PREVIEW: No. 18 Tech, WVU set for Saturday showdown

LUBBOCK, Texas – The seventh round of the Big 12 fight for No. 18 Texas Tech brings West Virginia in for an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (14-4, 4-2 Big 12) are coming off an impressive 72-60 win over No. 15 Iowa State on Tuesday for their fourth top-15 win of the season, while the Mountaineers (13-4, 2-4 Big 12) have lost two straight for the first time this season after a 77-68 loss to No. 5 Baylor on Tuesday and falling last Saturday at No. 7 Kansas.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: West Virginia (13-4, 2-3, L1) at No. 18 Texas Tech (14-4, 4-2, W1)
Venue: United Supermarkets Arena (15,098)
Tip: 11:01 a.m., Saturday
TV: ESPN 2
TV Talent: Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play), Tim Welsh (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. 81
Series History: WVU swept last season… Leads 16-6 overall, 5-4 in Lubbock

Bryson Williams led Tech with 16 points in the win over Iowa State in a game where the Red Raiders were up by as many as 23, while Kevin Obanor had 15 points and eight rebounds to even the season series against ISU. Williams is now scoring a team-high 12.6 points for the season and is at 15.3 points per game through six Big 12 contests. Obanor, who was just two rebounds shy of his 31st career double-double, is now averaging 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in Big 12 games. The Red Raiders have four players averaging in double figures for the season with Kevin McCullar at 11.9 points per game, Terrence Shannon, Jr. averaging 11.5 and Davion Warren scoring 10.4 points per after having 11 against the Cyclones. Obanor is at 9.5 for the season and Adonis Arms is adding 8.6 points per game – showcasing an experienced and deep team that has seen six different players lead the team in scoring in a game this season and eight players score in double figures.

Texas Tech enters this weekend with an 11-0 record at home and is coming off the program's 32nd game with over 15,000 fans after the first official sellout of the season against ISU on Tuesday at the USA. The Red Raiders are 3-0 at home in Big 12 games this season with wins over Kansas, Oklahoma State and the Cyclones and are outscoring the first 11 opponents to come to Lubbock by an 81-57 scoring margin by shooting 51.1 percent from the field and limiting teams to 37.5 percent. TTU has six more home games after WVU, including hosting Mississippi State next Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge before welcoming No. 23 Texas to the USA on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

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 on Monday. The Red Raiders are currently 10th in the nation with teams only shooting 37.7 percent and by limiting opponents to just 58.7 points per game with only two opponents scoring over 70 all season. Tech leads the Big 12 by limiting opponents to only 37.7 percent shooting with Iowa State shooting just 36.5 percent on Tuesday night. The Red Raiders are 16th nationally with a 14.9 scoring margin and are fourth in the Big 12 by shooting 47.4 percent offensively.

Tech is currently 4-2 against teams who were ranked at the time of play with wins over No. 1 Baylor, No. 6 Kansas, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 15. 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. It is the first time in program history with four top-15 wins in a regular season. Tech and Alabama are the only two teams in the nation with four top-15 wins this season.

Along with the polls, Tech comes into Saturday's matchup against WVU at No. 14 (was No. 17 before ISU win) in the NCAA NET Rankings and also at No. 14 in the Kenpom.com ratings. The Red Raiders are currently second in the Kenpom.com defensive efficiency rating behind only LSU in the category.

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.

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.

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 (104), Warren (137), Williams (139), Santos-Silva (144) and Arms (122).

Williams led Tech in scoring for the sixth time this season after going for 16 points in the win over Iowa State on Tuesday and now leads the team with 12.6 points per game for the season. In home games, Williams is at 14.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game to lead the team. Williams, who leads Tech by shooting 40.5 percent on 3-pointers with 17 makes, 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 last Saturday. He is leading Tech with 15.3 points through six 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, he also scored 22 points in the season opener against North Florida and now has 92 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 1,854 points, 831 rebounds and 88 blocked shots through 139 games in his career.
Obanor went for 15 points and eight rebounds in the win over Iowa State and is now averaging 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in Big 12 play. He 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. A senior from Houston, Obanor is averaging 9.5 points and 4.9 rebounds in his first season at Tech after three years at Oral Roberts. He has now scored 1,477 points and has 773 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-363 (40.2 percent) for his career. He has recorded 30 double-doubles and has scored in double figures in 73 games through 104 career games. Obanor has made a 3-pointer in 12 of 18 games this season and leads Tech with 24 made 3-pointers.

McCullar is coming off a game against Iowa State where he had seven points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. He is now averaging 11.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals through 14 games played this season. McCullar 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 then No. 1 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 the past three games. He played at or over 30 minutes in all four games in his return. McCullar has had three or more assists in 11 games and already has 50 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 63 games in his Red Raider career and has 549 points, 300 rebounds, 112 assists and 93 steals. McCullar, who is averaging 8.0 points and 5.3 rebounds through four Big 12 games played, was a 2021 All-Big 12 honorable mention selection.

Shannon made his return against Kansas State and Iowa State. At KSU, he played 18:34 and finished with two points on 1-for-3 shooting before scoring four points against the Cyclones from the starting lineup in 26 minutes. 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 11.3 points per game through eight 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 eight games he's played in this season and in 41 games through 65 in his career. He has scored 736 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 went for 11 points and four rebounds in the win over Iowa State to give him 10 double-figure scoring performances this season and him to 10.4 points per game this season. At Baylor, he hit a pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining to push the lead to 65-62 - the eventual final score. In his first season at Tech after transferring from Hampton, Warren is averaging 8.8 points per Big 12 game as a starter. 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 1,783 points in his career.

Arms had nine points in the win against Iowa State after he had led Tech with seven rebounds at Kansas State. 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. Playing against ISU as a reserve after he had made eight straight starts, Arms is currently averaging 8.8 points and 5.3 rebounds in Big 12 play and is at 8.6 points and 2.2 assists per game for the season. He went 7 of 13 from the field against Baylor 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 1,514 points in his career.

Nadolny had six points and four rebounds at Kansas State but was limited to two points against ISU. 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 before playing the past three back as a reserve and is currently averaging 7.8 points and 2.1 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 63 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 4.8 points and 1.4 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. Against Iowa State he had four points and four rebounds and is now averaging 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds for the season. He also had a strong performance against Kansas where he provided toughness along with seven points, four rebounds and two assists. A super senior from Taunton, Massachusetts who played three seasons at VCU, he has produced 1,158 points and 256 rebounds through a team-high 144 games in his collegiate career. Santos-Silva has a high of 12 rebounds coming 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 352 offensive rebounds in his career with one against ISU on Tuesday. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 18 this season. He is second on the team with nine blocked shots and has 133 blocks in his career.

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. He leads Tech with a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio with 32 assists and only 12 turnovers. He is also adding 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in 12 games played. A transfer from Louisiana, Wilson has started five of 13 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, 713 points and 330 rebounds through 67 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 whenever they get on the court. 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 in 34 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. Batcho had 10 rebounds and also scored six points in the win over Omaha after producing eight rebounds and eight points against Incarnate Word. He's coming off grabbing four rebounds against Iowa State which is his Big 12 best. The tallest Red Raider at 6-foot-11, Batcho is averaging 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 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.

WEST VIRGINIA REPORT
The Mountaineers are currently 1-2 in true road games after their 85-59 loss at Kansas last Saturday but is 5-4 all-time against Tech in Lubbock. Malik Curry led WVU with 19 points as a reserve on Tuesday against Baylor by going 7-for-12 from the field and 5 of 5 at the free-throw line, while Taz Sherman went for 18 points and Sean McNeil scored 17. Sherman leads the Mountaineers with 18.8 points and 2.7 assists per game this season, while McNeil is at 14.4 points by shooting 41.8 percent on 3-pointers. Jalen Bridges is adding 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while Gabe Osabuohien is at 5.8 rebounds and 4.6 points. McNeil scored a season-high 26 points against Kansas State where he was 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. He had 26 points last season against the Red Raiders by going 5 of 7 from beyond the arc in Lubbock. The Mountaineers will return to action by hosting Oklahoma on Wednesday before playing at Arkansas next Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

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 18th 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 18th 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 VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Tech is now 4-2 against ranked opponents this season after knocking off No. 15 Iowa State, 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 65-217 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.

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, WVU set for Saturday showdown

Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

KJ Allen

Adonis Arms

Daniel Batcho

Ethan Duncan

Kevin McCullar

Kevin Obanor

Marcus Santos-Silva

Austin Timperman

Davion Warren

Bryson Williams

Mylik Wilson

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