Preview and Game Thread: Tennessee Martin vs. Texas Tech

Date: Wednesday, December 9th
Time: 8:00 pm
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-1, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Tennessee Martin Skyhawks (2-6, 0-0)
Location: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas
TV/Stream: FOX Sports Southwest Plus
Radio/Stream: 93.7 FM/104.3 FM/950 AM

TEXAS TECH
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Kennan Evans (6-3/180) 8.8 / 2.2*
SHOOTING GUARD Devaugntah Williams (6-4/205) 18.8 / 5.2
SMALL FORWARD Toddrick Gotcher (6-4/205) 8.6 / 4.4
POWER FORWARD Zach Smith (6-8/215) 11.4 / 5.4
CENTER Norense Odiase (6-9/260) 7.6 / 4.8
TENNESSEE-MARTIN
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Alex Anderson (5-11/180) 12.1 / 1.9*
SHOOTING GUARD Jacolby Mobley (6-0/160) 8.3 / 2.6
SMALL FORWARD Richard Lee (6-4/200) 7.6 / 1.5
POWER FORWARD Chandler Rowe (6-7/200) 4.5 / 3.7
CENTER Twymond Howard (6-6/210) 13.3 / 5.8

* Assists.

1. Texas Tech is ranked 77th overall in the KenPom ratings with more specific ratings of 113th in adjusted offense and 59th in adjusted defense. Meanwhile, Tennessee Martin is the 275th overall with an offensive rating of 169th in adjusted offense and 336th in adjusted defense. That’s a pretty terrible defense.

2. Tennessee Martin has six losses on the year with just two wins. James Madison and Harris Stowe are the only wins on the year, while Tennessee Martin has losses to Oklahoma State, Bethune-Cookman, Oral Roberts, Florida International, Mississippi State and UMKC. Not exactly a stellar record. Oh, and one other thing, the UT Martin logo and mascot is pretty darned cook if you ask me. The Skyhawks. Yeah, I like it.

3. With Texas Tech, they’ve enjoyed a nice week off, last playing on Wednesday night, beating Sam Houston State by 15 or so and improving their record to 5-1. We’ve talked about how the loss of Isaiah Manderson has affected this team, not so bad right now, but could prove to be very problematic when conference play starts. UT Martin isn’t a very big team, and most of the teams left in Texas Tech’s non-conference schedule are not very good, San Diego State is the best one left, with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Arkansas-Little Rock and Richmond (Arkansas is in the middle of the conference schedule, on January 30th).

4. One more thought on Isaiah Manderson, who is transferring after the semester to another program. Manderson was a turnover machine. When I looked at the advanced stats, Manderson is turning the ball over 25% of the time, which is pretty significant, i.e. every time he touches the ball he turns it over 1 out of every 4 times. It should also be noted that Justin Gray and Zach Smith have turnover ratios of 19% and they both need to be careful with the ball.

5. Usage Rate is whether or not a player touching the ball results in either a shot, a turnover or free throws. Players high high usage rates, in the 30% range, mean that the player needs to pass more. In looking at the usage rates for Texas Tech, are all pretty much in the 20% range, except for C.J. Williamson and Devaugntah Williams, who are 28% and 26%. That’s pretty good and an indication that Texas Tech is a team that shares the ball pretty well.

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