PREVIEW: No. 11 Tech, No. 7 Baylor ready for rematch

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 11 Texas Tech is set to play a pair of nationally ranked Big 12 opponents this week, beginning with No. 7 Baylor at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena before travelling to take on No. 20 Texas on Saturday in Austin. Tech won the first game in both series this season and comes into its matchup against the reigning national champion Bears with a 15-0 home record, having won 18 in a row at home dating back to last season and with a 2-2 record against top-10 opponents this season

The Red Raiders (19-6, 8-4 Big 12) rallied for an 82-69 win over TCU last Saturday after being down by 13 in the first half, while the Bears (21-4, 9-3 Big 12) cruised to an 80-63 win over No. 20 Texas at home in their last game. Tech won the first matchup against BU, securing a 65-62 win on January 11 to snap a 21-game winning streak by the Bears who were at No. 1 in the nation at the time. TTU is looking to sweep the season series over BU for the first time since the 2005 season.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: No. 7 Baylor (21-4, 9-3) at No. 11 Texas Tech (19-6, 8-4)
Venue: United Supermarkets Arena (15,300)
Tip: 8:05 p.m. (CST), Wednesday
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Jon Sciambi (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (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 81-62; In Lubbock: TTU leads 46-21; Last 10: BU leads 6-4

LAST TIME
The Red Raiders were down by 15 points in the first half against Baylor before storming back for the win that saw five players score in double figures, led by Adonis Arms who produced 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Kevin Obanor and Bryson Williams scored 13 points each, while Kevin McCullar had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists and Clarence Nadolny went for 11 points. Adam Flagler and James Akinjo led Baylor in the game with 17 points each, while LJ Cryer had 10 points. Tech owned a 36-22 scoring advantage in the paint and finished the game shooting 28-for-55 (50.9 percent) despite going just 4-for-14 on 3-pointers. BU was 8-for-24 from beyond the arc with Flagler hitting five 3-pointers but the team was limited to 41.1 percent shooting and had 14 turnovers against the Tech defense.

HOME DOMINANCE
Tech is currently 15-0 at home this season which matches No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 4 Kentucky for the best home record in the nation, while No. 4 Arizona (13-0), No. 8 Providence (14-0) and No. 21 Murray State (13-0) are also unbeaten at home. The Red Raiders are 6-0 at home in Big 12 play wins over Kansas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, West Virginia, Texas and TCU on their resume. The Red Raiders are the only Big 12 team without a loss at home this season.

Tech is currently on an 18-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 two more home games remaining after hosting Baylor with games against Oklahoma on Tuesday, Feb. 22 and Kansas State on Monday, Feb. 28 at the USA. Tech has had 14,000-plus fans in nine of 15 games this season and has recorded sellouts against Mississippi State, Iowa State and Texas. The program set a new attendance record with 15,300 fans at the February 1 game against the Longhorns.

RED RAIDER SUMMARY
Four Red Raiders are averaging double-figure scoring coming into the 25th game of the season with Bryson Williams leads the Red Raiders with 13.4 points per game followed by Terrence Shannon, Jr. (11.6), Kevin McCullar (10.8) and Davion Warren (10.0). Kevin Obanor is adding 9.8 points per game while Adonis Arms is at 7.9. Shannon led Tech with 20 points in the win over TCU last Saturday, while Williams went for 16 points and now has 1,962 career points coming into the game against Baylor. McCullar was Tech's leading scorer at OU last Wednesday with 12 points in the loss while Shannon had 11 points to give TTU two in double figures. Williams, who has scored in double figures in 19 games this season and 98 in his career, is second in the Big 12 by shooting 53.3 percent from the field and also leads Tech by shooting 45.8 percent on his 3-pointers. After his team-high 15 points at West Virginia, Williams has now led Tech in scoring in eight games this season, while McCullar has in six, Shannon in five, Arms in four and Warren and Obanor in two each. McCullar leads Tech with 5.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. McCullar had seven points against TCU before an ankle injury with four minutes to play forced him out for the rest of the game. He will be a game-time decision against Baylor.

Mark Adams has matched Bob Knight for the best record through 25 games for a first-year Tech head coach with both starting with an 19-6 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 week already having surpassed 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. A win over Baylor would give the program its 16th season with 20 or more wins.

POLLS / NATIONAL STATS REPORT
Texas Tech is ranked for the 10th straight week in the Associated Press Men's Basketball Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 11 after splitting a pair of Big 12 games last week. The Red Raiders dropped back two spots from being at No. 9 last week with a 70-55 loss at Oklahoma last Wednesday before earning an 82-69 win over TCU last Saturday. Along with the polls, TTU is at No. 12 in the NCAA NET Ranking and No. 13 in Kenpom.com. The Red Raiders are currently third in the Kenpom.com defensive efficiency rating behind only San Diego State and LSU. Tech's defense has limited 21 of 25 opponents under 70 and 10 teams under 60 points this season after the win over the Horned Frogs. The Red Raiders are currently 10th nationally and leading the Big 12 by holding opponents to 38.1 percent shooting and are 13th nationally with their 25 opponents this season only averaging 60.5 points per game. Tech forced TCU to commit 20 turnovers and are now 23rd in the country by forcing 16.25 turnovers per game coming into this week.

Gonzaga (21-1) returned to the top-ranked team in the nation, followed by No. 2 Auburn (23-2), No. 3 Arizona (22-2), No. 4 Kentucky (21-4) and Purdue (22-4). The Big 12 is represented this week by No. 6 Kansas (20-4), No. 7 Baylor (21-4), Tech and No. 20 Texas (18-7). The Red Raiders are 5-3 in ranked-vs-ranked matchups this season coming into the games against BU and UT. The Red Raiders dropped a game against No. 1 Gonzaga on Dec. 18 in Phoenix and also at Providence. The Friars were unranked at the time but has since elevated to No. 8 in the nation with a 21-2 record.

The Red Raiders have now entered the top-10 of the rankings in four of the past five seasons and did 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 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.

Tech is now 12-10 in the regular season as a top-10 team after the win over TCU and 22-13 when adding postseason games in program history. The Red Raiders are one win away from the program's 16th season of 20 or more 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 (111), Warren (144), Williams (146), Santos-Silva (151) and Arms (128).

Williams is only 38 points from 2,000 in his career after going for 16 points in only 19:41 of action against TCU for his 19th game in double figures this season. Utilizing a fifth season by transferring to Tech last summer, Williams is an experienced player with 1,962 points, 858 rebounds and 93 blocked shots through 146 games in his career. He had his streak of 11 straight games in double-figure scoring end with five points at OU before responding against TCU by going 5-for-7 from the field and 5 of 5 at the free-throw line. 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 13.4 points per game for the season and 15.8 in Big 12 games – both of which lead the team. 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 45.8 percent on 3-pointers with 27 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 98 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. He earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on January 31 for his performances against Kansas and Mississippi State.

Shannon led Tech with 20 points in the win at TCU after going for 11 points in the loss at OU. He has scored in double figures in eight of 14 games played this season and in 44 of 71 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 11.6 points per game this season and 9.5 in Big 12 play. Shannon has played in 14 of 25 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.

McCullar had seven points against TCU before an ankle injury with four minutes to play in the first half ended his night. He is listed as a game-time decision against Baylor. McCullar was coming off a game where he led Tech with 12 points at OU and has now scored 608 points through 70 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 had three straight games in double figures after leading Tech with 19 points in the 13-point win over Texas 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 68 assists, including having three or more assists in 14 of 21 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 10.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 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 608 points, McCullar has 330 rebounds, 130 assists, 99 steals and three double-doubles through 70 games played. He is currently averaging 8.9 points, 2.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds in Big 12 play.

Warren scored 12 points and had four rebounds in 22 minutes of play in the win over TCU and is now averaging 10.1 points per game for the season and 9.2 in Big 12 contests. He dropped 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 14 double-figure scoring performance for Tech. 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 1,837 points in his career. At OU, he led Tech with three assists and now has 42 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. Warren had a season-high 19 points in the non-conference win over Grambling and scored a career-high 34 points while at Hampton against USC Upstate last season.

Arms started for the fifth straight game and 13th this season against TCU, finishing with 11 points and leading the team with four assists and five rebounds. He also had seven points and three rebounds at OU and is now at 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the season. He had team-leading nine rebounds and four assists in the win over Texas. 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 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in Big 12 play. 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 1,557 points in his career with 10 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 eight games with three or more assists and has 25 steals, including eight in the past five games.

Obanor is averaging 10.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in his first season at Tech after transferring from Oral Roberts where he played three seasons. A Houston native, he led Tech with five rebounds against TCU but was held scoreless for the first time this season after going 0-for-4 from the field. He was coming off scoring eight points and having three rebounds in the loss at OU 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 806 rebounds and produced 30 double-doubles through 111 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. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on January 24 after his home performances against Iowa State and West Virginia. His season high came against Lamar where he had 20 points, while his career-high is 39 points last season against Omaha while playing at ORU. He was a three-time All-Summit League selection and earned NABC All-District last season. He recorded three double-doubles in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, including going for 30 points and 11 rebounds in a first-round win over Ohio State.

Santos-Silva is coming off a strong week where he had nine points in the win over TCU after seven points 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 1,197 points, 140 blocks and 907 rebounds through his team-high 151 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 363 offensive rebounds in his career with at least one in the past 9 of 10 games. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 25 this season. He has 13 double-doubles in his career, including going for 26 points and 22 rebounds in a win over Rhode Island while playing at VCU. He is currently 53-for-86 (61.6 percent) from the field this season and 491-for-864 (56.8 percent) for his career.

Mylik Wilson led Tech with four rebounds last Wednesday at OU and had two assists in the win over TCU. A transfer from Louisiana, he currently has 210 assists, 742 points and 348 rebounds through 75 games played in his collegiate career. 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. Wilson, who had a season-high four steals against UT, missed five games after minor knee surgery but has now played 12 in a row – returning to lead Tech with five assists in the win over Kansas on January 8 in his first game back. He leads Tech with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio with 42 assists and only 19 turnovers. He is at 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 20 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 had played 20 or more minutes five straight game for the first time this season before logging 16:59 on his time clock against TCU. Wilson scored a career-high 30 points two seasons ago while at Louisiana in a game at Appalachian State on January 6, 2020. He is currently shooting 48.2 percent from the field and has three or more assists in seven of 20 games played this season.

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 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 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 4.8 points and leads the team with 15 steals in conference play after going for five points and one steal against TCU. 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.

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 is the 18th head coach in program history 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 5-3 against ranked opponents this season after knocking off No. 23 Texas, 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 66-217 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.

Tech is now 2-7 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents with a 70-57 win over Louisville on Dec. 10, 2019 in the Jimmy V Classic coming before the win at Baylor on Jan. 11.

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PREVIEW: No. 11 Tech, No. 7 Baylor ready for rematch

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Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

KJ Allen

Adonis Arms

Daniel Batcho

Ethan Duncan

Kevin McCullar

Clarence Nadolny

Kevin Obanor

Marcus Santos-Silva

Austin Timperman

Davion Warren

Bryson Williams

Mylik Wilson