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

Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-1, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-2, 0-0)
When to Watch: Tuesday, December 14th @ 7:00 pm
Where to Watch: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas
How to Watch: ESPN+
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: Texas Tech -24

Advanced Stats

TEXAS TECH ARKANSAS STATE
KenPom 15 231
KP AdjO 33 191
KP AdjD 5 271
T-Rank 24 217
T-Rank O 72 173
T-Rank D 16 171
Haslemetric 31 274

Lineups

TEXAS TECH
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Kevin McCullar (6-6/210) 13.2 / 3.0*
SHOOTING GUARD Terrence Shannon, Jr. (6-6/215) 16.8 / 3.6
SMALL FORWARD Davion Warren (6-6/215) 11.9 / 2.9
POWER FORWARD Kevin Obanor (6-8/235) 10.5 / 4.8
CENTER Bryson Williams (6-8/240) 12.3 / 5.3
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Mylik Wilson (6-3/175) 4.1 / 3.3*
SEVENTH MAN Marcus Santos-Silva (6-7/250) 5.9 / 4.6
EIGHTH MAN Adonis Arms (6-5/200) 6.1 / 3.5
NINTH MAN Clarence Nadolny (6-3/200) 2.0 / 0.4
TENTH MAN Daniel Batcho (6-11/235) 3.0 / 5.0
ELEVENTH MAN Chibuzo Agbo (6-7/220) 3.4 / 1.8
TWELFTH MAN KJ Allen (6-6/255) 3.0 / 2.0
THIRTEENTH MAN Sardaar Calhoun (6-6/210) 3.3 / 0.3
FOURTEENTH MAN Austin Timperman (6-9/190) – / –
ARKANSAS STATE
THE STARTERS Pts / Reb
POINT GUARD Caleb Fields (6-0/192) 9.6 / 4.8*
SHOOTING GUARD Desi Sills (6-2/195) 16.0 / 2.9
SMALL FORWARD Marquis Eaton (6-2/202) 11.9 / 3.6*
POWER FORWARD Markise Davis (6-8/195) 4.7 / 2.9
CENTER Norchad Omier (6-7/232) 13.3 / 10.1
THE BENCH Pts / Reb
SIXTH MAN Keyon Wesley (6-9/176) 5.1 / 5.0
SEVENTH MAN Christian Willis (6-2/195) 2.9 / 1.4
EIGHTH MAN Lazar Grbovic (6-8/230) 4.4 / 1.8
NINTH MAN Malcolm Farrington (6-3/203) 3.3 / 0.8
TENTH MAN Avery Felts (6-8/201) 1.8 / 1.0

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. The Red Wolves are decent offensively, they are a fantastic offensive rebounding team, 58th in the nation, and also are the 4th best team in the nation in getting to the free throw line. That’s a problem for Texas Tech I think. they are also a good three-point shooting team, 13th in the nation, and they also shoot free throws really well, 40th in the nation in made free throws. Defensively ASU struggles a bit, they allow teams to also get to the offensive glass, 335th in the nation, which is nearly as bad as you can get. They are great at defending the three-point line, but basically allow teams to score at will inside the arc, 281st overall. They will also put teams on the line, 200th in the nation.

2. Scouting. Was somewhat surprised that Arkansas State had 7 wins. The 2 losses are against Illinois by nearly 40 and Morehead State by 20+. The wins were against much lesser schools like Central Baptist, Harding, UMKC, Central Arkansas, etc. Omier is their best player and the only negative with him is his turnover percentage. He’s got a high usage rage, rebounds the ball well on both ends of the court, and makes 62% of his shots including 11 dunks. Sills is a very good shooter inside the arc, 59% from the field. Eaton is the volume three-point shooter on the team, making 37% and has a high assist rate.

3. How They Match Up. Texas Tech made a pretty significant improvement on a lot of the advanced metrics by beating Tennessee. That was a .6 win above replacement, which is really good for tournament purposes. For reference purposes, a Gonzaga win would be .85. Texas Tech’s Achille’s heel is free throw rate on defense, which is 290th in the nation and on offense, the team is 188th in turnover percentage. I think the Tennessee game got things out of wack on that end of things. Oh, and the team is 258th in the nation in free throws made, 67%. As the rotation has tightened up, you really see how Shannon, Williams, McCullar, Warren and to a lesser extent Obanor, influence the team. I’d also add htat the other player that’s really influencing the team is Batcho, doesn’t have the ball nearly at all, but he’s all over the place.

4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.

Coach Adams press conference.

Let’s go.


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

Back at home after splitting a pair of games on the road, Texas Tech is set to host Arkansas State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in a non-conference game at the United Supermarkets Arena before taking on No. 5 Gonzaga on Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Red Raiders (7-1) are 5-0 on their home court this season and are coming off a 57-52 overtime win over No. 13 Tennessee last Wednesday in New York, while the Red Wolves (7-2) come to Lubbock on a four-game winning streak after an 82-77 win at Mississippi Valley State on Saturday. Tech has won 11 straight non-conference home games coming into the matchup against ASU which owns a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series over the Red Raiders. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

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