PREVIEW: No. 9 Tech, TCU set for Saturday showdown

LUBBOCK, Texas – A two-game home stand begins for No. 9 Texas Tech with a Big 12 matchup against TCU at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena before hosting No. 10 Baylor next Wednesday.

The Red Raiders (18-6, 7-4 Big 12) had a three-game winning streak end with a 70-55 loss at Oklahoma on Wednesday, while the Horned Frogs (16-5, 5-4 Big 12) secured a 77-73 win over Oklahoma State on Tuesday this week. TCU is currently 4-1 in road games, including in Big 12 play against Kansas State, Iowa State and OU but has lost six in a row in Lubbock with its last win at Tech coming in 2015.

Tech is currently 14-0 at home this season after its 77-64 win over No. 20 Texas last Tuesday with a record 15,300 fans in the USA. The 14-0 record matches No. 5 Kentucky and No. 2 Gonzaga for the best home record in the nation, while No. 4 Arizona, No. 11 Providence, No. 22 Murray State and No. 23 Murray State are 13-0. The Red Raiders are 5-0 at home in Big 12 play and extended their overall 15-game non-conference home winning streak with the victory over MSU last weekend. TTU already has five Big 12 home wins over Kansas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, West Virginia and Texas on its resume.

Tech is currently on a 17-game home winning streak dating back to last season where it finished the year with home wins over Texas, TCU and Iowa State. The Red Raiders have three home games remaining after hosting the Horned Frogs, starting against No. 10 Baylor at 8 p.m. on Wednesday before hosting Oklahoma on Tuesday, Feb. 22 and Kansas State on Monday, Feb. 28 at the USA. Tech has had 14,000-plus fans in eight of 14 games this season and has recorded sellouts against Mississippi State, Iowa State and Texas.

Five Red Raiders are averaging double-figure scoring coming into the 25th game of the season with Bryson Williams leads the Red Raiders with 13.3 points per game followed by Kevin McCullar (11.0), Terrence Shannon, Jr. (10.9), Kevin Obanor (10.3) and Davion Warren (10.0). McCullar led Tech with 12 points in the loss at OU while Shannon had 11 points to give TTU two in double figures. Williams, who has scored 1,946 career points, tops the Big 12 by shooting 52.7 percent from the field and also leads Tech by shooting 45.6 percent on 3-pointers. After his team-high 15 points at WVU last Saturday, Williams has now led Tech in scoring in eight games this season, while McCullar has in six, Arms and Shannon in four and Warren and Obanor in two each. McCullar leads Tech with 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Mark Adams has matched Bob Knight for the best record through 24 games for a first-year Tech head coach with both starting with an 18-6 record. Knight finished with a 23-9 in his first season (2001-02) for the best record by a coach leading the program in his first season. Adams and the Red Raiders enter this weekend already having matched its win total from the past two seasons after going 18-11 (2020-21) and 18-13 (2019-20). The program record for wins came in the historic 2018-19 season where the team went 31-7 and advanced to the NCAA Championship Final.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: TCU (16-5, 5-4) at No. 9 Texas Tech (18-6, 7-4)
Venue: United Supermarkets Arena (15,300)
Tip: 3:02 p.m. (CST), Saturday
TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
TV Talent: Mark Neely (play-by-play), Lance Blanks (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: TTU leads 85-52; In Lubbock: TTU leads 48-15; Last 10: TTU leads 7-3

POLLS / STAT REPORT
Texas Tech has earned its way back into the Associated Press Men's Basketball Top 25 after moving up five spots to No. 9 in this week's poll with wins over Texas and West Virginia last week. The Red Raiders have now entered the top-10 of the rankings in four of the past five seasons and dd it this year by working their way up from beginning as an unranked team. Tech was not ranked for the first five weeks of the season before entering at No. 25 on December 13 following a win over Tennessee in the Jimmy V Classic. TTU spent four straight weeks at No. 25 before moving to No. 19, No. 18, No. 13, No. 14 and now No. 9 in the national poll. Tech's highest AP ranking in program history came at No. 6 in February of 2018 (16th Week Poll) and the program spent one week at No. 7 last season before dipping back. 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 addition to the polls, TTU is at No. 13 in the NCAA NET Ranking and Kenpom.com. The Red Raiders are currently third in the Kenpom.com defensive efficiency rating behind only San Diego State LSU. The Red Raiders defense made WVU the 13th opponent held under 40 percent shooting after UT shot 40.0 in its 77-64 loss last Tuesday in Lubbock. OU had the best shooting performance by an opponent this season, hitting 13 3-pointers (46.4) and finishing at 48.9 percent from the field. Tech's defense has limited 20 of 24 opponents under 70 and 10 teams under 60 points this season.

Tech is 11-10 in the regular season as a top-10 team and 21-13 when adding postseason games in program history.

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 (110), Warren (143), Williams (145), Santos-Silva (150) and Arms (127).

Williams had his streak of 11 straight games in double-figure scoring end with five points at OU. He had scored in double figures in all 10 of Tech's conference games before Wednesday's loss and was coming off his 11th straight double-figure scoring performance with a team-high 15 points at WVU. He also had 16 against UT after having 10 points in the win over Mississippi State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge to push the overall streak to 11 which was the best for the team this season. Williams scored a season-high 33 points at Kansas where he was 14-for-19 from the field and 4-for-4 on 3-pointers. He is now averaging 13.3 points per game for the season and 15.8 in Big 12 games. He also had a season-high two blocks at WVU and recorded five rebounds to give him 10 games with five or more rebounds this season. His 33 points at KU were only one point shy of his career-high of 34 two seasons ago while playing at UTEP. Williams, who leads Tech by shooting 45.6 percent on 3-pointers with 26 makes, recorded 20 or more points for the 28th time in his career at KU after also leading the Red Raiders with 20 points in the loss at Kansas State. A super senior in his first season at Tech, he now has 97 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 1,946 points, 854 rebounds and 92 blocked shots through 145 games in his career.

McCullar led Tech with 12 points at OU and has now scored 601 points through 69 games in his career. A junior from San Antonio who was a 2021 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection and is now on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List (1 of 15), he's led Tech in scoring six times this season and 11 times in his career after his 13th double-figure scoring performance of the season. He has three straight games in double figures after leading Tech with 19 points in the 13-point win over Texas last week and then going for 10 points and nine rebounds in the road win at West Virginia. Against the Longhorns, McCullar had a career-high 12 made free throws in a 12 of 15 display from the stripe. He leads the Red Raiders with 67 assists, including having three or more assists in 14 of 19 games played this season. McCullar scored a career-high 24 points in the non-conference portion of the season against Grambling and also went for 21 points against Arkansas State. He is currently averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game in his third season playing for the program. McCullar is the only current player who was on the 2019 NCAA Final Four team where he was a redshirt freshman who had enrolled at midterm after graduating high school early. Along with his 601 points, McCullar has 330 rebounds, 129 assists, 99 steals and three double-doubles through 69 games played. He is currently averaging 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in Big 12 play.

Obanor is averaging 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in his first season at Tech after transferring from Oral Roberts where he played three seasons. A Houston native, he is coming off scoring eight points and having three rebounds in the loss at OU on Wednesday after having two points at WVU. Obanor had scored in double figures in five straight games, including dropping 18 points on WVU in the first matchup between the two programs and then scoring 17 in the double-overtime loss at Kansas and 17 in the 13-point win over Texas. He has scored 1,552 points, has 801 rebounds and produced 30 double-doubles through 110 games in his career. He was named to the Julius Erving Award Watch List in the preseason and earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week three weeks ago after his 15-point, 8-rebound performance against Iowa State before scoring those 18 on WVU at home. Obanor has now scored in double figures in 12 games this season and in 77 in his career.

Shannon is 14 points from 800 in his career after going for 11 points in the loss at OU on Wednesday. He has scored in double figures in seven of 13 games played this season and in 43 of 70 career games. Shannon scored a season-high 23 points in the home win over West Virginia on January 22 where he hit three 3-pointers and was 6 of 7 from the free-throw line. He is currently averaging 10.9 points per game this season and 8.0 in Big 12 play. Shannon has played in 13 of 24 games this season. He had made his return to the lineup against at Kansas State on Jan. 15 after he missed the previous seven games against Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State, Alabama State, Eastern Washington and Gonzaga with an injury. 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 where he scored 16 points and had a career-high six assists in South Padre Island. 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 has been a starter in all 24 games this season and is currently averaging 10.0 points per game for the season and 8.9 in Big 12 contests after being limited to two points at OU. He had scored in double figures in both games last week, dropping 10 on Texas before adding 11 in the win at WVU. On defensive, Warren leads Tech with 31 steals this season (1.3 per). A super senior from Buffalo, he has racked up 13 double-figure scoring performance for Tech after going 4-for-8 from the field against the Mountaineers. Warren transferred to Tech after playing the past two seasons at Hampton where he averaged 21.1 points per game last season which ranked 13th nationally. 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 1,825 points in his career. At OU, he led Tech with three assists and now has 40 assists for the season (1.7 per) with six games of three or more. He had a season-high five assists in the season-opener against North Florida.

Santos-Silva scored seven points and had two offensive rebounds at OU which was the 150th game of his career. He had led Tech with nine rebounds in the win over Mississippi State before contributing seven points, three blocks and six rebounds (four offensive) against UT. He leads Tech with 16 blocks this season after his season high of three against UT and one against the Sooners. 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 and was coming off contributing six rebounds and five points at Kansas. A super senior from Taunton, Massachusetts who played three seasons at VCU, he has produced 1,188 points, 140 blocks and 905 rebounds through his team-high 150 games in his collegiate career. Santos-Silva had a season-high of 12 rebounds coming in the win over Lamar and 13 points in the opener against North Florida. 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 362 offensive rebounds in his career with at least one in the past eight of nine games. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 24 this season.

Mylik Wilson led Tech with four rebounds on Wednesday at OU and had a season-high four steals against UT. He also led Tech with three assists at WVU after a season-high 12 points against Mississippi State where he was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. A transfer from Louisiana, he currently has 208 assists, 740 points and 347 rebounds through 74 games played in his collegiate career. Wilson had missed five games after minor knee surgery but has played 11 in a row – returning to lead Tech with five assists in the win over Kansas on Jan. 8 in his first game back. He leads Tech with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 40 assists and only 19 turnovers. He is at 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 19 games played. Wilson started five of the first six games of the season and had a season-high seven assists in the opener against North Florida. He has played 20 or more minutes five straight game for the first time this season.

Arms had seven points and three rebounds at OU and is now at 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for the season. He had team-leading nine rebounds and four assists in the win over Texas last Tuesday but would be limited to two points at WVU after only playing in 14 minutes before a hard fall on a dunk attempt before the trip to Norman. Arms had a season-high 16 points and seven assists against Mississippi State in the final non-conference game of the regular season. He is currently averaging 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in Big 12 play. 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. 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 1,546 points in his career with nine games in double figures this season. A Milwaukee native who moved to Arizona at 12-years-old, Arms has made 24 3-pointers this season with one at OU and a season-high three 3-pointers against Gonzaga, Oklahoma State and Mississippi State. He now has seven games with three or more assists and has 23 steals, including six in the past four games.

Tech's bench is strong with talent in Daniel Batcho, Clarence Nadolny, 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 recorded a career-high four blocks at WVU where he also had six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of play before having three rebounds and one point at OU. He 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 scored six points in the win over Omaha after producing eight rebounds and eight points against Incarnate Word in his breakout game at Tech. The tallest Red Raider at 6-foot-11, Batcho is averaging 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 points per game. Nadolny is averaging 3.7 points, 1.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Nadolny had made three straight starts to open Big 12 before playing the past eight back as a reserve and is currently averaging 4.7 points and leads the team with 14 steals in conference play after having one against OU. 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 69 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 but has played in all 21 since. 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.

A true freshman from Lubbock, 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.

TCU REPORT
The Horned Frogs have won three of their last four games after a 77-73 win over OSU on Tuesday along with victories over LSU and at Oklahoma. TCU is 4-1 on the road and 3-1 in neutral-court games this season. Mike Miles, Jr. leads the Horned Frogs with 15.4 points and 4.2 assists per game, while Damion Baugh is scoring 10.8, Emanuel Milles (10.3) and Chuck O'Bannon, Jr. (10.1) to give TCU four who are averaging double figures. Micah Peavy transferred from Tech after last season and is currently averaging 6.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Peavy started 25 of 29 games played as a freshman at Tech last season. Miller leads TCU with 6.6 rebounds per game and Eddie Lampkin, Jr. is at 5.9 rebounds per game for the Horned Frogs who average 41.0 rebounds per game. TCU will host TTU on Saturday, Feb. 26 in the second matchup.

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PREVIEW: No. 9 Tech, TCU set for Saturday showdown

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Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

KJ Allen

Adonis Arms

Daniel Batcho

Ethan Duncan

Kevin McCullar

Clarence Nadolny

Kevin Obanor

Micah Peavy

Marcus Santos-Silva

Austin Timperman

Davion Warren

Bryson Williams

Mylik Wilson