PREVIEW: No. 18 Tech, No. 15 Iowa State set for rematch

LUBBOCK, Texas – A top-20 matchup is set to begin the week as No. 18 Texas Tech hosts No. 15 Iowa State at the United Supermarkets Arena after the Cyclones took a 51-47 win in Ames, Iowa on Jan. 5 in the first meeting between the two teams this season.

The Red Raiders (13-4, 3-2 Big 12) are coming off three-game week that started by knocking off No. 1 Baylor on its home court to end the reigning national champions' 21-game winning streak and earning a 21-point win over Oklahoma State before a 62-51 loss at Kansas State last Saturday. The Cyclones (14-3, 2-3 Big 12) had lost two in a row but responded with a 79-70 win over No. 21 Texas at home.

Texas Tech, which has not lost consecutive games this season, is currently 10-0 at home with conference wins over Kansas and Oklahoma State following going 8-0 on the USA court in non-conference play. The Red Raiders had won five straight over the Cyclones before the loss at Hilton Coliseum in their first conference game of the season where they played with only seven available players due to a combination of injuries and health and safety protocols. Davion Warren led Tech with 12 points in the game, while Bryson Williams had 10 points and Kevin Obanor provided his season-high with 10 rebounds. Despite being down players, Tech led 42-40 with two minutes to play before the Cyclones closed the game on a 11-3 run to secure the win.

The Red Raiders host West Virginia at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the USA in their second game this week before travelling to play at No. 7 Kansas next Monday at the Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. KU is currently atop the Big 12 standings with a 3-1 conference record – its only loss being a 75-67 defeat to Tech on Jan. 8 in Lubbock.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: No. 15 Iowa State (14-3, 2-3, W1) at No. 18 Texas Tech (13-4, 3-2, L1)
Venue: United Supermarkets Arena (15,098)
Tip: 8:05 p.m., Tuesday
TV: ESPNU
TV Talent: Mark Neely (play-by-play), Chris Spatola (analyst)
Radio (Texas Tech Sports Network): 97.3 Double T FM
Radio Talent: Geoff Haxton (play-by-play), Chris Level (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 199
Series History: Iowa State leads 21-19
Series Notes: Tech is 12-6 in Lubbock; ISU is 2-0 in ranked vs. ranked matchups

NATIONAL POLLS / STAT REPORT
Texas Tech moved up to No. 18 in the Associated Press Men's Basketball Top 25 and stayed at No. 19 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. The Red Raiders are currently 10th in the nation by limiting opponents to just 58.6 points per game with only two opponents scoring over 70 all season. Tech leads the Big 12 by limiting opponents to only 37.8 percent shooting and is 13th nationally with an 8.6 rebounding margin and 16th with a 15.1 scoring margin advantage.

Tech was not in the AP Top 25 in the preseason or for the first five weeks before entering at No. 25 on Dec. 13 after topping Tennessee in the Jimmy V Classic. The Red Raiders were at No. 25 for four straight polls before moving up to No. 19 last week after their win over then-No. 6 Kansas in the first of two straight top-10 wins.
Along with the polls, Tech comes into this week at No. 17 in the NCAA NET Rankings and at No. 16 in the Kenpom.com ratings. The Red Raiders are currently second in the Kenpom.com defensive efficiency rating behind only LSU in the category. Iowa State is fourth in the defensive efficiency rating while Oklahoma State is ninth to give the Big 12 three of the top-10 spots in defense.

Gonzaga moved back to No. 1 in the nation with a 14-2 overall record while No. 2 Auburn (16-1), No. 3 Arizona (14-1), No. 4 Purdue (14-2) and No. 5 Baylor (15-2) round out the top-5. The Bears were at the top spot for five weeks before falling to Tech and Oklahoma State last week. Kansas (14-2) moved back up two spots to No. 7, Iowa State (14-3) stayed at No. 15 and Texas (13-4) dropped back to No. 23 after its loss at Iowa State. Along with having five of 10 teams in the top-25, West Virginia and Oklahoma are both receiving votes in the Jan. 17 release. Tech is currently 3-2 against teams who were ranked at the time of play with wins over Baylor, Kansas and Tennessee. The losses came to Gonzaga in the Jerry Colangelo Classic on Dec. 18 in Arizona and in the Big 12 opener against Iowa State on Jan. 5 in Ames, Iowa. The Red Raiders and Cyclones are set for the second game of the series at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock. Tech is currently 10-0 at home this season.

RED RAIDER ROSTER REPORT
The Tech roster of 14 is made up of five returners, six NCAA Division I transfers, one junior college transfer, a walk-on who joined at midterm 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. The program has five players who have played over 100 games in their career in Obanor (103), Warren (136), Williams (138), Santos-Silva (143) and Arms (121).

Williams recorded 20 or more points for the 27th time in his career by leading the Red Raiders with 20 points in the loss at Kansas State on Saturday. He is leading Tech with 15.2 points and 5.2 rebounds through five Big 12 games after also providing 11 points and six rebounds in the win over Oklahoma State. Williams was coming off 13 points and five rebounds in the win over Baylor after matching a season-high with 22 points in the win over Kansas. A super senior in his first season at Tech, Williams is averaging 12.4 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Red Raiders through 17 games. He also scored 22 points in the season opener against North Florida and now has 91 games in his career where he has scored in double figures. A Fresno, California native, Williams played two seasons at Fresno State before playing the past two at UTEP. Utilizing a fifth season, Williams is an experienced player with 1,838 points, 828 rebounds and 88 blocked shots through 138 games in his career.

McCullar is coming off a game at Kansas State where he had six points, three assists and five rebounds. He had returned from missing the first two Big 12 games to fill the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win over Baylor and then providing seven points and four assists against Oklahoma State. A junior from San Antonio, McCullar played as a reserve for the first time this season at Baylor in his return before starting against OSU and Kansas State. He played 30 minutes in all three games in his return. McCullar is averaging 12.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals through 13 games played this season. He has had three or more assists in 10 games and already has 47 assists this season after having 41 through 20 games played last season. McCullar is the only player on the roster who was part of the 2019 Final Four team where he was a redshirt freshman after he graduated high school early and enrolled at Tech midyear. He has now played in 62 games in his Red Raider career and has 542 points, 294 rebounds, 109 assists and 90 steals. McCullar was a 2021 All-Big 12 honorable mention selection.

Terrence Shannon, Jr. made his return against Kansas State where he played 18:34 and finished with two points on 1-for-3 shooting. He had missed the previous seven games against Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State, Alabama State, Eastern Washington and Gonzaga with an injury. He is now averaging 12.6 points per game through seven games played. Before missing seven straight games, he had recorded his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Tennessee, but then had a season-low two points against Arkansas State in limited minutes in his last action on the court. His 12 rebounds against the Volunteers 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 five of seven games he's played in this season and in 41 games through 64 in his career. He also scored 18 points in the team's 56-point win over Omaha and is currently shooting 11-for-32 (34.4 percent) on 3-pointers with two or more in each of the seven games he's played in. Shannon has scored 732 points in his career with a high of 24 points as a freshman at DePaul. He earned 2021 All-Big 12 Third Team honors and is on the Preseason All-Big 12 team and watch lists for the Naismith, Wooden and West awards.

Warren had nine points after going 2-for-3 on 3-pointers at Kansas State after he went for 12 points and five rebounds in the win over Oklahoma State to give him nine games scoring in double figures this season. At Baylor, he hit a pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining to push the lead to three and the eventual final score. In his first season at Tech after transferring from Hampton, Warren is averaging 10.4 points per game as a starter in all 17 games. He scored a season-high 19 points in the non-conference win over Grambling and went for 12 points in the Big 12 opener against Iowa State. Warren is currently leading the Red Raiders with 25 steals after having two at KSU and has also contributed 27 assists. Along with playing at Hampton, Warren began his collegiate career at Olney Central College where he played junior college basketball for two seasons. In his fifth season now, Warren has scored 1,772 points in his career.

Arms led Tech with seven rebounds at Kansas State but was limited to just two points in the loss. He had went for 13 points against Oklahoma State after leading the team with 14 points and nine rebounds against Baylor along with matching McCullar with five assists. Making his eighth straight start after playing the first nine as a reserve, Arms is currently averaging 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in Big 12 play and is at 8.5 points and 2.2 assists per game for the season. He went 7 of 13 from the field against the Bears and had his third game with five assists this season in the win over the top-ranked team in the nation. His nine rebounds were a season-high and only one shy of giving him his first double-double. A super senior at his fourth college, Arms began his career at Mesa Community College, Northwest Nazarene and Winthrop before deciding to transfer to Tech this season. He's scored 1,505 points in his career.

Obanor led Tech with 17 points in the win over Oklahoma State after the game at Baylor where he scored 13 points and also had four rebounds. He was held to six points at KSU where he went 0-for-3 on 3-pointers. A senior from Houston, Obanor is averaging 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in his first season at Tech after three years at Oral Roberts. He has now scored 1,462 points and has 765 rebounds in his career. Obanor scored a season-high 20 points in the non-conference win over Lamar where he hit three 3-pointers. He has made 24 3-pointers for the season after going 3-for-5 against the Cowboys and is now 146-for-360 (40.6 percent) for his career. He has recorded 30 double-doubles and has scored in double figures in 72 games through 103 career games. Obanor has made a 3-pointer in 12 of 17 games this season.

Nadolny is coming off a game at Kansas State where he had six points and four rebounds in 21 minutes of play. He had a team-high three steals in the win over Oklahoma State where he also had three rebounds. Nadolny had made three straight starts to open Big 12 and is currently averaging 9.0 points and 2.6 steals in conference play. He scored in double figures for the second time in his career against Baylor where he went for 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting against the Bears. A junior from France, Nadolny is in his third season at Tech and has played in 62 games – getting his first start of his career in the conference opener at Iowa State. He scored a career-high 17 points in the win over No. 6 Kansas by going 6 of 13 from the field in 34 minutes of play. He had a career-high four steals in the loss at Iowa State where he also had nine points. Nadolny missed the first three games of the season due to off-season hip surgery and is currently averaging 5.0 points and 1.5 steals per game for the season.

Santos-Silva recorded his first double-double of the season and 13th of his career by going for 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Oklahoma State. He also had a strong performance against Kansas where he provided toughness along with seven points, four rebounds and two assists. Santos-Silva was scoreless at KSU and had two rebounds. A super senior from Taunton, Massachusetts who played three seasons at VCU, he has produced 1,154 points and 872 rebounds through a team-high 143 games in his collegiate career. Santos-Silva is averaging 5.0 points and 3.9 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. He had five rebounds, three assists and scored four points in the first matchup against Iowa State, including a fastbreak dunk gave Tech a 42-40 lead with two minutes remaining against the Cyclones. Santos-Silva has 27 games in his career with double-digit rebounds after his 10 against OSU and has eight games with four or more rebounds this season. He currently has 351 offensive rebounds in his career with both of his rebounds at KSU coming on the offensive side. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 17 this season.

Mylik Wilson had missed five games after minor knee surgery but returned to lead Tech with five assists in the win over Kansas. He also added five points and four rebounds in his Big 12 debut – playing 23 minutes in his return. Wilson had four points and an assist last Thursday against OSU but was without a stat He leads Tech with a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio with 32 assists and only 11 turnovers. He is also adding 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 11 games played. A transfer from Louisiana, Wilson has started five of 11 games he played in. Wilson had a season-high seven assists in the season-opening win over North Florida and has four or more assists in five games this season. Wilson is a junior with three years of eligibility remaining after playing two seasons at Louisiana. He currently has 200 assists, 711 points and 330 rebounds through 66 games played in his collegiate career.

Tech's bench is strong with young talent in Daniel Batcho, Chibuzo Agbo and KJ Allen who are poised to make impacts. Batcho is a freshman from Paris France who transferred from Arizona where he redshirted last season before deciding to transfer while Agbo is a sophomore who has played 33 games as a Red Raider. Batcho secured a career-high 11 rebounds in the win over Tennessee where he also scored four points and had two blocked shots and is now coming off going for nine rebounds and eight points against Alabama State. 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 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 points per game. He had two rebounds and recorded his team-best 10th blocked shot in the win over OSU. Agbo scored a career-high seven points against Omaha this season and had six points in the 2021 NCAA Tournament against Arkansas where he hit two second-half 3-pointers in the second round matchup. Allen is in his first season at Tech after transferring from East Los Angeles College where he averaged 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds, had 11 double-doubles and starred in the Netflix series Last Chance U: Basketball during his freshman season of 2019-20.

Tech's only true freshman, Ethan Duncan, is redshirting this season after suffering an off-season shoulder injury that required surgery. Austin Timperman made his debut against EWU after becoming eligible at midterm. A walk-on from The Woodlands, Timperman transferred to Tech as a student last year after being in UTSA's team during the 2019-20 season where he played in six games. Sardaar Calhoun entered the transfer portal on Jan. 11 and is no longer with the team. At midyear, Tech added Jaylon Tyson to the roster after he decided to transfer from the University of Texas. Tyson will be able to practice with the team, but is not eligible to play until the 2022-23 season.

TECH VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Tech is now 3-2 against ranked opponents this season after knocking off No. 1 Baylor, No. 6 Kansas and a 57-52 overtime win over then-No. 13 Tennessee at the Jimmy V Classic. The losses came at No. 11 Iowa State to open Big 12 play after a 69-55 loss to No. 5 Gonzaga in the Jerry Colangelo Classic. As a program, Tech is 64-217 all-time against ranked opponents after going 16-24 in the previous five seasons. The Red Raiders were 3-8 in the 2020-21 season against ranked teams with two wins over Texas (No. 4 and No. 14) and a home win over Oklahoma which was at No. 9.

In ranked vs. ranked matchups, Iowa State is now 2-0 all-time against Tech with its win on Jan. 5 and also at 64-61 win in 1997 with the Red Raiders at No. 20 and the Cyclones at No. 14.

RED RAIDERS vs. TOP-10 OPPONENTS
Tech has now beat a top-10 opponent in eight straight seasons , a top-5 opponent in seven straight seasons and has 26 wins over top-10 teams in program history. The Red Raiders have 12 wins over top-10 teams since the 2015 season. Tech went 2-4 against top-10 opponents last season with a 79-77 road win over Texas in Austin on Jan. 13, 2021 before knocking off No. 9 Oklahoma with a 57-52 win in Lubbock on Feb. 1, 2021. The Red Raiders dropped their conference opener last season to No. 5 Kansas at home and fell twice to Baylor before No. 10 Arkansas topped them in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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PREVIEW: No. 18 Tech, No. 15 Iowa State set for rematch

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Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

KJ Allen

Adonis Arms

Daniel Batcho

Ethan Duncan

Kevin Obanor

Marcus Santos-Silva

Austin Timperman

Davion Warren

Bryson Williams

Mylik Wilson