PREVIEW: No. 13 Tech, No. 5 KU set for ESPN Big Monday matchup

Monday, January 24

Lawrence, Kansas

8 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

No. 5 Kansas

PREVIEW: No. 13 Tech, No. 5 KU set for ESPN Big Monday matchup

January 23, 2022 | Men's Basketball

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Red Raiders at Jayhawks | 8 p.m., Monday | TV: ESPN

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – The eighth round of the Big 12 fight has No. 13 Texas Tech squaring off against No. 5 Kansas in an ESPN Big Monday matchup at 8 p.m. at the Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. Tech is 2-1 against top-10 teams this season, including earning a 75-67 win over then-No. 6 KU in the first matchup between the teams.

The Red Raiders (15-4, 5-2 Big 12) have won two in a row after wins over West Virginia and No. 15 Iowa State last week, while the Jayhawks (16-2, 5-1 Big 12) are on a four-game winning streak after a second-half rally to top Kansas State. Tech won the first matchup in the season series, taking a 75-67 win over KU on Jan. 8 in Lubbock with Bryson Williams going off for 22 points and eight rebounds and Clarence Nadolny scoring a career-high 17 points. TTU owned a 44-18 scoring advantage in the paint and a 33-24 rebounding margin in the victory.

Tech improved to 12-0 at home this season with its 78-65 win over WVU on Saturday, but is 1-2 in Big 12 road games with a win at No. 1 Baylor on Jan. 11 in Waco. The Red Raiders are 1-20 all-time in Lawrence with its win coming in 2018 and are looking to snap a four-game losing streak in the series after the Jayhawks have swept the past two seasons. Tech has never swept KU in the series.

Terrence Shannon, Jr. is coming off a season-high 23 points to lead the Red Raiders over the Mountaineers, while Kevin Obanor is now at 1,495 career points after going for 18 in the win and Bryson Williams has scored in double figures in all seven Big 12 games by adding 13 points. The starting lineup of Obanor, Williams, Shannon, Kevin McCullar and Davion Warren moved to 5-1 together with the 13-point win over WVU. Tech has now won 12 games by double digits this season, including three in conference play.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: No. 13 Texas Tech (15-4, 5-2) at No. 5 Kansas (16-2, 5-1)
Venue: Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
Tip: 8:07 p.m., Monday
TV: ESPN
TV Talent: Jon Sciambi (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (analyst), Kris Budden (reporter)
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: Kansas leads 39-7 overall, 20-1 in Lawrence

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 last Monday (a new poll will be posted at 11 a.m. on Monday). The Red Raiders are currently 13th in the nation with teams only shooting 37.8 percent and 11th by limiting opponents to just 59.1 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 with WVU shooting just 40.4 percent. The Red Raiders are 12th nationally with a 14.8 scoring margin after the 13-point win over WVU and are fourth in the Big 12 by shooting 47.0 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 Iowa State. 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.

Along with the polls, Tech comes into Monday's matchup against KU at No. 13 in the NCAA NET Rankings and also at No. 14 in the Kenpom.com ratings. The Red Raiders are currently fourth in the Kenpom.com defensive efficiency rating behind LSU, VCU and San Diego State 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.

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 (105), Warren (138), Williams (140), Santos-Silva (145) and Arms (123).
Williams has scored in double figures in all seven of Tech's conference games this season after going for 13 points in the win over West Virginia and leading the Red Raiders with 16 points against Iowa State last Tuesday. He led Tech in scoring for the sixth time this season with his 16 points in the win over the Cyclones and is now averaging 12.6 points per game for the season and 15.0 in Big 12 games. Williams, who leads Tech by shooting 42.2 percent on 3-pointers with 19 makes after two more against WVU, 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. Williams was coming off 13 points and five rebounds in the win over Baylor after matching a season-high with 22 points in the first 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 93 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 1,867 points, 835 rebounds and 89 blocked shots through 139 games in his career.

Obanor scored 18 points in the win over WVU after he went for 15 points and eight rebounds in the victory over Iowa State. He is now averaging 11.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in Big 12 play and has now scored 1,495 points in his career. Obanor had seven rebounds and seven points in the win over Kansas in the first meeting between the two teams. 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 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds overall in his first season at Tech after three years at Oral Roberts. 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 and is now 146-for-367 (39.8 percent) for his career. He has recorded 30 double-doubles, has scored in double figures in 74 games and grabbed 777 rebounds through 105 career games. Obanor has made a 3-pointer in 12 of 19 games this season and leads Tech with 24 made 3-pointers.

Shannon scored a season-high 23 points in the win over West Virginia by going 7-for-12 from the field and hitting three 3-pointers. He did not play in the first game against Kansas, making his return to the lineup against at Kansas State on Jan. 15 after 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 12.8 points per game through nine games played this season. 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 at the Jimmy V Classic, 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. 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 six of nine games he's played in this season and in 42 games through 66 in his career. He has scored 759 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.

McCullar had seven points, four assists and five rebounds in the win over WVU after going for seven points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals against Iowa State. A stat sheet stuffer, he is now averaging 11.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals through 15 games played this season. McCullar had returned from missing the first two Big 12 games to record 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win over then No. 1 Baylor. He missed the first matchup against Kansas. A junior from San Antonio, McCullar has had three or more assists in 12 games and already has a team-leading 54 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 64 games in his Red Raider career and has 556 points, 305 rebounds, 116 assists and 94 steals. McCullar, who is averaging 7.8 points and 5.2 rebounds through five Big 12 games played, was a 2021 All-Big 12 honorable mention selection.

Warren went for 11 points and four rebounds in the win over Iowa State to give him 10 double-figure scoring performances this season before leading the Red Raiders with six rebounds against WVU. He also scored seven against the Mountaineers and is now averaging 10.3 points per game this season. In his first season at Tech after transferring from Hampton, Warren is averaging 8.6 points per Big 12 games including scoring seven against KU in the first matchup. 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 27 steals after having two more against WVU and has also contributed 28 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 1,790 points in his career.

Arms had six rebounds and two points against WVU after scoring nine points in the win over ISU last week. 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 the past two games as a reserve after he had made eight straight starts, Arms is currently averaging 7.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in Big 12 play and is at 8.2 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 1,516 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 6.9 points and leads the team with 13 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 64 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 4.6 points and 1.3 steals per game for the season.

Santos-Silva leads Tech with 11 blocks this season after having two against WVU. He 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 had a strong performance against Kansas where he provided toughness along with seven points, four rebounds and two assists in the first matchup. A super senior from Taunton, Massachusetts who played three seasons at VCU, he has produced 1,162 points, 135 blocks and 878 rebounds through a team-high 145 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 353 offensive rebounds in his career with one against WVU on Saturday. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 19 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. He leads Tech with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio with 32 assists and only 13 turnovers. He is also adding 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 14 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, 714 points and 331 rebounds through 69 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.

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.