Preview & GDT: Incarnate Word vs. Texas Tech

Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (0-0, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Incarnate Word Cardinals (0-0, 0-0)
When to Watch: Tuesday, November 6th @ 6:30 p.m.
Where to Watch: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas
How to Watch: FSSW+
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: None

Advanced Stats

Texas Tech Incarnate Word
KenPom 25 335
KP AdjO 39 329
KP AdjD 15 341
T-Rank 27 316
T-Rank O 60 275
T-Rank D 7 335
Haslemetric N/A N/A

Lineups

TEXAS TECH
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Davide Moretti (6-3/175) 3.5 / 1.1*
SHOOTING GUARD Matt Mooney (6-3/200) 18.7 / 3.1*
SMALL FORWARD Jarrett Culver (6-5/195) 11.2 / 4.8
POWER FORWARD Brandone Francis (6-5/215) 5.1 / 1.9
CENTER Norense Odiase (6-9/245) 3.8 / 4.5
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Tariq Owens (6-10/205) 8.4 / 5.9
SEVENTH MAN Deshawn Corprew (6-5/210)
EIGHTH MAN Khavon Moore (6-7/215)
NINTH MAN Malik Ondigo (6-10/215) 1.1 / 0.8
TENTH MAN Kyler Edwards (6-3/200)
ELEVENTH MAN Josh Mballa (6-7/215)
INCARNATE WORD
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Cody Graham (5-10/165) 4.5 / 1.5
SHOOTING GUARD Desmond Balentine (6-0/178) – / –
SMALL FORWARD Christian Peevy (6-6/190) 7.8 / 3.6
POWER FORWARD Keeton Hervey (6-7/190) 8.0 / 2.3
CENTER Charles Brown III (6-7/215) 13.5 / 5.2
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN
SEVENTH MAN
EIGHTH MAN
NINTH MAN
TENTH MAN

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. Incarnate Word is a slightly better offensive team, 275th in offense and 335th in defense. I think for the Texas Tech numbers, they are still the same, good on offense, 60th overall, but elite on defense, 7th. That was last year and we have a lot that we have to find out. As far as the Cardinals are concerned, they are projected to be one of the worst teams in the nation, so this should not be a close game in any way shape or form.

2. How They Match Up. Here’s a blogging secret. What I typically do is take a look at the prior game, determine the starting lineup and the 6th, 7th, 8th man and then go from there for the opponent. That typically keeps things relatively close to how the lineup will be against Texas Tech and it saves me from doing a ton of research on figuring out who is starting for an opposing team. I typically don’t have a ton of time for that sort of thing. For IC, no one on their team is taller than 6’7″ so there should be a definite size advantage for Texas Tech. I’d really like to see some of the low post guys get going.

3. Scouting. This is scouting for Texas Tech more than anything else since this should be the first time I get to see the new team. I think that rolling out Norense Odiase and Tariq Owens in the same starting lineup is a mistake. They probably shouldn’t see a ton of minutes together because neither one of them stretch the floor enough. I obviously haven’t seen a ton of Owens’ game, but they’ll probably be better off separate than together. Also, based off of the scrimmage, I don’t think that this team is as good as you might want for it to be unless Mooney is more aggressive offensively. He needs to put points on the board and if he doesn’t do that, then there are going to be problems. I think that starting Mooney, Culver, Francis, Corprew, and Owens/Odiase is probably your best defensive starting five. If you want to throw Kyler Edwards in at guard and move Francis down and Corprew to the bench, that’s fine too. I think your guards need to be the most athletic they can be and I don’t know if Mooney and Moretti are a good fit together. I guess we’ll see.

4. Reading Material. A-J Media’s Carlos Silva, Jr. writes about Texas Tech’s opening game against Incarnate Word and guard Davide Moretti talked about what he improved on over the summer:

Moretti will look to do the same and more when the Red Raiders, coming off the program’s first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance, host Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday inside United Supermarkets Arena.

“I was working on my quickness and reaction, all of that stuff, especially for the defensive part,” Moretti said as to what he worked on during the offseason to improve going into his sophomore campaign. “Last year, it was kind of my weakness. And I’m trying to make it one of the best things I do while on the court this year.”


5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right there:

The Red Raiders are 66-27 all-time in season openers and 2-0 in the first game of the year under Beard. The team returns eight players from last year and welcomes in six newcomers. Texas Tech recorded a 27-10 record, including a 17-1 record at home, and a 3-1 record in the NCAA tournament last season. This year’s team consists of four seniors (Brandone Francis, Norense Odiase, Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens), one junior (Andrew Sorrells), six sophomores (Deshawn Corprew, Malik Ondigo, Jarrett Culver, Avery Benson, Davide Moretti, Parker Hicks) and the freshmen class of Kyler Edwards, Khavon Moore and Josh Mballa.

Incarnate Word is coming off a 7-21 season and were 2-16 in Southland Conference play. Beard was a graduate assistant coach at UIW in 1995-96 for head coach Danny Kaspar in his first year of postgraduate coaching. The Red Raiders and Cardinals are playing each other for only the second time ever with Tech earning a 69-48 win back on Nov. 30, 2016 in the other meeting. The Cardinals are now coached by Dr. Carson Cunningham who is in his first season in San Antonio after coaching at Carroll College the past five seasons.

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