PREVIEW: No. 14 Tech hits road for WVU matchup

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 14 Texas Tech will look to sweep the season series against West Virginia when it travels to Morgantown to play the Mountaineers at 1 p.m. (CST) on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum where the program is only 1-8 at all-time.

The Red Raiders (17-5, 6-3 Big 12) are coming off a 77-64 home win over No. 23 Texas on Tuesday night, while the Mountaineers (13-8, 2-6 Big 12) took an 81-77 loss at Baylor on Monday to extend a six-game losing streak. Tech won the first matchup over WVU with a 78-65 win on January 22 in Lubbock where Terrence Shannon, Jr. scored a season-high 23 points while Kevin Obanor had 18 and Bryson Williams added 13. McCullar led the Red Raiders in scoring for the fifth time this season by going off for 19 points in the win over UT with an impressive 12-for-15 result from the free-throw line.

Tech improved to 14-0 at home with its win over the Longhorns but is currently 1-4 on the road with a 1-3 record in Big 12 road games. The Red Raiders have only swept WVU once in program history, taking both matchups in the 2019 Big 12 season before falling to the Mountaineers in the 2019 Big 12 Championship quarterfinals. TTU is 7-16 all-time against WVU and 1-8 all-time in Morgantown with the win coming on January 2, 2019. The Mountaineers swept last year's series.

Williams, who leads the conference by shooting 54.9 percent, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday and leads the Red Raiders with 13.6 points per game for the season and 17.1 points per Big 12 game. Williams earned the honor after going off for 33 points last Monday in the 94-91 overtime loss at Kansas and extended his double-figure scoring streak to 10 games after giving the Red Raiders 16 points on a 7-for-11 shooting performance with two 3-pointers against the Longhorns.

Five players are averaging double-figure scoring for Tech coming into the 23rd game of the season with Shannon (11.1), Kevin McCullar (10.9), Kevin Obanor (10.7) and Davion Warren (10.3) all producing this season. Adonis Arms is averaging 8.0 points per game after leading the Red Raiders with a season-high 16 points in the win over Mississippi State before leading Tech with nine rebounds in the win over the Longhorns. Arms has led Tech in scoring in four games this season, while Williams has in seven, McCullar in five, Shannon in four each and Obanor twice.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: No. 14 Texas Tech (17-5, 6-3) at West Virginia (13-8, 2-6)
Venue: WVU Coliseum (14,000)
Tip: 1 p.m. (CST), Saturday
TV: ESPN
TV Talent: Mark Neely (play-by-play), Tim Welsh (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: WVU leads 16-7; In Morgantown: WVU leads 8-1

UP NEXT: The Red Raiders will play at Oklahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 9 in Norman before hosting TCU on Saturday, Feb. 12.

NATIONAL POLLS/STATS
The Red Raiders dropped back one spot in the AP Poll on Monday after jumping from No. 18 to No. 13 in last week's rankings. The team has now been ranked for eight straight weeks following being unranked in the preseason poll and for the first five polls of the season. Tech entered the rankings at No. 25 on December 13 and was ranked No. 25 for four straight weeks before moving up to No. 19 and No. 18. Texas Tech comes into the matchup against the No. 23 Longhorns with a 5-3 record against ranked opponents this season, earning wins over No. 13 Tennessee (Dec. 7), No. 6 Kansas (Jan. 8), No. 1 Baylor (Jan. 11), No. 15 Iowa State (Jan. 18) and No. 23 Texas (Feb. 1). The losses came against No. 5 Gonzaga (Dec. 18) and No. 11 Iowa State (Jan. 5) and No. 5 Kansas (Jan. 24). Tech is currently 3-0 against ranked opponents at home this season with the wins over Kansas and Iowa State.

The Red Raiders come into this weekend leading the Big 12 by holding opponents to just 38.3 percent shooting which ranks 13th nationally and are 16th in the country with teams averaging just 60.5 points per game. Only three opponents have scored of 70 points all season against the Tech defense which is currently third in the Kenpom.com defensive efficiency rating. Mississippi State was the 10th opponent held under 60 points this season and the 13-point win over the Longhorns pushed Tech's margin of victory to 14.5 which is 11th nationally. Offensively, Tech had its best shooting performance of the season at 61.7 percent against Mississippi State last Saturday before shooting 47.1 against UT and is now at 47.5 percent for the season which ranks fourth in the conference and 32nd nationally.

HOME COURT DOMINANCE
Tech is currently 14-0 at home this season matching Kentucky for the most home wins in the nation this season without a loss. Gonzaga and Providence are both 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.

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 (108), Warren (141), Williams (143), Santos-Silva (148) and Arms (125).

Williams has scored in double figures in all nine of Tech's conference games this season and is coming off his 10th straight double-figure scoring performance with 16 against UT after having 10 points in the win over Mississippi State. 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 13.6 points per game for the season and 17.1 in Big 12 games. His 33 points at KU were only one point shy of his career-high of 34 while playing at UTEP. He had scored 13 points in the win over West Virginia and leading the Red Raiders with 16 points against Iowa State before the first 30-point performance for a Red Raider this season. Williams, who leads Tech by shooting 48.1 percent on 3-pointers with 25 makes (11-for-18 in last six games), 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 96 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 1,926 points, 846 rebounds and 90 blocked shots through 143 games in his career.

McCullar was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List last week and is coming off leading the Red Raiders with 19 points, six rebounds and two assists in the win over Texas. A stat sheet stuffer, he is now averaging 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals through 18 games played this season. McCullar missed the first two Big 12 games but returned to record 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win over then No. 1 Baylor on January 11 and has played in eight straight games. A junior from San Antonio, McCullar has had three or more assists in 13 games and already has a team-leading 64 assists this season after having 41 through 20 games played last season. McCullar is the only player on the roster who was part of the 2019 Final Four team where he was a redshirt freshman after he graduated high school early and enrolled at Tech midyear. He has now played in 67 games in his Red Raider career and has 579 points, 319 rebounds, 126 assists and 97 steals. McCullar, who is averaging 8.6 points and 5.0 rebounds through seven Big 12 games played, was a 2021 All-Big 12 honorable mention selection.

Obanor had a season-high five 3-pointers in the win over UT where he finished with 17 points and five rebounds. He's now scored in double figures in five straight games and in 12 games this season. He also went for 13 points and six rebounds against Mississippi State after a game at Kansas where he had 17 points and eight rebounds. He is now averaging 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds. From beyond the arc, he's gone 8-for-14 over the past three games. Obanor was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week last Monday after he had scored 18 points in the win over WVU along with contributing 15 points and eight rebounds in the victory over Iowa State. Obanor is now averaging 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in Big 12 play and has now scored 1,542 points in his career. He also led Tech with 17 points in the win over Oklahoma State after the game at Baylor where he scored 13 points. A senior from Houston, Obanor scored a season-high 20 points in the non-conference win over Lamar where he hit three 3-pointers. He has made a team-best 32 3-pointers for the season and is now 154-for-381 (40.4 percent) for his career after going 5-for-7 against UT and 2-for-4 against MSU. He has recorded 30 double-doubles, has scored in double figures in 77 games and grabbed 796 rebounds through 108 career games. Obanor has made at least one 3-pointer in 15 of 22 games this season.

Shannon played only 5:50 against UT after he did not play last Saturday against Mississippi State. He will be a game-time decision at WVU after he scored a season-high 23 points in the home win over the Mountaineers by going 7-for-12 from the field and hitting three 3-pointers. He had made his return to the lineup against at Kansas State on Jan. 15 after he had missed the previous seven games against Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State, Alabama State, Eastern Washington and Gonzaga with an injury. He is now averaging 11.1 points per game through 11 games played this season. Before missing seven straight games, he had recorded his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Tennessee at the Jimmy V Classic. His 12 rebounds against the Volunteers were a career-high and it was his second career double-double after he had a 23/10 performance last season at LSU in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. 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. Shannon has scored in double figures in six of 11 games he's played in this season and in 42 games through 68 in his career. He has scored 766 points in his career with a high of 24 points as a freshman at DePaul. 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 hit his average by scoring 10 points in the win over the Longhorns after he had scored 15 points and matched a season-high with five assists at Kansas last Monday. He is now averaging 10.3 points with 12 double-figure scoring performances through 22 starts this season. In his first season at Tech after transferring from Hampton, Warren is averaging 9.4 points per Big 12 games. He scored a season-high 19 points in the non-conference win over Grambling and went for 12 points in the Big 12 opener against Iowa State. Warren is currently leading the Red Raiders with 31 steals after having one against UT. His five assists at KU matched another five-assist performance earlier this season against North Florida in the opener. 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 1,823 points in his career.

Arms had a team-leading nine rebounds and four assists in the win over Texas on Tuesday as a starter. He had a season-high 16 points and seven assists last Saturday against Mississippi State but was held to one point against UT. He is currently averaging 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in Big 12 play and is at 8.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the season. 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 1,537 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 23 3-pointers this season after going 3-for-5 against MSU but 0-for-2 against UT. He now has three games with three 3-pointers this season and seven games with three or more assists.

Santos-Silva 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 is the team-leader with 15 blocks this season after his season high of three. 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 1,180 points, 139 blocks and 899 rebounds through a team-high 148 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 360 offensive rebounds in his career with at least one in the past seven games. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 22 this season.

Mylik Wilson had a season-high four steals against UT 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 204 assists, 736 points and 340 rebounds through 72 games played in his collegiate career. He scored five points against UT before his first double-figure scoring performance as a Red Raider in the MSU win. He had missed five games after minor knee surgery but has played nine 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 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio with 36 assists and only 15 turnovers. He is at 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 17 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.

Nadolny is averaging 3.9 points, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Nadolny had made three straight starts to open Big 12 before playing the past seven back as a reserve and is currently averaging 5.6 points and leads the team with 13 steals in conference play. 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 67 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.

Tech's bench is strong with young talent in Daniel Batcho, 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 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 also scored six points in the win over Omaha after producing eight rebounds and eight points against Incarnate Word. He had three points and two rebounds at KU after grabbing four rebounds against Iowa State for his Big 12 best. The tallest Red Raider at 6-foot-11, Batcho is averaging 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 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.

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, who is the 18th head coach in program history, has won 561 games as a head coach 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.

TEXAS TECH SEASON NOTES

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.

PREVIEW: No. 14 Tech hits road for WVU matchup

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Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

KJ Allen

Adonis Arms

Daniel Batcho

Ethan Duncan

Kevin McCullar

Kevin Obanor

Marcus Santos-Silva

Austin Timperman

Davion Warren

Bryson Williams

Mylik Wilson