PREVIEW: No. 25 Red Raiders open against Demons

Texas Tech begins its 98th season of basketball on a 21-game home winning streak after going 18-0 at the United Supermarkets Arena last season. The No. 25-ranked Red Raiders, who have won 22 straight season openers, start this year by hosting Northwestern State at 8 p.m. on Monday at the USA following the women's program hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 5:30 p.m. in a non-conference doubleheader.

Tech is coming off a season where it reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the sixth time in program history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight time – a new Tech record
Mark Adams returns for his second season leading the program… A 1979 Tech graduate, Adams led the Red Raiders to a 27-10 overall record and 12-6 conference mark in his first season as the head coach… He was named the Associated Press Big 12 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year
Tech returns only one starter (Kevin Obanor) and three lettermen (Daniel Batcho, KJ Allen and Obanor) from last year's team while welcoming in five transfers (D'Maurian Williams, Fardaws Aimaq, Jaylon Tyson, De'Vion Harmon, Kerwin Walton) and five true freshmen (Lamar Washington, Pop Isaacs, Robert Jennings, CJ Williams, Elijah Fisher)
Corey Williams returns as an assistant coach for his second season at Tech while Steve Green and Al Pinkins joined the staff as assistant coaches during the offseason… Pinkins returns to Tech after four seasons at Florida following working at Tech from 2016-18… Green was at South Plains College for the past 23 seasons where he was a national champion… Adams has built a staff that also includes: Rick Cooper (chief of staff), Taylor Sinclair (director of operations), Sean Sutton (advisor), Darryl Dora (player personnel), Matt Scherbenske (director of recruiting), George Neilson (director of scouting), Darby Rich (strength & conditioning), John Bloom (assistant strength & conditioning), Luke Adams (player development), Cooper Anderson (coordinator of operations), Jamaal Scott (academics) and Briana Whitaker (executive associate)
Tech is scheduled to play 17 home games this season
The season opener is one of five games scheduled to be played on a Monday, including three in November
The Red Raiders finished No. 1 in defensive efficiency last season for the second time in four years… Tech also topped the Kenpom.com category in 2019 and were No. 9 in 2020… TTU limited opponents to only 60.6 per game which ranked 11th nationally… There were 16 opponents who were held under 60 points last season, including Notre Dame being limited to 53 in the NCAA Tournament second round and Iowa State to only 41 points in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals
Tech has won 15 straight non-conference home games without a loss since an overtime defeat to Kentucky on Jan. 25, 2020… The 15 straight wins come after the program had won 54 non-conference home games in a row before the loss to the Wildcats in a Big 12-SEC Challenge matchup
Finished with an 18-0 record at home in 2021-22 season which was only matched by Kentucky going 18-0 at Rupp Arena… Outscored opponents 79.7 to 58.8 per game with opponents shooting 39.1 percent… 16 of the 18 home wins were by double-digits with the only ones not by 10 or more being victories over Kansas (75-67, +8) and Kansas State (73-68, +5)
The Red Raiders finished 11th nationally in average attendance last season with 13,973 fans per game and 251,515 total... Tech had five sell-outs last season and established a new program record by exceeding capacity at 15,300 fans in attendance against Texas… There were 12 games of 14,000+ in attendance and all 18 exceeded 12,000

ROSTER REPORT

Kevin Obanor started all 37 games for the Red Raiders last season and finished the year with double-doubles in each of the three NCAA Tournament games… Obanor, who is a fifth-year senior, started his college career with three seasons at Oral Roberts before transferring to Tech last season… He enters this season with 1,676 points, 889 rebounds, 170 3-pointers and 35 double-doubles in his career… Obanor earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection last season and is on the All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention list along with the Julius Erving Award Watch List to start this year… He scored a season-high 23 points and also had 13 rebounds in the home win over Baylor last season before going for 15 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Notre Dame to reach the Sweet 16… Obanor had 10 points and 10 rebounds against Duke to finish the season.
Daniel Batcho returns for his second season with the Red Raiders after playing in 33 games as a reserve last season… A Paris, France native, Batcho had a season-high 11 rebounds in the overtime win over Tennessee last season and eight points in wins over Incarnate Word and Alabama State… He would go off for four blocked shots, six points and three rebounds against West Virginia for his best Big 12 game.
KJ Allen played in 19 games as a reserve last season for the Red Raiders with a season-high six points coming in games against Kansas State and Omaha… A Los Angeles native, Allen added a season-best eight rebounds in the conference game against Kansas State… He finished his first season in Lubbock by going 16-for-30 from the field… Allen was featured on the Netflix documentary Last Chance U while playing at East Los Angeles College where he averaged 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Jaylon Tyson transferred to Tech at midterm last season but did not play in a game for the Red Raiders… He started his career at the University of Texas where he played in eight games with career-high 11 points coming against Houston Christian… A Plano, Texas native, Tyson was an all-state performer and state champion at John Paul II… His younger brother is a freshman on the University of Colorado football team.
Fardaws Aimaq is an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection and is also on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Watch List for the top center in college basketball. A transfer from Utah Valley, Aimaq has recorded 1,056 points, 918 rebounds, 99 blocked shots and 41 double-doubles in his career… His 41 double-doubles are the fifth most for an active player in the nation… He earned the 2020-21 WAC Player of the Year honors as a sophomore after leading the nation with 15.0 rebounds to go along with 13.9 points per game and is coming off a junior season where he went for 18.9 points and 13.6 rebounds per game… He was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year the previous two seasons… During his career, he's averaged 11.1 rebounds per game which is the third best career mark nationally… Aimaq will be sidelined with a foot injury to begin the season with no official timetable for his return.
De'Vion Harmon is set to play in his first game as a Red Raider after transferring from Oregon where he played last season after two years at Oklahoma… Harmon, a Denton, Texas native who was a Class 6A All-State performer at Guyer HS, has played in 91 games in his college career where he has 928 points, 186 assists and 108 steals… Harmon averaged 10.8 points per game and had 71 assists last season for the Ducks after averaging 12.9 points per game for the Sooners as a sophomore… Harmon started 34 of 35 games last year and a season-high 21 points coming against Stanford.
Kerwin Walton played the last two seasons at North Carolina before transferring to Tech during the summer… He has made 81 3-pointers through 60 games in his career with a career-high five 3-pointers made in a game against Louisville in his freshman season… Walton is 81-for-203 (39.9 percent) from beyond the arc, including making a UNC freshman 3-point percentage record with 58 3-pointers where he started 20 games during his first season in Chapel Hill… Walton, a Hopkins, Minnesota native, averaged 8.2 points per game as a freshman for the Tar Heels with a career-high 19 points coming in that game against Louisville.
D'Maurian Williams has 731 points, 131 assists, 57 steals and 219 rebounds through two collegiate seasons at Gardner-Webb… He is set to make his Red Raider debut on Monday after transferring to Tech this summer… An Arizona native, Williams won a national championship after high school at Putnam Science Academy… He averaged in double-figures both seasons at Gardner-Webb, going for 10.8 points per game as a freshman before averaging 14.5 points per game last season as a sophomore… He had a career-high 27 points against Columbia International last season and made six 3-pointers against Western Colorado.
Five freshman will put on a Red Raider uniform for the first time for a game on Monday with Lamar Washington, Pop Isaacs, Robert Jennings, CJ Williams and Elijah Fisher set to make their debuts. Washington was the 2021 Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year while playing at Jefferson High School as a junior before playing at Compass Prep in Arizona last season as a senior. He produced 2,135 points, 705 rebounds and 823 assists during his high school career. Isaacs, a Las Vegas native, averaged 23 points as a senior at Coronado High School where he was named the Southern Nevada Offensive Player of the Year. Along with his prep career, he won a Gold Medal playing with the USA Basketball U16 team. A Desoto, Texas native, Robert Jennings averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds last season while playing for the Texas Alliance of Christian Athletes (home school). He also played at Desoto HS before finishing at home. Elijah Fisher was a consensus five-star recruit and ranked No. 15 by ESPN for the 2023 class. He reclassified to play this season and enrolled at Tech a year early. A Toronto, Ontario, Canada native, Fisher averaged 28 points and 13 rebounds during his junior season. CJ Williams was a four-time all-state performer at Fayetteville HS. He is the son of Tech assistant coach Corey Williams.

RANKINGS

Tech enters the season at No. 24 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 25 in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll
Tech has now earned a preseason ranking three times in program history
The Red Raiders opened the 2019-20 season at No. 13 after reaching the Final Four for their highest preseason ranking and were No. 14 to begin the 2020-21 season
Tech was unranked to begin last season before entering the polls at No. 25 following an overtime win over Tennessee in the Jimmy V Classic
It took Tech five weeks before it earned the ranking last season but remained ranked for the rest of the season
Tech was as high as No. 9 during February and finished the season at No. 14
Tech's highest AP ranking in program history came at No. 6 in February of 2018 (16th Week Poll)… The 2018-19 team was No. 8 in the final week of the regular season and No. 7 throughout the postseason that led to the 2019 National Championship Final

IN THE BEGINNING

Tech has won 22 straight season openers and is 70-27 in the first game of a season all-time
Tech earned an 89-74 win over North Florida last season with Bryson Williams leading the team with 22 points, while Obanor had 17 points, six rebounds and three 3-pointers in his first game as a Red Raider
This is the 25th straight season Tech has opened its season at home
Tech's last loss to begin a season came against Indiana on November 19, 1999… That game was the first-ever in the USA which was then known as United Spirit Arena… The game featured Andy Ellis scoring a career-high 30 points in front of 15,050 fans for a sellout
Tech lost its first-ever season opener with a 37-25 loss to Daniel Baker on January 25, 1926
Tech started last season with a 6-0 record before a loss at Providence College… It was the eighth time in program history to begin a year with six straight wins.
The Red Raiders began the 1929-30 season with a 12-0 record for the best start in program history and were 10-0 to begin the 2018-19 season before a loss to Duke at Madison Square Garden

THE SERIES

Texas Tech leads the all-time series by a 6-0 margin
The programs are meeting in a season opener for the second time in three seasons
Tech won the last matchup 101-58 in the 2020-21 season opener… In that game, Mac McClung led the Red Raiders with 20 points while Marcus Santos-Silva had a double-double with 13 rebounds and 10 points
The programs met for the first time on December 30, 1989 with Tech taking a 79-67 win
All six matchups have been hosted in Lubbock
This will be the third straight matchup in the series with Tech being a ranked team… The Red Raiders were No. 11 nationally at the time of a 79-44 win on December 12, 2018 and No. 14 in the last matchup
Tech is 80-23 all-time against current Southland opponents including wins over Incarnate Word and Lamar last season

THE DEMONS

Corey Gibson will lead Northwestern State in his first game as the program's head coach
Gibson takes over for Mike McConathy who retired after 23 seasons… Gibson was the associate head coach Missouri State the past seven seasons
Northwestern State is a Southland Conference program from Natchitoches, Louisiana
The Demons went 9-23 overall last season, including going 2-14 on the road
The team went 5-9 in Southland Conference play and had its season end with an 80-67 loss to McNeese State in the conference tournament

LEGACY
Texas Tech spent the first and second day of October in Stanton, Texas at its annual team retreat working to continue building strong bonds for the season. The Red Raiders were at the Circle 6 Camp for two days with a theme of legacy that was designed to connect the past with the current team. Adams, shown holding up boxing gloves, talked with the current team about past players who helped build the program and also about how each of the current players owes it to themselves and the program to work hard every day to continue building the legacy that many have worked to build. The team opened up to each other through discussion and also had fun with multiple team-building activities.

DOMINATING THE PAINT
Texas Tech outscored 35 of 37 opponents inside the paint last season by a combined 1,230-654 scoring advantage. Game-by-game points from the paint are listed below.
TTU 54 - UNF 20; TTU 30 - GRM 16; TTU 38 – PVAMU 20; TTU 40 – UIW 24; TTU 54 – UNO 10; TTU 26 – LMR 20; TTU 30 – PC 22; TTU 28 – TENN 26; TTU 40 – ARK ST. 12; TTU 26 – GONZ 16; TTU 40 – EWU 4; TTU 36 – ALB ST. 8; TTU 28 – ISU 6; TTU 44 – KU 18; TTU 36 – BU 22; TTU 30 – OSU 20; TTU 30 – ISU 26; TTU 30 – WVU 16; TTU 46 – KU 40; TTU 44 – MISS ST. 16; TTU 30 – UT 24; TTU 34 – WVU 10; TTU 30 – OU 18; TTU 38 – TCU 20; TTU 28 – BU 22; TTU 26 – UT 10; TTU 34 – OU 16; TTU 40 - TCU 30; TTU 36 – KSU 10; TTU 22 – OSU 26; TTU 42 - ISU 14; OU 26 - TTU 22; TTU 36 – KU 30; TTU 38 – MSU 16; TTU 24 – ND 10; TTU 42-Duke 36.

JUST GETTING STARTED

Tech will play three home games at the United Supermarkets Arena before taking off for Maui
Up next is hosting Texas Southern at 7 p.m. on Thursday before welcoming in Louisiana Tech on Monday, November 14
Texas Southern went 19-13 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament where it earned a 76-67 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the First Four before losing to Kansas in the first round
Louisiana Tech is led by Talvin Hester who was an assistant coach for Adams last season… The Bulldogs went 24-10 last season
Tech's home stand ends with a trip to the Maui Invitational and a first-round matchup against No. 9-ranked Creighton on Monday, November 21

PREVIEW: No. 25 Red Raiders open against Demons

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