out at this time. Shannon was a 2021 All-Big 12 Third Team selection and went through the NBA Draft process this summer before electing to return for his junior season. He is on the Wooden, Naismith and Jerry West Awards watch lists.

TEXAS TECH NOTES

Texas Tech has advanced to three straight NCAA Tournaments for first time in program history. The Red Raiders are 8-3 with trips to the 2018 Elite 8, 2019 Final and to the 2021 Second Round after a win over Utah State to open last year's tournament in Bloomington, Indiana before falling to Arkansas. TTU has the third most NCAA Tournament wins over the past three tournaments with Gonzaga and Michigan tied for the most with 10. Baylor, Houston and Duke each have seven and Virginia has six.
Texas Tech returns five players from last year's team: McCullar, Shannon, Santos-Silva, Agbo, Nadolny
Texas Tech added six upperclassmen transfers: Williams, Warren, Obanor, Calhoun, Wilson, Arms
Texas Tech consists of five returners, seven transfers from the transfer portal, one junior college transfer and one player from high school
Texas Tech has eight players with NCAA Tournament experience: Calhoun (FSU), Obanor (ORU), Arms (Winthrop), TTU returners.
Texas Tech has eight players who scored in double-figures last season: Davion Warren (21.2 ppg. / 6.3 rpg.); Kevin Obanor (18.7 ppg. / 9.6 rpg.); Bryson Williams (15.1 ppg. / 7.4 rpg.); Terrence Shannon (12.9 ppg. / 4.0 rpg.); Mylik Wilson (12.9 ppg. / 5.5 rpg.); Kevin McCullar (10.4 ppg. / 6.3 rpg.); Adonis Arms (10.4 ppg. / 4.5 rpg.); *KJ Allen (18.5 ppg / 9.3 rpg. - 2019-20 at ELAC).
Texas Tech has 11 of its 14 players over 6-foot-5; F players over 6-foot-7 (Batcho tallest at 6-11 / Obanor & Williams at 6-foot-8)
Texas Tech has two players who went through the NBA Draft process but elected to return to college… Shannon returns from the NBA Draft Process as team's leading returner in scorer at 12.9 points per game last season… Obanor transfers in from ORU after going through the NBA Draft Process and then the transfer portal
Santos-Silva is the leading returner in rebounding with 6.4 per game; McCullar had 6.3 rebounds per game… Williams averaged 7.4 rebounds per game at UTEP
Double-doubles: Obanor recorded 15 double-doubles last season… Williams had five double-doubles last season at UTEP and Wilson four double-doubles at Louisiana… Santos-Silva and McCullar led Tech with two each last season… Obanor's 15 double-doubles were the 5th most in the NCAA last season.
Kenpom.com: adjusted defensive efficiency: No. 17 (2021), No. 9 (2020), No. 1 (2019)
SEASON OPENERS: Texas Tech is now 70-27 all-time in season openers, including winning 22 in a row. The Red Raiders have not lost in a season opener since a 68-60 defeat to Indiana in the 1999-20 season opener.
FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHES: Texas Tech is now 11-7 all-time in season openers under a new coach with Adams leading the team to victory over UNF. The Red Raiders have won the past seven season openers when starting with a new head coach. Dell Morgan was the first new TTU coach to earn a win in his first game with a 41-24 win at Wayland Baptist to start the 1931-32 season.
RANKINGS: Texas Tech was ranked throughout last season and finished at No. 21 in the Associated Press Top-25. The Red Raiders are unranked in the preseason poll but are receiving votes in both rankings. TTU was ranked throughout a season in 2020-21 for the first time in program history.

UP NEXT: Texas Tech will play away from home for the first time this season by taking on Incarnate Word on Saturday, Nov. 20 in South Padre Island. TTU and UIW face off at 4 p.m. in a South Padre Island Battle on the Beach contest which will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Tech returns to host Omaha on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. and then Lamar on Saturday, Nov. 27. The game time against Lamar has not been set and will come once the football game time for TTU at Baylor is announced.