PREVIEW: No. 12 Tech to host K-State in home finale

Monday, February 28

Lubbock, Texas

8 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Kansas State

PREVIEW: No. 12 Tech to host K-State in home finale

February 27, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes KSU Notes ESPN2 TTU Record Book Big 12 Standings

Wildcats at No. 12 Red Raiders | 8 p.m., Monday | TV: ESPN2

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 12 Texas Tech is set to host its final home game of the season and looks to salvage a season split against Kansas State in an 8 p.m. Big 12 contest on Monday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (22-7, 11-5 Big 12) are 17-0 at home this season but are coming off a 69-66 loss at TCU on Saturday, while the Wildcats (14-14, 6-10 Big 12) dropped their third straight game with a 74-73 home loss to Iowa State over the weekend. Tech has not lost back-to-back Big 12 games all season, including responding after a 62-51 loss against KSU back on January 15 in Manhattan, Kansas in the first matchup between the two teams. TTU was on a four-game winning streak before seeing an eight-point lead turn into a three-point loss against the Horned Frogs.

Tech will honor Marcus Santos-Silva, Bryson Williams, Adonis Arms, Davion Warren and Kevin Obanor before the game along with senior student managers Cade Simmons and Cole Wakefield.

The Red Raiders look to complete a perfect home season where they are 8-0 at home in Big 12 play with wins over Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, West Virginia, Texas and TCU on their resume. Tech has outscored Big 12 opponents by a 69.2-63.3 margin this season and has held those eight opponents to 39.2 percent shooting.

Tech's 17-0 record at home this season which is matched only by No. 4 Kentucky nationally. The Wildcats host Mississippi on Tuesday night in their home finale. No. 1 Gonzaga finished its regular season with a16-0 home record, while No. 2 Arizona (15-0) and No. 19 Murray State (14-0) are also unbeaten at home. The Red Raiders are the only Big 12 team without a loss at home this season. Tech is currently on a 20-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. Tech has had 14,000-plus fans in nine of 16 games this season and has recorded sellouts against Mississippi State, Iowa State, Texas and Oklahoma. The program set a new attendance record with 15,300 fans at the February 1 game against the Longhorns.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: Kansas State (14-14, 6-10) at No. 9 Texas Tech (22-7, 11-5)
Venue: United Supermarkets Arena
Tip: 8 p.m., Monday
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Mark Neely (play-by-play), King McClure (analyst)
Radio (Texas Tech Sports Network): 97.3 Double T FM
Radio Talent: Geoff Haxton (play-by-play), Clark Lammert (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 199

Williams was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season last Monday and followed it by going for 13 points in the win over OU and then a team-high 21 points at TCU to push him to 2,030 career points. A fifth-year senior in his first season at Tech, Williams has now scored in double figures in 102 games in his career and leads the Red Raiders with 13.9 per game and with 16.1 points per Big 12 game. He's scored in double figures in 15 of 16 conference games and leads the Big 12 by shooting 54.6 percent from the field coming into the second meeting against KSU. He scored 20 in the first game against the Wildcats in Manhattan. Tech currently has three double-figure scorers with Terrence Shannon (10.9) and Kevin McCullar (10.0). Kevin Obanor and Davion Warren are both now at 9.8 points per game, while Adonis Arms is coming off 15 points at TCU and is at 8.5 ppg. Warren led the Red Raiders with 16 points in the win over OU last Tuesday. The four-game winning streak was the longest Big 12 streak for the Red Raiders since they finished the 2019 season by running off nine straight wins to secure the Big 12 regular-season championship.

Mark Adams has matched Bob Knight for the best record through 29 games for a first-year Tech head coach with both starting with a 22-7 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 have already surpassed their 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 at home gave the program its 16th season with 20 or more wins.

2021-22 AWARDS / WATCH LISTS
Mark Adams: Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List
Kevin McCullar: Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List; Academic All-Big 12 (1st Team)
Bryson Williams: Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (1/31, 2/21)
Kevin Obanor: Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (1/24)
Terrence Shannon: Academic All-Big 12 (1st Team)
Marcus Santos-Silva: Academic All-Big 12 (2nd Team)
Clarence Nadolny: Academic All-Big 12 (2nd Team)

Texas Tech returned to the top-10 last Monday in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Polls at No. 9. Gonzaga (23-2) remains at No. 1 in the nation followed by No. 2 Arizona (24-2), No. 3 Auburn (24-3), No. 4 Purdue (24-4) and No. 5 Kansas (22-4) in the top-5. The Big 12 has four teams in the Top 25 with No. 10 Baylor (22-5) and No. 20 Texas (19-8) splitting their games last week with a win to go along with their loss to Tech.

While new rankings will be posted on Monday morning, TTU is now at No. 10 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 8 in Kenpom.com after splitting against TCU and OU last week. Before the loss at TCU, the Red Raiders had limited the Longhorns to only 28.3 percent shooting and OU to 37.8 percent and has now held 12 opponents under 60. Tech leads the Big 12 and is 8th nationally by limiting opponents to only 38.6 percent shooting and is 14th in the country by holding opponents to a 60.7 scoring average. The team is 13th in the nation with a 12.4 scoring margin advantage over opponents through 29 games, is 20th by forcing 16.2 turnovers per game and second in the Big 12 with 36.9 rebounds per game after a 31-17 margin over OU and 25-2 over TCU in their last two games.

The program has entered the top-10 of the rankings in four of the past five seasons and has accomplished 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. A loss at OU bumped the Red Raiders back to No. 11 before wins over TCU, Baylor and Texas slid them back into the top-10 this week. 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 13-11 in the regular season as a top-10 team coming into the matchup against TCU and 23-14 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 (115), Warren (148), Williams (150), Santos-Silva (155) and Arms (132).

Williams leads Tech with 13.6 points per game this season after going for 21 in the win over TCU following 13 against OU and a pair of 17-point performances against Texas and Baylor. A fifth-year senior in his first season at Tech, Williams has now scored 2,030 points in his career with 403 coming this year. Williams had a season-high 33 points in the double-overtime loss at Kansas where he was 14-for-19 from the field and 4 of 4 on 3-pointers. He leads Tech by shooting 44.1 percent on 3-pointers (30-for-68), including going 20-for-45 (44.4 percent) in Big 12 games. Williams began his career with two seasons at Fresno State in his hometown before playing the past two at UTEP. He has played in 150 games in his career and has made 805 shots and come down with 872 career rebounds to go along with his 2,030 points.

Obanor has started all 29 games this season and is averaging 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game after being limited to four points and two rebounds against TCU. He led Tech with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the home win over Baylor to record his first double-double of the season the 31st of his career. A senior from Houston, Obanor is in his first season at Tech after playing three years at Oral Roberts where he was a two-time All-Summit League selection and was named to the NABC All-District team. He averaged 18.7 points and 9.6 points last season as a junior and recorded three double-doubles in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Obanor has recorded 13 double-figure scoring performances this season with his 23 against the Bears and 20 against Lamar being his season-highs. Obanor had six points in the first matchup against KSU. He leads Tech with 37 made 3-pointers this season, including having six games with three or more and a season-best five 3-pointers in the home win over Texas. Against BU in the double-double, Obanor was 4-for-7 on 3-pointers and is now 159-for-405 (39.3 percent) on 3-pointers through 115 career games. He comes into the game at KSU with 1,590 points and 824 career rebounds.

Shannon contributed six points, three assists and two steals at TCU and is currently averaging 10.9 points per game this season. A junior from Chicago, Shannon is in his third season playing at Tech and has scored 840 points through 75 games in his career. He missed the first four Big 12 games this season with an injury before returning in the first matchup against KSU where he scored two points in 18 minutes of play. Shannon explored the NBA Draft process last summer before electing to return to Lubbock for his junior season. He has nine games in double figure scoring through 18 games this season, including a season-high 23 points in the home win over West Virginia where he hit three 3-pointers and was 6-for-7 at the free-throw line. Shannon scored 20 points in the home win over TCU in the first matchup between the two teams this season by going 7-for-9 from the field with two 3-pointers. For his career, Shannon has made 280 shots including 60 3-pointers. He was named to the All-Big 12 Third Team last season as a sophomore. Shannon has one double-double this season with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Tennessee in the Jimmy V Classic after recording his first double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds last season at LSU in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Shannon was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team last Monday.

Warren led Tech in scoring for the third time this season after going for 16 points in the win over Oklahoma where he was 7-for-9 from the field before scoring 12 points in the loss at TCU on Saturday. He also led Tech with three steals in both games and now has a team-high 38 steals this season. A starter in all 29 games this season, Warren is averaging 9.8 points per game has scored in double figures in 16 games. He scored a season-high 19 points in the second game of the season against Grambling and currently averaging 8.9 points per Big 12 game this season. A fifth-year season from Buffalo, Warren is in his first year at Tech after playing two seasons at Olney Central College and the past two at Hampton. He was the nation's 13th best scorer last season after averaging 21.2 points per game at Hampton. Warren is currently at 1,880 career points when combining junior college, Hampton and 285 points through 29 starts as a Red Raider this season. Warren had nine points and three rebounds at Kansas State and comes into the game second on Tech's roster with 50 assists after two in each of the past five games and with a season-high five assists at Kansas and in the opener against North Florida. Warren is currently 100-for-221 from the field this season with 23 3-pointers after going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc at TCU.

McCullar was unable to play against Baylor and Texas but made his return last week to play in both games against OU and TCU. He is coming off being limited to four points and two rebounds against TCU in 21 minutes. He had six points, three assists and five rebounds in the first matchup against Kansas State. Against OU, he had two assists and two rebounds but was scoreless for the only time this season. McCullar was coming off a game before getting injured against TCU where he led Tech with 12 points at OU and has now scored 612 points through 72 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 in Lubbock, McCullar had a career-high 12 made free throws in a 12 of 15 display from the stripe. He leads the Red Raiders with 72 assists, including having three or more assists in 14 of 23 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 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 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 612 points, McCullar has 334 rebounds, 134 assists, 102 steals and three double-doubles through 72 games played.

Arms matched his Big 12-high by scoring 15 points at TCU after he had nine points and led Tech with five assists in the win over OU. A fifth-year senior in his first season at Tech, Arms also scored 15 points and had seven rebounds in the home win over Baylor two weeks ago and is currently averaging 8.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He has 13 double-figure scoring performances this season and has scored 1,613 points in a career that includes two seasons at Mesa Community College (Arizona), one at Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) and last season at Winthrop. Arms is a Milwaukee native who moved to Arizona as a 12-year-old and has made his way up from junior college, NCAA DII to the Big 12. He had a season-high 16 points in the win over Mississippi State by going 3-for-5 on 3-pointers in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and has nine games with three or more assists – including a season-high seven assists against MSU in that same 16-point performance. Arms has started the last nine games and in 17 of 29 this season.

Santos-Silva led Tech with six rebounds and also had nine points in the win over OU last Tuesday before having two points, two assists and two rebounds at TCU. He provided eight rebounds and six points at Texas in the win over the Longhorns. He is now averaging 5.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and leads the Red Raiders with 19 blocked shots. 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 after contributing six rebounds and five points at Kansas. A super senior from Taunton, Massachusetts who played three seasons at VCU, he has produced 1,214 points, 143 blocks and 927 rebounds through his team-high 155 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 10 games with four or more rebounds this season. He currently has 370 offensive rebounds in his career. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 29 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 61-for-97 (62.9 percent) from the field this season and 499-for-875 (57.0 percent). Santos-Silva, who has a bachelor's degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness from VCU, was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Second Team last Monday. He was an Atlantic 10 All-Academic selection before transferring.

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. Nadolny scored 14 points off in the win at Texas in 20 minutes of play but was limited to two points against OU and held scoreless at TCU. Nadolny is averaging 4.0 points, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game after having four assists in the win over OU and his 14-point performance at UT. Nadolny had made three straight starts to open Big 12 before playing the past 12 back as a reserve and is currently averaging 4.9 points and leads the team with 20 steals in conference play after going for a team-leading three steals against BU and two at Texas. 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 74 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 26 since. Wilson leads Tech with a 1.9 assists-to-turnover ratio with 45 assists and only 23 turnovers. A transfer from Louisiana, he currently has 213 assists, 746 points and 358 rebounds through 79 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 in Lubbock and had five rebounds against the Longhorns in Austin, missed five games after minor knee surgery but has now played 16 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 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in 24 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.

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, who did not play against OU or TCU last week, 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. Batcho is listed as a game-time decision at TCU. 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. 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. Allen had a Big 12-high four rebounds in the win over OU and then had three more at TCU.

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.

TECH VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Tech is now 7-3 against ranked opponents and 3-2 against top-10 teams this season after knocking off No. 20 Texas, 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 68-217 all-time against ranked opponents. 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 when the Bears were at No. 1 (Jan. 11) and No. 7 (Feb. 16). 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 before the win at Baylor on Jan. 11, 2022.

POINTS IN THE PAINT
Texas Tech has outscored all 29 of its opponents inside the paint this season and own a combined 990-512 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

AN ALL-TIME LOW
Tech limited Oklahoma to only 42 points in the 66-42 win on Feb. 22 by holding the Sooners to only 37.8 percent and only one offensive rebound. The 42 points matched a Tech record in Big 12 play. The other low came by holding TCU to 42 points in an 88-42 win on Feb. 10, 2020 in Lubbock.

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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