PREVIEW: No. 11 Tech at No. 20 Texas

LUBBOCK, Texas – A mix of sports and soap opera will be on display when No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 20 Texas meet for the second time this season at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. Tech head coach Mark Adams led the Red Raiders to a 77-64 win over the Longhorns in the first matchup on February 1 in Lubbock following a coaching change that saw him take over the program from Chris Beard who left for Texas last April.

The Red Raiders (20-6, 9-4 Big 12) are coming off an impressive 83-73 win over No. 7 Baylor on Wednesday, while the Longhorns (19-7, 8-5 Big 12) pulled out an 80-78 overtime win at Oklahoma on Tuesday night in Norman. Kevin Obanor recorded a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds in Tech's win over BU, while Bryson Williams had 17 points, Adonis Arms went for 15 and Terrence Shannon, Jr. added 14 as the Red Raiders moved to 16-0 at home. The four double-figure scorers helped Tech overcome a 39-32 halftime deficit and the first regular-season sweep of the Bears since 2005.

Tech has won three in a row over the Longhorns in Austin after securing a 79-77 win last season with Mac McClung hitting a jumper with three seconds on the clock. McCullar had 16 points and eight rebounds in the win, while Shannon had 14/7 and Marcus Santos-Silva scored 12 on January 13, 2021.

Adams, who is the 18th head coach in program history after working with Beard as an assistant at Little Rock for a season and five years at Tech, has matched Bob Knight for the best start to a season through 26 games for a first-year Red Raider head coach with the 20-6 record. He has 574 wins as a head coach and has led Tech to a 6-3 record against ranked opponents this season (3-2 against top-10s).

The highly anticipated game is the 153rd installment in the longstanding rivalry that dates back to 1939. Undeniably, the matchup has been intensified as it is only the second meeting with Beard leading the Longhorn program after he had guided the Red Raiders to unprecedented heights over the past five seasons. Beard led the program to a 112-55 record and to the 2018 Elite 8 and 2019 NCAA Championship Final before leaving for Austin.

Tech earned a 77-64 win over Texas in the first matchup on February 1 in Lubbock with four Red Raiders scoring in double figures and a record 15,300 fans filling the United Supermarkets Arena. Kevin McCullar led Tech with 19 points after going 12-for-15 from the free-throw line, while Obanor was 5-for-7 on 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Williams comes into the game against the Longhorns with 1,979 career points and having scored in double figures in 99 games, including scoring 16 points in the first matchup. McCullar did not play against Baylor this week with an ankle injury and will be a game-time decision against the Longhorns.

Tech has won 8 of 10 in the series including sweeping the regular-season series last year before UT earned a win in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals. The Red Raiders are currently 2-4 on the road in Big 12 play while the Longhorns are 15-1 on their home court. Before winning in Austin three years ago during its Final Four season, Tech had not beaten the Longhorns in Austin since a 78-58 win on Feb. 24, 1996 – a string of 22 straight losses.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: No. 11 Texas Tech (20-6, 9-4) at No. 20 Texas (19-7, 8-5)
Venue: Frank Erwin Center (16,500 capacity)
Tip: 11:30 a.m., Saturday
TV: ABC
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. 199
Series History: UT leads 88-64; In Austin: UT leads 49-24; Last 10: Tech won 8 of 10; Ranked vs. Ranked: UT leads 4-2

RED RAIDER SUMMARY
Four Red Raiders are averaging double-figure scoring coming into the 26th game of the season with Williams leading the Red Raiders with 13.5 points per game followed by Shannon (11.7), McCullar (10.8) and Obanor at 10.3 ppg. after his 23 on Wednesday. Davion Warren is at 9.8 per game while Arms is averaging 8.2 ppg. after his 15 against BU where he was 8-for-10 at the free-throw line. Shannon led Tech with 20 points in the win over TCU last Saturday, while Williams went for 17 against BU after 16 against the Horned Frogs. Williams, who has scored in double figures in 20 games this season and 99 in his career, is second in the Big 12 by shooting 53.4 percent from the field and also leads Tech by shooting 45.9 percent on his 3-pointers. Williams has led Tech in scoring in eight games this season, while McCullar has in six, Shannon in five, Arms in four and Obanor now in three. 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 at Texas.

Mark Adams has matched Bob Knight for the best record through 26 games for a first-year Tech head coach with both starting with a 20-6 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 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. The win over Baylor gave 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. 11 in the NCAA NET Ranking and on 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 26 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 are back at No. 11 but 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.

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 (112), Warren (145), Williams (147), Santos-Silva (152) and Arms (129).

Williams is only 21 points from 2,000 in his career after going for 17 points in the win over Baylor after scoring 16 in only 19:41 of action against TCU. He comes into the matchup against the Longhorns having recorded 19 games in double figures this season and in 99 during his career. Williams played for UT assistant coach Rodney Terry at both Fresno State and UTEP and is in his first season at Tech. Utilizing a fifth season by transferring to Tech last summer, Williams is an experienced player with 1,979 points, 862 rebounds and 93 blocked shots through 147 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 and BU in the past two wins. 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 13.5 points per game for the season and 15.9 in Big 12 games – both of which lead the team. 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 45.9 percent on 3-pointers with 28 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 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.

Obanor recorded his first double-double of the season but the 31st in his career by leading Tech with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the win over Baylor. A Houston native and Oral Roberts transfer, Obanor scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half along with having nine second-half rebounds. He is now averaging 10.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his first season at Tech after transferring from Oral Roberts where he played three seasons. 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 before popping Baylor for his season-high 23 points. Obanor went for 18 points agaisnt WVU in the first matchup between the two programs and then scored 17 in the double-overtime loss at Kansas and 17 in the 13-point win over Texas. He has scored 1,575 points, has 819 rebounds and produced 31 double-doubles through 112 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 13 games this season and in 78 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 previous 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.

Shannon led Tech with 20 points in the win at TCU and followed it by scoring 14 points and having five assists in the win over Baylor. Shannon, who played two seasons for Beard, comes into the matchup against the Longhorns averaging 11.7 points per game and with three straight in double figures after also scoring 11 at Oklahoma. He has scored in double figures in nine of 15 games played this season and in 45 of 72 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 10.0 points per game in Big 12 play. Shannon has played in 15 of 26 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. Shannon was limited to six minutes and two points in the first game against Texas.

McCullar was unable to play against Baylor and will be a game-time decision in Austin. He had seven points against TCU last Saturday before an ankle injury with four minutes to play in the first half ended his night. 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 matched a season-high with six rebounds in the win over Baylor after he had scored 12 points and had four rebounds in 22 minutes of play in the win over TCU. A starter in all 26 games, he is now averaging 9.8 points per game for the season and 8.7 in Big 12 contests after scoring three points against Baylor. 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. He dropped 10 on Texas before adding 11 in the win at WVU. On defensive, Warren leads Tech with 32 steals this season (1.2 per). A super senior from Buffalo, he has racked up 14 double-figure scoring performance for Tech. 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 1,840 points in his career. At OU, he led Tech with three assists and now has 44 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 recorded 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. He also had six rebounds in wins over Grambling and West Virginia this season. His career-high is 15 rebounds while playing at Hampton.

Arms went for 15 points in the win over Baylor after going 8-for-10 at the free-throw line and also hitting one 3-pointer. It was one point shy of his season-high which came against Mississippi State. Arms was making his sixth straight start and the 14th this season. Against TCU last Saturday he finished with 11 points and led the team with four assists and five rebounds. He is now at 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the season. He had team-leading nine rebounds and four assists in the first win over Texas. Arms recorded 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 7.3 points and 5.0 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 1,572 points in his career with 11 games in double figures this season. A Milwaukee native who moved to Arizona at 12-years-old, Arms has made 25 3-pointers this season with 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 26 steals, including nine in the past six games.

Santos-Silva had seven points, six rebounds and a season-high three blocked shots in the first win over the Longhorns this season. He's coming off solid performances where he had nine points in the win over TCU before providing three steals and four rebounds against Baylor. He had led Tech with nine rebounds in the win over Mississippi State before contributing his 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 911 rebounds through his team-high 152 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 366 offensive rebounds in his career after three more in the win over Baylor. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 26 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).

Tech's bench is strong with talent in Mylik Wilson, Daniel Batcho, Clarence Nadolny, Chibuzo Agbo and KJ Allen who are poised to make impacts whenever they get on the court. Wilson leads Tech with a 2.3 assists-to-turnover ratio with 43 assists and only 19 turnovers. A transfer from Louisiana, he currently has 211 assists, 744 points and 349 rebounds through 76 games played in his collegiate career. He led Tech with three assists at WVU two weeks ago 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 13 in a row – returning to lead Tech with five assists in the win over Kansas on January 8 in his first game back. He is at 3.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 21 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. 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 49.1 percent from the field and has three or more assists in seven of 21 games played this season. 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 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 points per game. Nadolny is averaging 3.8 points, 1.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Nadolny had made three straight starts to open Big 12 before playing the past nine back as a reserve and is currently averaging 4.8 points and leads the team with 18 steals in conference play after going for a team-leading three steals against BU. He scored in double figures for the second time in his career against Baylor in Waco where he went for 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting. A junior from France, Nadolny is in his third season at Tech and has played in 71 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.

HOME DOMINANCE
Tech is currently 16-0 at home this season which is the best in the nation coming into the weekend. No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 4 Kentucky are both at 15-0 with home games set for Saturday, while No. 4 Arizona (13-0) and No. 21 Murray State (13-0) are also unbeaten at home. The Red Raiders are 7-0 at home in Big 12 play with wins over Baylor, 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 a 19-game home winning streak dating back to last season where it finished the year with home wins over Texas, TCU and Iowa State and have the second longest streak behind a 66-game one from Gonzaga. The Red Raiders have two more home games remaining with 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.

TECH VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Tech is now 6-3 against ranked opponents and 3-2 against top-10 teams this season after knocking off No. 7 Baylor, No. 23 Texas, No. 15 Iowa State, No. 1 Baylor, No. 6 Kansas in conference play 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, a 94-91 double-overtime loss at No. 5 Kansas on Jan. 24 and a 69-55 loss to No. 5 Gonzaga in the Jerry Colangelo Classic. As a program, Tech is 67-217 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 27 wins over top-10 teams in program history after beating Baylor for the second time this season. The Red Raiders have 13 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.

PROGRAM CONSISTENCY
Texas Tech has advanced to three straight NCAA Tournaments for first time in program history. The Red Raiders are 8-3 with trips to the 2018 Elite 8, 2019 Final and to the 2021 Second Round after a win over Utah State to open last year's tournament in Bloomington, Indiana before falling to Arkansas. TTU has the third most NCAA Tournament wins over the past three tournaments with Gonzaga and Michigan tied for the most with 10. Baylor, Houston and Duke each have seven and Virginia has six.

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Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

KJ Allen

Adonis Arms

Daniel Batcho

Ethan Duncan

Mac McClung

Kevin McCullar

Clarence Nadolny

Kevin Obanor

Marcus Santos-Silva

Austin Timperman

Davion Warren

Bryson Williams

Mylik Wilson

Texas Tech University Athletics