PREVIEW: vs. Texas Longhorns

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 18 Texas Tech will host No. 14 Texas at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (14-8, 6-7 Big 12) are looking to snap a three-game losing streak following a 74-69 overtime loss at Oklahoma State on Monday, while the Longhorns (14-6, 8-5 Big 12) are coming off a 75-72 overtime win over Kansas in Austin on Tuesday. Tech earned a 79-77 win over Texas on Jan. 13 in the first matchup with Mac McClung going off for 22 points, including hitting the game-winning jump shot with three seconds remaining and Kevin McCullar scoring a career-high 16 to go along with eight rebounds.

The Red Raiders are currently 8-4 overall and 2-4 in Big 12 play in home games, while Texas is 3-1 in road games. Under head coach Chris Beard, Tech is 71-13 in home games including going 3-1 on its home court against the Longhorns.

Marcus Santos-Silva is a grad transfer from VCU who is averaging 8.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game for the Red Raiders in his first season with the program. He is coming off a game at OSU where he had nine rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots.
McClung leads the Red Raiders with 16.9 points per game for the season and is second in the Big 12 with 18.6 ppg. in conference play after going for 17 points in the overtime loss at OSU. Terrence Shannon, Jr. was named one of five finalist for the Julius Erving Award on Wednesday and comes into the matchup against Texas averaging 12.9 ppg. and 4.7 rpg. after leading Tech with 18 points at OSU. McCullar is at 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and leads the team with 1.6 steals per game after matching a career-high with four steals at OSU. McCullar scored 12 points at Kansas and Oklahoma State in the past two games, while Kyler Edwards had three steals in a 10-steal game for Tech against OSU. Edwards is averaging 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and leads Tech with 2.6 assists per game (58 total) after having three on Monday night.

Texas is coming off its 75-72 overtime win over Kansas with Courtney Ramey leading the team with 15 points (8-for-8 free throws) and Greg Brown and Andrew Jones scoring 13 points each. Down 43-32 at halftime, the Longhorns limited KU to only 29.6 percent shooting in the second half. Jones, who recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds to go along with his 13 points, leads UT with 15.4 points per game this season. Brown tops the team with 7.4 rebounds per game and has 21 blocked shots coming into his first trip to Lubbock. The Longhorns lead the Big 12 with 40.0 rebounds per game after owning a 50-38 advantage on the boards over KU.

Tech comes into the second matchup against the Longhorns fifth in the nation with a 5.4 turnover margin advantage and are second in the Big 12 by forcing 16.4 turnovers per game and committing only 11.0. The Red Raiders rank 24th in both of those categories. Despite only getting the free-throw line 12 times on Monday night at Oklahoma State, Texas Tech ranks 13th nationally in free throws attempted and has made the eighth most free throws in the nation. The Red Raiders come into Saturday's game shooting 367 of 510 from the line this season after going 8-for-12 against OSU which was 22-for-32 on its free throws. Defensively, Tech is second in the Big 12 and 31st nationally by liming opponents to 63.4 points per game.
MEDIA: The game will be featured on CBS with Carter Blackburn and Pete Gillen on the call, while Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will broadcast locally on Double T 97.3 and the Texas Tech Sports Network.

SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech has won six of the last seven games in the series, including a 79-77 win in the first matchup this season with McClung hitting the game-winner in the final seconds. Chris Beard is 7-4 as Tech's head coach against his alma mater. The Longhorns lead the all-time series with an 87-62 advantage, while TTU leads 34-29 in games played in Lubbock. Tech has won five in a row in Lubbock over the Longhorns.

UP NEXT: The Big 12 announced this week the addition of three games next week that were postponed earlier in the season. The Red Raiders will now host TCU at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2 and Iowa State at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 4 before traveling to play at No. 2 Baylor at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 7 in Waco. The three games to complete the regular season will be followed by the Big 12 Championship which is slated for March 10-13 in Kansas City.

RED RAIDER REPORT: McClung leads the Red Raiders this season by scoring 16.9 points per game overall and 18.6 per Big 12 game after going for 17 points at Oklahoma State. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 1 to honor his performances at West Virginia and LSU and was also named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 18 following a game-winner at Texas and 24 points against Baylor. A junior Gate City, Virginia who transferred from Georgetown this season, he is averaging 14.8 points in the past five games. He went for a season-high 30 points at West Virginia six games ago and then had 22 in the road win at LSU. McClung has scored 20 or more in 10 games this season after his 23 points at Kansas State. For the season, McClung has made 39 3-pointers which leads the team after hitting two in Kansas and one at OSU. He's also 90-for-111 at the free-throw line (81.1 percent) and is shooting 42.5 percent from the field. McClung reached 1,000 points in his career at LSU and comes into the matchup against Texas with 1,081 points through 72 games in his collegiate career. He scored a career-high 38 points as a freshman for the Hoyas against Little Rock on Dec. 12, 2018. In his season-high against WVU, McClung went 11-for-21 from the field with four 3-pointers. He has made two or more 3-pointers in 13 games this season, four 3-pointers in two games and has made five or more free throws in 10 games.

Shannon led Tech with 18 points at OSU where he made six shots and was 5-for-8 at the free-throw line. He was named one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award on Wednesday. Dealing with an ankle issue, he was coming off scoring five points at KU after 13 points in the home loss to WVU. He was limited to only 10 minutes of play in the second half at KSU with the ankle injury where he scored only two points. He had led the team in scoring in the previous two games after scoring a season-high 23 in the win at LSU before going for 15 points against Oklahoma. He's currently averaging 13.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in conference games and is at 12.9 points per game for the season. A sophomore from Chicago, Shannon has scored in double-digits in 16 games and 20 or more in four games. Against LSU he also added 10 rebounds to his 23-point performance for his first career double-double. He would score the final six points of the win, first on a layup off a steal to take a 72-71 lead before knocking down four free throws to ice the game. He's currently 75-for-95 on free throws (78.9 percent) this season and is 162 of 200 (81.0 percent) for his career after going 5-for-8 at OSU. Shannon has scored 554 points, has 219 rebounds and 51 steals through 50 games of his career. He scored a career-high 24 points last season as a freshman at DePaul and also had a career-best 11 rebounds at Kansas last season. Shannon has made 19 3-pointers this season through 21 games played after having nine through 29 games as a freshman. He is a Julius Erving Award Finalist this season after being named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team last year.

McCullar is coming off scoring 12 points against Kansas and Oklahoma State and is now averaging 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds for the season. He also grabbed nine rebounds at KU and had seven rebounds and four steals at OSU. His four steals matched a career high that he's had four times through 42 games in his career. McCullar hit a career-best three 3-pointers (3-for-4) and also matched a career-high with four assists against KSU where he scored 15 points. The other four-assist game coming in the first matchup at WVU. A redshirt sophomore from San Antonio, McCullar missed the first nine games of the season due to an injury suffered in the preseason but emerged as one of the top players in the conference. He has recorded two double-doubles this season, first with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State and then again with a 10/10 double-double at home against No. 2 Baylor. He has three double-digit rebounding performances in his career after also having 11 rebounds last season at Iowa State. McCullar scored a career-high 16 points in the win at Texas where he was 6-for-7 from the field, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers. McCullar redshirted during the historic run to the 2019 NCAA Final Four before playing in 29 games last season. He has now scored 314 points and has 181 rebounds through 42 games of his career. He has recorded two or more steals in eight of 13 games played this season.

Santos-Silva went for nine rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots in the overtime loss at OSU after he produced 12 points and eight rebounds in the loss at KU where he reached the 1,000-point milestone in his career. He is now averaging 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He leads the Red Raiders with 1.1 blocks per game (24 total) this season. He recorded a career-high five assists in the win at Kansas State and now has 26 assists for the season. Tech's only senior, Santos-Silva is in his first season with the program after transferring from VCU. He comes into the second matchup against Texas with 1,012 points in his career along with 760 rebounds and 116 blocks through 119 games. He has recorded two double-doubles this season with 10 points and 13 rebounds against Northwestern State before going for 12 points and 10 rebounds against Sam Houston State. He also had double-digit rebounding performances with 11 rebounds against Baylor and then 12 rebounds against LSU in Baton Rouge. Santos-Silva scored a season-high 14 points in the first matchup against Kansas State and has eight double-digit scoring games this season (four in-conference). At VCU, he had a pair of 26-point games highlighted by a 26-point, 22-rebound double-double against Rhode Island on March 15, 2019 and 16 double-doubles. He leads Tech with 24 blocks this season, including career-high performances with four blocks in games against Abilene Christian and the home game against Oklahoma State.

Edwards had seven points and six rebounds in the first matchup against the Longhorns and is averaging 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and a team-leading 2.6 assists per game for the season. He filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists against WVU after also producing a game at KSU with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal. A junior from Arlington, Edwards has been a part of 63 wins through 91 games as a Red Raider that includes playing in all 38 games a freshman during the run to the 2019 NCAA Championship Final. Edwards scored a season-high 19 points in wins over Abilene Christian and Iowa State this season and has now scored 767 points in his career. He's shooting 37-for-96 (38.5 percent) on 3-pointers this season and has made 116 3-pointers in his career. Edwards leads Tech with 58 assists this season, including a career-high seven assists in the opener against Northwestern State and the six he dished out against WVU. He had three more assists in the win at KSU and has recorded three or more assists in 11 games this season.

Peavy is coming off a career-high seven rebounds to go along with 10 points at Kansas before scoring four at OSU. He has started 21 of 22 games to begin his collegiate career where he is averaging 5.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. A true freshman who was the Texas Class 6A Player of the Year and a Class 6A State Champion at Duncanville HS, Peavy has scored a season-high 14 points in the season opener against Northwestern State and had a conference-high of nine points in the first matchup against Kansas State before going 4-for-6 from the field and 2 of 4 at the line at Allen Fieldhouse. He scored six points and had five rebounds against Baylor before also scoring six points at West Virginia. Peavy is shooting 46.2 percent from the field this season and has scored 121 points this season.

Tyreek Smith had a career-high eight rebounds in the win over Oklahoma at home before matching a career-high with three blocks at KSU where he also had five points. A redshirt freshman, Smith is averaging 2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds through 22 games after having two points and two rebounds at KU. He went for five points, three blocks and two steals at KSU in 12 minutes of play. Smith scored a career-high seven points in the non-conference wins over Northwestern State and Troy. Against Troy, he had a career-high three blocks that was matched at KSU to take his season total to 18. Burton is averaging 4.7 points and 1.3 assists per game after going for eight points, two assists and two rebounds against WVU. He missed the game at OSU with a toe injury and is listed as day-to-day. A junior from Charlotte, North Carolina who transferred from Wichita State, Burton has scored 628 points and has 256 assists through 88 games of his collegiate career. He scored a season-high 10 points in the win over Grambling in non-conference play and had a Big 12-best of nine at West Virginia where he was 4-for-7 from the field with one 3-pointer. Burton had a season-high five assists in the win over Northwestern State and has an 11-assist performance against Oklahoma State on his resume from Wichita State. Burton has made four starts and appeared in 17 games as a reserve this season.

Clarence Nadolny scored a season-high seven points against Oklahoma where he was 2-for-2 from the field, including hitting one 3-pointer before scoring three points at KSU. A sophomore from France, he had a season-best three assists at West Virginia in the first matchup where he played 17 minutes before scoring his seven points in 15 minutes against OU. He had a previous season-high of six points in the win over Corpus Christi and has a career-high of nine points last season against Houston Baptist as a freshman. He is currently 21 points away from 100 in his career. Avery Benson is currently averaging 1.6 points and 1.0 rebound per game. A redshirt junior, Benson is the only player on the current roster who was with the program when it advanced to the 2018 Elite 8. He is currently 5-for-7 on 3-pointers this season after hitting one at OSU. Benson had a career-high 10 points and two blocked shots last season in the win over No. 1 Louisville at the 2019 Jimmy V Classic in New York. Chibuzo Agbo and Vladislav Goldin are true freshman along with Peavy and have had some strong moments in their first season at Tech. A San Diego native, Agbo is averaging 1.7 points per game after two at KU with a season-high five coming in the opener against Northwestern State. He had three points at West Virginia with a 3-pointer and also had two points at LSU. Agbo has hit six 3-pointers this season. Goldin is the tallest player on the roster at 7-foot-1 and is averaging 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. A forward from Russia, Goldin scored a career-high six points against Grambling in non-conference play and also added four rebounds in the win. Goldin has not played since the win at Iowa State on Jan. 9 in Ames.

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 11 times this season after having 10 at Kansas. The season has been highlighted by a two-turnover showing at West Virginia which matched the Big 12 single-game record. The Red Raiders are currently averaging only 11.0 turnovers per game which is the second in the Big 12 after a 12-turnover game at OSU on Monday night. In Big 12 play, Tech also had only seven turnovers against Texas and Kansas, nine in the win over Kansas State and 10 at Iowa State. The team is averaging only 10.5 turnovers per game in Big 12 play. Tech had only one turnover at halftime against the Cyclones to get out to a 24-point lead. In non-conference play, Tech had only four turnovers against Corpus Christi which was the low in the Beard era before the two in Morgantown. During his five seasons, Tech has committed 10 or less turnovers 62 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-5.4 turnover margin which is fifth nationally. The Red Raiders have drastically improved in the turnover category after committing 13.7 last season.

FORCING THE ISSUE: Texas Tech forced 30 turnovers against Grambling for the most since the 2009 season opener against South Dakota. At OSU, Tech forced 17 turnovers and has had more turnovers than their opponent in only five of 22 games after Kansas had only six. 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 before having eight at KSU. 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. Tech had 10 steals on Monday at OSU with McCullar leading the team with four and Edwards three.

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; TTU 2-WVU 12; TTU 13-LSU 12; TTU 10-OU 11; TTU 10-KSU 18; TTU 13-WVU 15; TTU 10-KU 6; TTU 12-OSU 17.

OUR LEADER: Beard is in his fifth season as the Texas Tech head coach where he has led the program to a 108-52 record, including an 8-2 mark in the NCAA Tournament. Beard was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year and earned Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019. An assistant coach at Texas Tech under Bob and Pat Knight, Beard has amassed an impressive 138-57 record as a Division I head coach that started with one season at Little Rock where he was 30-5. He also has head coaching stops at Fort Scott Community College, Seminole State, McMurry and Angelo State in his collegiate career. Beard is the 17th head coach in Texas Tech history and reached 100 wins on Dec. 12, 2020 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He is the fastest Tech coach to reach that milestone following James Dickey (148 games), Bob Knight (150), Gerald Myers (152) and Polk Robison (170).

BEARD AT HOME (71-13, 30-12 Big 12)
2016-17: 16-3, 6-3 Big 12
2017-18: 17-1, 8-1 Big 12
2018-19: 17-1, 8-1 Big 12
2019-20: 13-4, 6-3 Big 12
2020-21: 8-4, 2-4 Big 12

THE STAFF: Beard is assisted this season by associate head coach Mark Adams, assistant coaches Ulric Maligi and Bob Donewald, Casey Perrin (Chief of Staff), Sean Sutton (Advisor/Player Development), John Reilly (Strength & Conditioning) and associate athletic trainer Mike Neal. Adams is entering his fifth season on Beard's staff and also assisted him at Little Rock. A 1979 graduate of Texas Tech, Adams is a former head coach at Clarendon College, Wayland Baptist, West Texas A&M, Texas-Pan American and Howard College. He earned 2019 TABC Assistant Coach of the Year and is a member of multiple hall of fames, most recently being inducted into the NJCAA's Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class for 2020. Donewald is in his second season on the staff, but his first as an assistant. He has extensive experience in professional basketball and worked last season as the program's director of player development. Maligi is also in his second season on the staff and is widely respected as one of the top emerging assistants in the nation. He led the charge in the recruitment of this year's signing class which was the highest ranked in program history. Reilly, a Killeen, Texas native who competed on the BYU Track & Field team, is also in his fifth season having led the strength and conditioning each year for Beard. Neal is in his second season, coming over from Little Rock where he played basketball and was the team's athletic trainer during Beard's year leading the program.

UNCOMFORTABLE – BEARD EXPLAINS: "Being comfortable gets you beat every single time. You see it all the time in sports. You win a big game and the next time there's a letdown and a loss. We've all seen that. Life is the same way. You can have a great day at work and you could take the edge off. It takes a special person, we use the word 'elite', to remain uncomfortable. Coach Knight would talk a lot about when things were going good that we need to shake the tree from time to time. Everybody expects the best and have focus during times of adversity, but only the elite people can push themselves each day to stay uncomfortable. I think being uncomfortable is where growth comes from. Uncomfortable is what you have to be to compete in the Big 12. Our guys have embraced this. Each season we try to have a theme and with this year's group, we just feel that if we can stay uncomfortable we'll be where we need to be. We like our talent. We like our culture. If this team can keep pushing and not get too high or too low by staying uncomfortable right there in the middle, we think we have a great chance to grow."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

Avery Benson

Kyler Edwards

Vladislav Goldin

Mac McClung

Kevin McCullar

Clarence Nadolny

Marcus Santos-Silva

Tyreek Smith