PREVIEW: No. 9 Tech, Oklahoma set for first matchup

Wednesday, February 9

Norman, Oklahoma

8 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Oklahoma

PREVIEW: No. 9 Tech, Oklahoma set for first matchup

February 07, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Press Conference ESPNU Live Stats TTU Record Book OU Basketball

No. 9 Red Raiders at Sooners | 8 p.m., Wednesday | TV: ESPNU

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 9 Texas Tech and Oklahoma will square off against each other for the first time this season at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Red Raiders (18-5, 7-3 Big 12) won their third game in a row with a 60-53 win at West Virginia after beating No. 23 Texas by 13 last week, while the Sooners (13-10, 3-7 Big 12) dropped their third straight contest with a 64-55 loss at Oklahoma State in their weekend game. Tech improved to 2-3 in Big 12 road games by limiting the Mountaineers to just 24.2 percent shooting for the game and 12.5 percent (4-for-32) in the second half.

WVU was the 13th opponent held under 40 percent shooting after UT shot 40.0 in its 77-64 loss last Tuesday in Lubbock. Tech's defense is currently rated second nationally by Kenpom.com and has limited 20 of 23 opponents under 70 and 10 teams under 60 points this season.

Bryson Williams leads the Red Raiders with 13.7 points per game after going for 15 against WVU, while Terrence Shannon, Jr. (10.9), Kevin McCullar (10.9), Kevin Obanor (10.3) and Davion Warren (10.3) give Tech five players who are averaging double-figure scoring this season. Williams, who has scored 1,941 career points, tops the Big 12 by shooting 53.5 percent from the field and also leads Tech by shooting 46.4 percent on 3-pointers. After his team-high 15 points at WVU, Williams has now led Tech in scoring in eight games this season, while McCullar has in five, Arms and Shannon in four and Warren and Obanor in two each. McCullar went for 10 points and nine rebounds against WVU and now leads Tech with 5.8 rebounds per game.

The Red Raiders swept OU last season, including a 69-67 win in Norman with Shannon scoring 21 points and Marcus Santos-Silva adding 18 points and 7 rebounds on Dec. 22, 2020. Tech has won 7 of 10 in the series, but trails 40-29 all-time.

Mark Adams has the best record through 23 games for a first-year Tech head coach with the 18-5 record, topping Bob Knight who was 17-6 at this point in his first season (2001-02) and Chris Beard who was 16-7 to begin the 2016-17 season (18-14 overall). Knight was 23-9 in his first season for the best record by a coach leading the program in his first season.

Tech enters this week already having matched its win total from the past two seasons after going 18-11 (2020-21) and 18-13 (2019-20). The program record for wins came in the historic 2018-19 season where the team went 31-7 and advanced to the NCAA Championship Final.

UP NEXT
Tech returns home to host TCU at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Sooners, who play at No. 8 Kansas on Saturday, will travel to Lubbock to play on Tuesday, Feb. 22 to complete the regular-season series.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: No. 9 Texas Tech (18-5, 7-3) at Oklahoma (13-10, 3-7 Big 12)
Venue: Lloyd Noble Center (11,528)
Tip: 8:05 p.m. (CST), Wednesday
TV: ESPNU
TV Talent: Mark Neely (play-by-play), Chris Spatola (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: OU leads 40-29; In Norman: OU leads 25-9: Last 10: TTU leads 7-3

POLLS/STAT REPORT
Texas Tech has earned its way back into the Associated Press Men's Basketball Top 25 after moving up five spots to No. 9 in this week's poll with wins over No. 20 Texas and West Virginia. The Red Raiders have now entered the top-10 of the rankings in four of the past five seasons and dd it this year by working their way up from beginning as an unranked team. Tech was not ranked for the first five weeks of the season before entering at No. 25 on December 13 following a win over Tennessee in the Jimmy V Classic. TTU spent four straight weeks at No. 25 before moving to No. 19, No. 18, No. 13, No. 14 and now No. 9 in the national poll. In addition to the polls, TTU is at No. 11 in the NCAA NET Ranking and Kenpom.com. The Red Raiders are currently second in the Kenpom.com defensive efficiency rating behind only San Diego State.

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 (109), Warren (142), Williams (144), Santos-Silva (149) and Arms (126).

Williams has scored in double figures in all 10 of Tech's conference games this season and is 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. 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 13.7 points per game for the season and 16.9 in Big 12 games. He also had a season-high two blocks at WVU and recorded five rebounds to give him 10 games with five or more rebounds this season. His 33 points at KU were only one point shy of his career-high of 34 two seasons ago while playing at UTEP. Williams, who leads Tech by shooting 46.4 percent on 3-pointers with 26 makes, recorded 20 or more points for the 28th time in his career at KU after also leading the Red Raiders with 20 points in the loss at Kansas State. A super senior in his first season at Tech, he now has 97 games in his career where he has scored in double figures. A Fresno, California native, Williams played two seasons at Fresno State before playing the past two at UTEP. Utilizing a fifth season, Williams is an experienced player with 1,941 points, 851 rebounds and 92 blocked shots through 144 games in his career.

McCullar is on Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List and is coming off a week where he led the Red Raiders with 19 points, six rebounds and two assists in the win over Texas before going for 10 points and nine rebounds at WVU. A stat sheet stuffer, he is now averaging 10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals through 19 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 nine straight games. A junior from San Antonio, McCullar has had three or more assists in 13 games and already has a team-leading 66 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 68 games in his Red Raider career and has 589 points, 328 rebounds, 128 assists and 97 steals. McCullar, who is averaging 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds through eight 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 had scored in double figures in five straight games and in 12 games this season after his 17 against the Longhorns but was limited to two points at WVU. 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 10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. From beyond the arc, he had gone 8-for-14 over the past three games before going 0 of 6 last Saturday. Obanor was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week two weeks ago after he had scored 18 points in the win over WVU along with contributing 15 points and eight rebounds in the home victory over Iowa State. Obanor is now averaging 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in Big 12 play and has now scored 1,544 points in his career. 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-387 (39.8 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 798 rebounds through 109 career games. Obanor has made at least one 3-pointer in 15 of 23 games this season.

Shannon scored nine points and had three rebounds in 15 minutes of play at WVU after he had played only 5:50 against UT and not at all against Mississippi State. He will be a game-time decision at Oklahoma. Shannon scored a season-high 23 points in the home win over the Mountaineers on January 22 by going 7-for-12 from the field and hitting three 3-pointers but played limited minutes in the first half last Saturday after a hard fall on a dunk. He returned in the second half to score seven points and help Tech to the road win. 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 10.9 points per game through 12 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 12 games he's played in this season and in 42 games through 69 in his career. He has scored 775 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 scored in double figures in both games last week, dropping 10 on Texas before adding 11 in the win at WVU. A super senior from Buffalo, he is now averaging 10.3 points per game this season and 9.6 through 10 Big 12 games. He has racked up 13 double-figure scoring performance for Tech after going 4-for-8 from the field against the Mountaineers. Warren transferred to Tech after playing the past two seasons at Hampton where he averaged 21.1 points per game last season which ranked 13^th 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 1,823 points in his career.

Arms had a team-leading nine rebounds and four assists in the win over Texas on Tuesday but would be limited to two points at WVU after only playing in 14 minutes before a hard fall on a dunk attempt. He will be a game-time decision at Oklahoma. 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 6.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in Big 12 play and is at 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 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 1,539 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. 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 before having four rebounds at WVU. He is tied for the team lead with 15 blocks this season after his season high of three against UT. 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 1,181 points, 139 blocks and 903 rebounds through a team-high 149 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 of eight games. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and has played a reserve role in all 23 this season.

Mylik Wilson had a season-high four steals against UT and led Tech with three assists at WVU after a season-high 12 points against Mississippi State where he was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. A transfer from Louisiana, he currently has 207 assists, 738 points and 343 rebounds through 73 games played in his collegiate career. He scored five points against UT after his first double-figure scoring performance as a Red Raider in the MSU win. Wilson had missed five games after minor knee surgery but has played 10 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 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio with 39 assists and only 18 turnovers. He is at 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 18 games played. Wilson started five of the first six games of the season and had a season-high seven assists in the opener against North Florida. He has played 20 or more minutes four straight game for the first time this season.

Nadolny is averaging 3.9 points, 1.1 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 5.2 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 68 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 is coming off a career-high four blocks at WVU where he also had six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of play. Now tied with Santos-Silva with 15 blocks, 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. The tallest Red Raider at 6-foot-11, Batcho is averaging 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 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.

RED RAIDER PROS
Jarrett Culver – Memphis Grizzlies
Jahmi'us Ramsey – Sacramento Kings
Mac McClung – South Bay Lakers (G-League)
Norense Odiase – Greensboro Swarm (G-League)
Keenan Evans - Maccabi Tel Aviv
Davide Moretti - Victoria Libertas
Brandone Francis - Gipuzkoa
Matt Mooney - Unicaja (Liga ACB)
Dejan Kravic - Unicaja (Liga ACB)
Justin Gray - PGE Spojnia Stargard (Poland)
TJ Holyfield - EWE Baskets Oldenburg (Bundesliga)
Toddrick Gotcher - CSO Voluntari
Jaye Crockett - Peristeri

OKLAHOMA SOONER REPORT
The Sooners come into the game having lost three in a row with losses to Auburn, TCU and Oklahoma State after a 72-62 road win over West Virginia on January 26. OU is currently 8-4 on its home court, including wins over Kansas State and Iowa State, this season under first-year head coach Porter Moser. Tanner Groves leads OU with 13.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 39 total assists, while Umoja Gibson is scoring 12.0 ppg. and Duke transfer Jordan Goldwire has 9.2 ppg. on his resume and leads the team with 82 assists. Groves transferred from Eastern Washington and is coming off a game against Oklahoma State where he had 23 points and nine rebounds.

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