Preview & Game Day Thread: Texas Tech vs. Kansas State

Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (13-5, 5-4)
Bad Guys: Kansas State Wildcats (5-14, 1-9)
When to Watch: Saturday, February 6th @ 3:00 p.m.
Where to Watch: Bramlage Coliseum | Manhattan, Kansas
How to Watch: ESPN+
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: Texas Tech -16

Advanced Stats

TEXAS TECH KANSAS STATE
KenPom 14 193
KP AdjO 30 200
KP AdjD 9 205
T-Rank 15 189
T-Rank O 30 195
T-Rank D 12 1188
Haslemetric 17 216

Lineups

TEXAS TECH
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Mac McClung (6-2/185) 16.8 / 2.3*
SHOOTING GUARD Kyler Edwards (6-4/195) 9.6 / 2.4*
SMALL FORWARD Micah Peavy (6-7/215) 5.5 / 2.8
POWER FORWARD Kevin McCullar (6-6/195) 10.2 / 7.2
CENTER Marcus Santos-Silva (6-7/245) 8.4 / 6.5
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Terrence Shannon, Jr. (6-6/210) 13.6 / 5.4
SEVENTH MAN Jamarius Burton (6-4/205) 4.6 / 2.0
EIGHTH MAN Tyreek Smith (6-7/220) 2.4 / 2.4
NINTH MAN Chibuzo Agbo (6-7/215) 1.7 / 0.8
TENTH MAN Clarence Nadolny (6-3/190) 2.1 / 0.9
ELEVENTH MAN Vladislov Goldin (7-0/240) 2.8 / 1.5
TWELFTH MAN Avery Benson (6-4/195) 1.6 / 1.0
KANSAS STATE
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Selton Miguel (6-4/210) 8.2 / 1.9*
SHOOTING GUARD Mike McGuirl (6-2/195) 11.4 / 3.5*
SMALL FORWARD Rudi Williams (6-3/182) 5.5 / 2.8
POWER FORWARD DaJuan Gordon (6-4/190) 9.3 / 5.8
CENTER Davion Bradford (7-0/265) 6.9 / 4.1
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Joe Petrakis (6-9/220) 1.5 / 0.6
SEVENTH MAN Carlton Linguard, Jr. (6-11/215) 2.5 / 1.4
EIGHTH MAN Drew Honas (6-0/170) 0.3 / 0.2
NINTH MAN Luke Kasubke (6-5/190) 2.3 / 1.7
TENTH MAN – (-/-) – / –

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. I would first like to acknowledge that I’m not really sure who is available for Kansas State. I usually base this off of the last box score for the opponent and they only played 8 players and there’s some wonky things going on with their roster. So, with that disclaimer out of the way, Kansas State has not been good, really the only thing that they do remotely good is rebound the ball on the offensive end. They are 301st in three-point shooting, 171st in two-point buckets, 280th in free throw percentage, 320th in turnover percentage. Yikes. Defensively, they allow opponents to generally shoot really well as they are 321st in three-point percentage allowed, 287th in two-point percentage allowed, and they don’t force turnovers or limit opponents on the boards.

2. Scouting. Nijel Pack was awesome the last game and he’s really very good for the Wildcats, but he didn’t play earlier in the week, so I have no idea as to his availability. If he plays, he’s a helluva shooter. Bradford is a good player, shoots well and rebounds really well, but he’s pretty limited to around the basket. McGuirl gets a ton of time and has an excellent assist rate, but isn’t a very good shooter despite taking 11 three’s a game.

3. How They Match Up. Texas Tech is supposed to win this by double-digits. We’ll see. K-State seems to play a lot of close games, but just run out of steam. Texas Tech has done a nice job of improving offense while maintaining pretty good consistency on defense. I definitely like playing Nadolny, Agbo, and Smith more minutes. I’d love to see McClung get back on track and for a non-stressful game and I’d like to see Edwards have a decent game from a shooting perspective.

4. Tweet of the Day.

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

The Red Raiders (13-5, 5-4 Big 12) are coming off a 57-52 win over No. 9 Oklahoma on Monday, while the Wildcats (5-14, 1-9 Big 12) have dropped nine straight following a 74-51 loss at No. 23 Kansas on Tuesday. Tech earned an 82-71 win over KSU in the first matchup between the two teams on Jan. 5 with Terrence Shannon, Jr. leading the way with 22 points and Mac McClung adding 16 points and three assists. TTU is 7-2 against KSU under head coach Chris Beard, but 21-24 in the all-time series and only 5-16 in Manhattan. The Red Raiders and Wildcats shared the 2019 Big 12 regular season championship with both teams going 14-4 in conference.

Texas Tech is the top defensive unit in the Big 12 by holding opponents to 61.7 points per game and to 40.3 percent shooting. The Red Raiders, who are 3-1 on the road in Big 12 play, rank 14th nationally by holding teams to only 61.7 ppg. and are fifth in the nation with a 5.9 turnover margin advantage and 23rd by forcing 16.9 turnovers per game from their opponent. Tech leads the nation by getting to the free-throw line 437 times this season and is second with 318 makes at the line after going 18-for-22 in the win over Oklahoma (16-for-20 second half). Offensively, the Red Raiders are committing only 10.9 turnovers per game which is the second best in the Big 12 and are scoring 74.5 ppg. and shooting 43.4 percent from the field. In Big 12 play, Tech leads the conference by shooting 78.1 percent from the free-throw line after going 153-for-196 through nine games.

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