Texas Tech University Athletics
Sunday, October 29
Denton, Texas
4:30 p.m.
Texas Tech Athletics
vs
No. 15 Texas A&M
Red Raiders, No. 15 Aggies set for exhibition game
October 24, 2023 | Men's Basketball
Exhibition game will not be streamed
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland and Pop Isaacs spoke with the local media on Tuesday following practice to give an update on preseason practices and preview their upcoming exhibition game against No. 15 Texas A&M. The Red Raiders and Aggies are set to play at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas with funds going to support Maui fire relief efforts.
The game will not be streamed or broadcast on radio. Fans can still purchase tickets here.
"We are really excited about Sunday's exhibition game," McCasland said. "Our opponent in Texas A&M is an NCAA Tournament team. They have the Preseason SEC Player of the Year (Wade Taylor IV). It's a great opportunity for us under the lights at UNT at the Super Pit. We need a game like this to get us ready for the season and for the purpose of experience in a real-game setting. We had a scrimmage against UTEP that I think went well because we got to learn about our team when playing against someone else. There's just something about being in a game environment. We're looking forward to it and having our fans watch us play."
The Red Raiders are in their first season under McCasland who spent the last six years leading UNT. He was 132-65 during his time in Denton, finishing by going 28-7 last season and winning the 2023 NIT Championship. Now he's two weeks away from officially beginning his first season at Tech with the Red Raiders opening the year on November 8 against Texas A&M-Commerce.
"This group is really connected to each other and have the makeup to get better over the course of the season," McCasland said. "When tough times come, this group will stay together."
To get ready for that game and the season ahead, Sunday's game becomes an opportunity to play against a Texas A&M team that is at No. 25 in the AP Preseason Poll and was picked second in the SEC poll. Coach Buzz Williams and the Aggies went 25-10 last season, including going 15-3 in conference play.
"I think we'll try to get in some different lineups in the game, but when we get to the end it could get real specific and how do we win this basketball game," McCasland said. "I think the focus is to identify different lineups and try to get a good luck and then give ourselves the best chance to win."
Isaacs is the only starter back on the Texas Tech roster and is coming off a freshman season where he averaged 11.5 points per game and was second on the team with 67 assists. He started 24 of 25 games played and made 62 3-pointers. This season, he's surrounded by nine newcomers and four other returners who have approached each day in the offseason with purpose and urgency knowing that they'll be tested against teams who have been together longer. First up is Texas A&M, a team led by Taylor who is on the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award and was named the preseason SEC Player of the Year after averaging 16.3 points and 3.9 assists per game last season.
"We want to keep coming closer as a team," Isaacs said. "We're playing a team (Texas A&M) that has everyone back from last year and we're a brand new team. We need to build that togetherness and getting used to each other. That's the biggest thing. Just keep getting better."
Texas Tech and Texas A&M were Southwest Conference rivals from 1957-1996 and Big 12 adversaries from 1996-2012 until the Aggies left for the SEC. Tech owns a 64-61 all-time advantage in the series that dates back to the first game on December 17, 1941. The Red Raiders won that contest, 48-36, in College Station. Texas A&M has won the past six games in the series, including taking a 47-38 win in Lubbock in the last matchup which was played on February 14, 2012.
This will be Tech's first exhibition game that is open to the public since traveling to play UTEP in 2019.
U-Sports Group (USG) has set up the Compete 4 Cause Classic which begins with North Texas taking on Sam Houston at 2 p.m. at The Super Pit. Tickets for Compete 4 Cause Classic can be purchased online at USportsGroup.com, in-person at the DATCU Stadium Gate 2 Ticket Office or via phone by calling UNT Ticket Office at 940-565-2527.
The game will not be streamed or broadcast on radio. Fans can still purchase tickets here.
"We are really excited about Sunday's exhibition game," McCasland said. "Our opponent in Texas A&M is an NCAA Tournament team. They have the Preseason SEC Player of the Year (Wade Taylor IV). It's a great opportunity for us under the lights at UNT at the Super Pit. We need a game like this to get us ready for the season and for the purpose of experience in a real-game setting. We had a scrimmage against UTEP that I think went well because we got to learn about our team when playing against someone else. There's just something about being in a game environment. We're looking forward to it and having our fans watch us play."
The Red Raiders are in their first season under McCasland who spent the last six years leading UNT. He was 132-65 during his time in Denton, finishing by going 28-7 last season and winning the 2023 NIT Championship. Now he's two weeks away from officially beginning his first season at Tech with the Red Raiders opening the year on November 8 against Texas A&M-Commerce.
"This group is really connected to each other and have the makeup to get better over the course of the season," McCasland said. "When tough times come, this group will stay together."
To get ready for that game and the season ahead, Sunday's game becomes an opportunity to play against a Texas A&M team that is at No. 25 in the AP Preseason Poll and was picked second in the SEC poll. Coach Buzz Williams and the Aggies went 25-10 last season, including going 15-3 in conference play.
"I think we'll try to get in some different lineups in the game, but when we get to the end it could get real specific and how do we win this basketball game," McCasland said. "I think the focus is to identify different lineups and try to get a good luck and then give ourselves the best chance to win."
Isaacs is the only starter back on the Texas Tech roster and is coming off a freshman season where he averaged 11.5 points per game and was second on the team with 67 assists. He started 24 of 25 games played and made 62 3-pointers. This season, he's surrounded by nine newcomers and four other returners who have approached each day in the offseason with purpose and urgency knowing that they'll be tested against teams who have been together longer. First up is Texas A&M, a team led by Taylor who is on the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award and was named the preseason SEC Player of the Year after averaging 16.3 points and 3.9 assists per game last season.
"We want to keep coming closer as a team," Isaacs said. "We're playing a team (Texas A&M) that has everyone back from last year and we're a brand new team. We need to build that togetherness and getting used to each other. That's the biggest thing. Just keep getting better."
Texas Tech and Texas A&M were Southwest Conference rivals from 1957-1996 and Big 12 adversaries from 1996-2012 until the Aggies left for the SEC. Tech owns a 64-61 all-time advantage in the series that dates back to the first game on December 17, 1941. The Red Raiders won that contest, 48-36, in College Station. Texas A&M has won the past six games in the series, including taking a 47-38 win in Lubbock in the last matchup which was played on February 14, 2012.
This will be Tech's first exhibition game that is open to the public since traveling to play UTEP in 2019.
U-Sports Group (USG) has set up the Compete 4 Cause Classic which begins with North Texas taking on Sam Houston at 2 p.m. at The Super Pit. Tickets for Compete 4 Cause Classic can be purchased online at USportsGroup.com, in-person at the DATCU Stadium Gate 2 Ticket Office or via phone by calling UNT Ticket Office at 940-565-2527.
?? @CoachGrantMac
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) October 24, 2023
"When tough times come, this group will stay together." pic.twitter.com/MILn8ZCMbk
Players Mentioned
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