PREVIEW: No. 14 Tech, OU set for Big 12 semifinals

Friday, March 11

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

8:30 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

Oklahoma

PREVIEW: No. 14 Tech, OU set for Big 12 semifinals

March 11, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Big 12 Tournament Records Tech Record Book ESPN2 Live Stats

Red Raiders vs. Sooners | 8:30 p.m., Friday | TV: ESPN2

By: Wes Bloomquist

KANSAS CITY – No. 14 Texas Tech and Oklahoma are set to square off at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the T-Mobile Center. The Red Raiders (24-8, 12-6 Big 12) and Sooners (18-14, 7-11 Big 12) split their regular-season matchups this season with the home team winning each game. The TTU-OU semifinal follows TCU and Kansas on the other side of the bracket. Tech advanced after earning a 72-41 quarterfinal win over Iowa State on Thursday while OU upset Baylor in its first game of the tournament.

Terrence Shannon, Jr. led Tech with 15 points in the win over Iowa State on Thursday in a game where nine players scored and 11 had a rebound. Kevin McCullar returned after missing two straight games to add 11 points and three assists, while Kevin Obanor and Adonis Arms both scored 10 points. The 41 points allowed were the fewest a Tech has ever held a Big 12 opponent to in program history.

Texas Tech is making its sixth appearance in the Big 12 semifinals and come into Friday's game with a 1-4 record in the semifinals. Tech last appearance in the semis was in 2018 with a loss to Texas while its only championship final appearance came in 2005. The Red Raiders are now 15-25 all-time in Big 12 Championship history and in pursuit of their first Big 12 tournament title.

QUICK FACTS
Matchup: No. 14 Texas Tech (24-8, 12-6) vs. Iowa State (20-11, 7-11)
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Venue: T-Mobile Center
Tip: 8:30 p.m., Friday
TV: ESPN2
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)

2022 PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
T-Mobile Center - Kansas City
Wednesday, March 9
G1: No. 9 West Virginia 73, No. 8 K-State 67
Thursday, March 10
G2: No. 5 TCU 65, No. 4 Texas 60
G3: No. 1 Kansas 87, No. 9 West Virginia 63
G4: No. 7 Oklahoma 72, No. 2 Baylor 67
G5: No. 3 Texas Tech 72, No. 6 Iowa State 41
Friday, March 11
G6: TCU vs. Kansas (6 p.m.)
G7: Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma (8:30 p.m.)
Saturday, March 12
Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner (5 p.m.)

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

Mark Adams has established the best record for a first-year Tech head coach with the 24-8 record. Bob Knight finished with a 23-9 in his first season (2001-02) for the previous best record by a coach leading the program in his first season. Adams and the Red Raiders 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.

Along with the polls, Tech is at No. 6 nationally on Kenpom.com and is the top team in the defensive efficiency rating. TTU moved up to No. 8 in the NCAA NET Rating from No. 12 after its win over Iowa State. The Red Raiders were coming off a 52-51 loss at Oklahoma State in their regular season finale despite holding the Cowboys to 32.8 percent shooting from the field and 5-for-23 on 3-pointers. The team has still not lost back-to-back games all season. The Red Raiders are sixth nationally by limiting teams to only 38.3 percent shooting and are seventh with teams being limited to an average of 60.1 points through 32 games.

DOMINATING THE PAINT
Texas Tech has outscored 31 of 32 opponents inside the paint this season and own a combined 1,068-536 scoring advantage. Oklahoma State outscored Tech by a 26-22 margin in the paint to break up a 30-game streak in the regular season finale before Tech dominated Iowa State by a 42-14 margin in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship. 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; TTU 36 – KSU 10; TTU 22 – OSU 26; TTU 42 - ISU 14.

AN ALL-TIME LOW
The 41 points Tech limited Iowa State to in the quarterfinals are the fewest points a Big 12 opponent has ever been held to in Red Raider history. TTU had 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 which matched the 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.

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 (118), Warren (151), Williams (153), Santos-Silva (158) and Arms (135).

Williams leads Tech with 13.8 points per game this season (16.1 in Big 12 play) and was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. He was coming off scoring 13 points at Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale before contributing six points and five rebounds in the win over Iowa State in the quarterfinals. A fifth-year senior who has started all 32 games in his first season at Tech, Williams has now scored 2,068 points in his career with 441 coming this year in a Red Raider uniform. He had 13 points in the home win over Oklahoma where he was 6-for-9 from the field. Williams scored 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 and dropped 17 points in the most recent wins over Texas and Baylor. He leads Tech by shooting 42.1 percent on 3-pointers (32-for-76), including going 22-for-52 (42.3 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 153 games in his career and has made 820 shots and come down with 883 career rebounds.

Shannon led the Red Raiders with 15 points and three steals in the quarterfinal win over Iowa State on Thursday and is now averaging 10.6 points per game. A junior from Chicago, Shannon is in his third season playing at Tech and has scored 866 points through 78 games in his career. Shannon explored the NBA Draft process last summer before electing to return to Lubbock for his junior season. He has 10 games in double figure scoring through 21 games played 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 288 shots including 64 3-pointers after going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc against Iowa State in the quarterfinals. He was named to the All-Big 12 Third Team last season as a sophomore and was an All-Big 12 Preseason selection. 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. He's now led Tech in scoring six times this season and 15 times in his career.

Obanor is coming off going for 10 points and six rebounds in the quarterfinal win over Iowa State on Thursday after a 16/10 double-double at OSU in the regular-season finale. The double-double in Stillwater was his second double-double of the season and 32nd of his career. He has started all 32 games this season and is averaging 9.8 points and leads the team with 160 rebounds (5.0 per). His six rebounds against the Cyclones led the team which was the eighth time this season he's been the team leader in rebounds in a game. Obanor also led Tech with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the home win over Baylor to record his first double-double of the season on Feb. 16. 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 15 double-figure scoring performances this season with his 23 against the Bears and 20 against Lamar being his season-highs. He leads Tech with 41 made 3-pointers this season after going 3-for-5 at Oklahoma State and now has seven 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 163-for-413 (39.5 percent) on 3-pointers through 118 career games. He comes into the semifinal matchup against OU with 1,619 points and 844 career rebounds.

Warren provided nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win over Iowa State in the quarterfinals. He now leads Tech with 46 steals this season with five games of three steals or more, including a season-high four against K-State. He scored a season-high 23 points in the win over K-State in the home finale last Monday and then turned 23-years-old the next day. His 23 points against the Wildcats came with him going 9-for-11 from the field with two 3-pointers. He also led Tech in scoring after going for 16 points in the win over Oklahoma on Feb. 22 where he was 7-for-9 from the field. A starter in all 32 games this season, Warren is averaging 10.1 points per game has scored in double figures in 17 games. He scored a previous season-high 19 points in the second game of the season against Grambling and finished Big 12 play averaging 9.6 points per game. 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 1,918 career points when combining junior college, Hampton and 323 points this season. He comes into the semis of the Big 12 tournament third on Tech's roster with 54 assists, including a season-high five assists at Kansas and in the opener against North Florida. Warren is currently 116-for-247 from the field this season with 26 3-pointers.

Arms scored 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting against Iowa State in the quarterfinals for his 13th double-figure scoring performance of the season. He earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection in his first season with the Red Raiders where he is averaging 8.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. His 81 assists leads the team after adding two more on Thursday night. Arms matched his Big 12-high by scoring 15 points at TCU and had nine points and five assists in the home win over OU in the last matchup between the teams. A fifth-year senior in his first and final season at Tech, Arms also scored 15 points and had seven rebounds in the home win over Baylor three weeks ago, has now scored 1,640 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 10 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 12 games and in 20 of 32 this season.

Santos-Silva earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection and comes into the semifinals against OU with a team-high 158 games of experience. He led Tech with six rebounds and scored nine points in the win over OU and is coming off a game where he provided five rebounds and five points against ISU. This season, he averaging 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and leads the Red Raiders with 21 blocked shots after having one against the Cyclones. He recorded his first double-double of the season and 13th of his career by going for 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first win over Oklahoma State on Jan. 13 in Lubbock. A super senior from Taunton, Massachusetts who played three seasons at VCU, he has produced 1,220 points, 145 blocks and 939 rebounds through his team-high 158 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 11 games with four or more rebounds this season. He currently has 372 offensive rebounds in his career. Santos-Silva started all 29 games for Tech last season and had played a reserve role in 31 of 32 this season with a start coming on senior night against K-State. 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 63-for-109 (57.8 percent) from the field this season and 501-for-887 (56.5 percent). Santos-Silva, who has a bachelor's degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness from VCU, was named to the 2022 Academic All-Big 12 Second Team as a graduate student at Tech. He was also an Atlantic 10 All-Academic selection before transferring.

McCullar returned to the court to provide 11 points , three assists, three rebounds and two steals in the win over ISU. He had been unable to play in last week's games against Kansas State and at Oklahoma State due to injury. An All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, he has now scored in double figures in 14 games this season and in 32 in his career. He set a new Tech record last season with six steals in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinal loss to Texas where he also went for 11 points and four rebounds. He led Tech with 12 points in the loss at Oklahoma on Feb. 9 in a game where he was 4-for-11 from the field but was held scoreless at home against OU in 14 minutes of play. McCullar has now scored 623 points and has 337 rebounds through 73 games in his career. A junior from San Antonio who was a 2021 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection and is a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist (1 of 10), he's led Tech in scoring six times this season and 11 times in his career. Against the Longhorns in Lubbock, McCullar had a career-high 12 made free throws in a 12 of 15 display from the stripe. He is second on the Red Raiders with 75 assists, including having three or more assists in 15 of 24 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 1.5 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 623 points, McCullar has 337 rebounds, 137 assists, 104 steals and three double-doubles through 73 games played.

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 the bench in the win at Texas in 20 minutes of play two weeks ago and is coming off a game against ISU where he had four points and four rebounds. Nadolny is averaging 3.9 points, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Nadolny had made three straight starts to open Big 12 before playing the past 15 back as a reserve. He finished Big 12 play with 4.6 points and was second on the team with 20 steals in conference play. Nadolny 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 77 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 in Lawrence 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 28 since.

Wilson matched a season-high with three blocked shots against K-State in the home finale, including rejecting a 3-point attempt by Nijel Pack with 13 seconds remaining to try and tie the game. He led Tech with two blocks in the quarterfinal win over Iowa State and now has 16 blocks this season and 59 in his career. A transfer from Louisiana, he currently has 216 assists, 748 points and 362 rebounds through 82 games played in his collegiate career. He scored 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 19 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 2.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 27 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 43 games as a Red Raider. Batcho had not played in the past three games before returning to play seven minutes at Oklahoma State in the finale. He recorded a career-high four blocks at WVU where he also had six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of play and 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 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 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. Agbo scored two points and had two rebounds at OSU to close out the regular season. 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 recorded career-high eight rebounds and matched a season-best with six points against K-State in the home finale before only playing 1:17 at OSU. Three of his eight rebounds against KSU were on the offensive end of the court to give him 12 offensive rebounds this season. He is averaging 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game this season in 18 games played.

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.