Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (14-1, 3-0)
Bad Guys: Texas Longhorns (10-5, 2-1)
When to Watch: Saturday, January 12th @ 1:00 p.m.
Where to Watch: Frank Erwin Center | Austin, Texas
How to Watch: LHN | WatchESPN
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: Texas Tech -1 (OddsShark)

Advanced Stats

Lineups

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. Well, the Texas is pretty darned good defensively, good enough to be a ton of teams, but maybe the problem is that if the defense isn’t elite on a consistent basis and the offense is mediocre at best, then that leads to the type of inconsistency that has plagued Texas. Both teams aren’t great offensively, but just like against Oklahoma, Texas Tech has more guys that do more positive things offensively, but Texas has the better offensive efficiency stats.

2. Scouting. The Longhorns biggest losses come as a result of the offense not performing. that three game stretch where the Longhorns lost to Michigan State, Radford and VCU, they simply could not put the ball in the bucket and were terrible from the three-point line. Same thing for the Prividence loss and the loss this past week to Oklahoma State. Against the Cowboys, the Longhorns were just 2-22 from the three-point line, but that was on the road. When they are on from deep, like against Kansas State, they can beat anyone. Freshman Jaxson hayes is without a doubt their best offensive player, but he doesn’t have a high usage rate. Hayes has a nice block rate, shoots eFG% of 75%, and is pretty good. Roach and Osetkowski are probably their next best players. Roach is their team’s best distributor and perimeter defender, while Osetkowski is the teams best rebounder by far. I think the point for me would be that the Longhorns don’t have a Jarrett Culver, a go-to guy and that’s the problem. No one guy that can stop terrible offensive possessions.

3. How They Match Up. A lot like Texas Tech, Texas really only runs 8 deep and truthfully, Hamm doesn’t really play that much so they’ll go 7 deep, which still astounds me to think that Texas only goes 7 players worth playing deep. I dunno. The question will be if the Texas Tech offense will travel, it’s going to need to score. Texas Tech is better at forcing opponents into bad shots and the Longhorns won’t give Texas Tech many chances from the free throw line. They’ll force bad shots, but they don’t fould thus far this season. Culver has gone in a bit of a slump from the three-point line, but the nice thing about Culver is that he doesn’t rely on that very much, it is part of his game, but it isn’t what feeds his game. And one more thing, I wanted to discuss Dan’s excellent post about Texas Tech’s 8 man rotation, and we had a Slack conversation about why Malik Ondigo hasn’t seen much time on the court. My theory is that Odiase and Owens are so elite defensively and Ondigo isn’t there yet. That’s not to say that he won’t be there next year, but watch Odiase and Owens, especially Odiase defensively and how he helps on players that drive. He’s really great at help without losing his man. Owens relies more on his athletic ability, but Odiase is a gem defensively.

4. Reading Material. A-J Media’s Carlos Silva, Jr. – No. 8 Red Raiders’ defense a key factor against Longhorns:

But Beard knows that will be a challenge as No. 8 Tech (14-1, 3-0) takes on in-state rival Texas (10-5, 2-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The Red Raiders haven’t won in Austin since Feb. 24, 1996.

“Just like when we went to West Virginia, we embrace the reality that we had never won in West Virginia before,” Beard said Thursday. “If you’re ever going to make history you have to start chipping away at doing things that have never been done before. It’s been a long time since Texas Tech has won in Austin and the reason is that they are really good.”

American-Statesman’s Brian Davis – After crushing loss, will Texas coach Shaka Smart’s troops engage vs. No. 8 Texas Tech?:

There’s only so much talking the coach can do. The inconsistent Longhorns (10-5, 2-1) have to determine for themselves whether they’re willing to run for a full 40 minutes or be content with the fits and starts of a clogged V8.

“He wants us to believe as much as he believes in us,” guard Matt Coleman III said. “He says it every day. This is a championship-level team, but if I want it more than y’all, then that don’t mean nothing.”

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

“We’ll have to play against multiple defenses and different kinds of offenses because they play a different way depending on each game. They have an identity but they can also change from game to game. It’s a tough scouting report because you have to expect the unexpected, but I think our guys will be prepared and it will come down to who plays best.”

“Just like when we went to West Virginia we embrace the reality that we had never won in West Virginia before. If you’re ever going to make history you have to start chipping away at doing things that have never been done before. It’s been a long time since Texas Tech has won in Austin and the reason is that they are really good.”