PREVIEW: Texas Tech set to host Arkansas State

Tuesday, December 14

Lubbock, Texas

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Arkansas State

PREVIEW: Texas Tech set to host Arkansas State

December 12, 2021 | Men's Basketball

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Red Wolves at Red Raiders | 7 p.m., Tuesday | TV: ESPN+

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Back at home after splitting a pair of games on the road, Texas Tech is set to host Arkansas State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in a non-conference game at the United Supermarkets Arena before taking on No. 5 Gonzaga on Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Red Raiders (7-1) are 5-0 on their home court this season and are coming off a 57-52 overtime win over No. 13 Tennessee last Wednesday in New York, while the Red Wolves (7-2) come to Lubbock on a four-game winning streak after an 82-77 win at Mississippi Valley State on Saturday. Tech has won 11 straight non-conference home games coming into the matchup against ASU which owns a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series over the Red Raiders. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

"It's always to get back home and play in the United Supermarkets Arena," Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. "It's a great opportunity to get better and play in front of our fans. They are a very athletic and strong team that will give us a different look. We'll have to be better with our defense and blocking out. They spread the floor and are good at getting into the paint. We'll have to keep them out and protect the rim."

Terrence Shannon, Jr. led Tech with his second career double-double by going for 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win over the Volunteers, while Kevin McCullar had 10 rebounds, eight points and five assists. The Red Raiders had three players with double-digit rebounding with freshman Daniel Batcho grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds in the game where Tennessee was limited to 19-for-71 (26.8 percent) shooting from the field and 6 of 40 (15.0 percent) on 3-pointers. Tech owned a 54-47 rebounding advantage in the game to overcome a season-low 31.1 percent shooting percentage of its own.

Texas Tech comes into the week leading the nation with 16.12 offensive rebounds per game, is third nationally with a 14.5 rebounding margin, is fifth with a 23.4 scoring advantage and is now ninth in the country with 42.88 rebounds per game after a season-high 54 rebounds against Tennessee. Tech is currently No. 5 in Kenpom Adjusted Defensive Efficiency and is 17^th nationally by limiting opponents to only 58.5 points per game with four of eight opponents being held under 60.

POLLS: Texas Tech is receiving votes in the Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches Poll, but remains unranked this season after spending the entire 2020-21 season in the rankings for the first time in program history. A new poll will be released on Monday. TTU was as high as No. 7 last season and finished the year at No. 21. While not in the polls, the Red Raiders are currently No. 15 in the Kenpom.com ranking and No. 5 in the site's adjusted defensive efficiency ranking. Over the past four years Tech has ranked in the KENPOM.COM: Adjusted defensive efficiency at No. 17 (2021), No. 9 (2020) and No. 1 (2019).

GAME COVERAGE: The matchup between Texas Tech and Arkansas State will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with Chris Level and John Harris and on the Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 with Geoff Haxton and Clark Lammert on the radio call. Fans can also follow the game at @TexasTechMBB.

RED RAIDER ROSTER REPORT: The Tech roster of 14 is made up of five returners, seven NCAA Division I transfers, one junior college transfer and one high school signee. An experienced team, the Red Raiders have four super seniors in Davion Warren, Bryson Williams, Marcus Santos-Silva and Adonis Arms and five players who are currently in graduate school in Kevin Obanor, Warren, Williams, Santos-Silva and Arms.

Terrence Shannon, Jr. leads the Red Raiders in scoring with 16.8 points per game after recording his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Tennessee. His 12 rebounds were a career-high and it was his second career double-double after he had a 23/10 performance last season at LSU. He was coming off 17 points at Providence College where he was 6-for-11 from the field with two 3-pointers. A junior from Chicago, Shannon is in his third season at Tech after electing to return following going through the NBA Draft process over the summer. Shannon did not play in the first three games this season for the Red Raiders as a review of that process was being completed before he returned to play in the fourth game of the year against Incarnate Word. Shannon has scored in double figures in all five games he's played in this season and in 41 games through 62 in his career. He also scored 18 points in the team's 56-point win over Omaha and is currently shooting 11-for-30 (36.7 percent) on 3-pointers with two or more in each of the five games he's played in. Shannon has scored 728 points in his career with a high of 24 points as a freshman at DePaul. He is earned 2021 All-Big 12 Third Team honors and is on the preseason watch lists for the Naismith, Wooden and West awards.

Bryson Williams is averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game to begin his super senior season at Tech. A Fresno, California native, Williams played two seasons at Fresno State and two at UTEP before transferring to Tech over the summer to utilize a fifth season of eligibility. He currently has scored 1,725 points and has 787 rebounds through 129 games played in his college career. Williams scored a season-high 22 points in the opener against North Florida by going 9-for-11 from the field and has two games with nine rebounds (Grambling, Omaha) on his resume this season but was limited to a season-low four points and two rebounds at Providence College and seven points and three rebounds against Tennessee. He is currently sixth in the Big 12 by shooting 58.7 percent from the field and eighth with 37 field goals made. An All-C-USA selection the past two seasons, he has made 690 baskets in his career.

Kevin McCullar is averaging 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game after going for 10 rebounds, five assists and eight points against Tennessee. A San Antonio native in his third season playing for the Red Raiders, McCullar was a redshirt during the program's run to the 2019 NCAA Championship final and is the only current player who was on that roster. McCullar scored a career-high 24 points in the win over Grambling in the second game this season where he was 9 of 18 from the field and has scored in double figures in four of six games played his season after going for 10 in the loss at Providence College. McCullar missed games against Omaha and Lamar with a non-COVID illness before returning to the starting lineup in Rhode Island. A 2021 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, McCullar has 461 points, 257 rebounds, 80 assists and 78 steals through 55 games in his career. He currently is averaging 1.5 steals per game with a season-high three against Prairie View A&M after leading the team last season with 34 steals. A junior on the roster, he still has three years of eligibility remaining.
Mylik Wilson leads with 3.7 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.8 blocks per game this season where he is also adding 4.1 points and 1.9 rebounds. A transfer from Louisiana, Wilson has started five of eight games and is 15th nationally with a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio with 26 assists and only seven turnovers. Wilson had a season-high seven assists in the season-opening win over North Florida and has four or more assists in four games this season. Wilson is a junior with three years of eligibility remaining after playing two seasons at Louisiana. He currently has 194 assists, 702 points and 324 rebounds through 63 games played in his collegiate career.

Obanor approached his first double-double of the season with 10 points and seven rebounds in the win over Tennessee last Tuesday in New York. He had two 3-pointers in the game and two offensive rebounds. He was coming off a game at Providence where he scored 12 points with two 3-pointers after scoring a season-high 20 points in the home win over Lamar. A senior from Houston who is in his first season at Tech after three years at Oral Roberts, Obanor has scored 1,390 points and has 722 rebounds through 94 games of his collegiate career. He is coming off a junior season where he had 15 double-doubles and averaged 18.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game at ORU where he recorded double-doubles in three NCAA Tournament games en route to the Sweet 16. Obanor has hit three 3-pointers in three of eight games this season and is currently 16-for-43 on 3-pointers. He is averaging 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game coming into the matchup against Arkansas State.

Davion Warren is averaging 11.9 points per game through eight games as a Red Raider after going for 21.2 points per game as a senior at Hampton University last season. He's coming off a game against the Volunteers where he had 10 points and two steals. A Buffalo, New York native, Warren ranked 14^th nationally in scoring last season and is the fourth leading returner. He scored a season-high 19 points in the win over Grambling in the second game of the season and has scored in double figures in five of eight games. Warren is currently 21 of 27 on free throws (77.8 percent) which ranks sixth in the Big 12. After beginning his career with two seasons at Olney Central College, Warren played two seasons at Hampton where he earned his bachelor's degree. He currently has 972 points through 67 games at the NCAA level.

Marcus Santos-Silva is in his second season at Tech after playing three years at VCU. A super senior from Taunton, Massachusetts, he has produced 1,116 points and 843 rebounds through 134 games in his collegiate career. Santos-Silva is averaging 5.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for the Red Raiders this season with a high of 12 rebounds in the win over Lamar and 13 points in the opener against North Florida. Santos-Silva has 26 games in his career with double-digit rebounds after his 12-rebound performance against Lamar. He is third in the Big 12 with 3.29 offensive rebounds per game with a season-high five offensive rebounds in the win over Lamar. He had two or more offensive rebounds in each of the first seven games this season and 339 offensive rebounds in his career. Arms has been a consistent player off the bench for Adams throughout the first eight games where he is averaging 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. A Milwaukee native, Arms is at his fourth college after also playing at Mesa Community College, Northwest Nazarene and Winthrop. He had a season-high seven rebounds at Providence and also scored six points in the game. He was held scoreless for the first time this season against Tennessee. Arms scored a season-high 12 points in the win over Incarnate Word and has three games with two or more 3-pointers. He played in the NCAA Tournament last season with Winthrop, scoring 10 points in a loss to Villanova in the opening round.

Tech's bench is deep with Daniel Batcho, Chibuzo Agbo, Clarence Nadolny, KJ Allen and Sardaar Calhoun poised to make impacts. Batcho is a freshman from Paris France who transferred from Arizona where he redshirted last season before deciding to transfer. He is coming off a career-high 11 rebounds in the win over Tennessee where he also scored four points and had two blocked shots. Batcho had 10 rebounds and also scored six points in the win over Omaha after producing eight rebounds and eight points against Incarnate Word. The tallest Red Raider at 6-foot-11, Batcho is averaging 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 per game. Tech's only true freshman, Ethan Duncan, will redshirt this season after suffering an off-season shoulder injury that required surgery.

OUR LEADER: Mark Adams is in his first season as the head coach at Texas Tech after working as the associate head coach for the program for five seasons. His 6-0 start was the best beginning to a season for a first-year head coach at Tech. Adams, who is the 18^th head coach in program history, has won 561 games as a head coach and is in 26th season in a head coaching role with previous head coach experience at Howard College (2004-13), UTRGV (1992-97), West Texas A&M (1987-92), Wayland Baptist (1983-87) and Clarendon College (1981-82). Adams was named Tech's 18^th head coach in program history on April 6, 2021 having already amassed a 554-244 overall record in the lead role. He led Howard College to the 2010 NJCAA National Championship and Wayland Baptist to the 1985 NAIA National Championship Finals with a runner-up finish. Adams coached Jae Crowder at Howard College. As an assistant under Chris Beard, Adams helped Little Rock to the NCAA Tournament before unprecedented success at Texas Tech where the Red Raiders advanced to the 2018 Elite Eight and 2019 NCAA National Championship Final. Tech advanced to the 2021 NCAA Tournament which is the first time the program has made three straight tournament appearances. Adams has been inducted to the Hall of Fame at Wayland Baptist, West Texas A&M, Howard College and the NJCAA. His defense was the top-ranked unit in Kenpom in adjusted defense. Adams has surrounded himself by an experienced staff that includes head coaching experience in Corey Williams (Stetson), Barret Peery (Portland State) and Sean Sutton (Oklahoma State).

ARKANSAS STATE REPORT: The Red Wolves travel to Lubbock on a four-game winning streak after victories over Kansas City, Central Arkansas, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State. Arkansas State is currently 3-1 on the road following an 82-77 win in Itta Bena, Mississippi with Marquis Eaton leading the team with 18 points and Norchad Omier recording a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Arkansas State finished the game shooting 55.6 percent from the field and overcame a 34-33 halftime deficit. Desi Sills had 17 points in the win and now leads the Red Wolves with 16.0 points per game, while Omier is averaging 13.3 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game. Eaton is at 11.9 points per game and has also added 32 assists. A Sun Belt Conference program, Arkansas State went 11-13 last season.

UP NEXT: Not to look ahead to fast, but Tech is set for a big matchup this weekend against No. 5 Gonzaga (8-2) in the Jerry Colangelo Classic at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The Red Raiders are 1-0 against ranked opponents this season after their overtime win over the Volunteers last week, while Gonzaga will have had nine days off before the game due to a COVID-cancellation against Washington. The Bulldogs have ranked wins over No. 5 Texas and No. 2 UCLA but have dropped games against No. 5 Duke and No. 16 Alabama this season. Texas Tech is 3-0 all-time against Gonzaga in the all-time series with wins in 2005, 2007 and in the 2019 Elite 8.