Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-15, 5-13)
Bad Guys: West Virginia Mountaineers (18-13, 7-11)
When to Watch: Wednesday, March 8th @ 6:00 pm
Where to Watch: T-Mobile Center | Kansas City, MO
How to Watch: ESPNU | WatchESPN
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: West Virginia -4.5
Advanced Stats
| TEXAS TECH | STAT | WEST VIRGINIA |
|---|---|---|
Lineups
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | De’Vion Harmon (6-2/205) | 13.6 / 3.6* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Richard Isaacs (6-2/170) | 11.3 / 2.6* |
| SMALL FORWARD | Jaylon Tyson (6-6/210) | 10.9 / 6.1 |
| POWER FORWARD | Kevin Obanor (6-8/235) | 14.4 / 6.4 |
| CENTER | Fardaws Aimaq (6-11/245) | 11.8 / 8.3 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Lamar Washington (6-4/205) | 3.4 / 1.8* |
| SEVENTH MAN | Daniel Batcho (6-11/235) | 8.0 / 5.9 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Elijah Fisher (6-6/190) | 3.4 / 2.0 |
| NINTH MAN | D’Maurian Williams (6-3/200) | 3.1 / 1.2 |
| TENTH MAN | Robert Jennings (6-7/225) | 2.7 / 2.0 |
| ELEVENTH MAN | KJ Allen (6-6/255) | 2.4 / 2.0 |
| TWELFTH MAN | Kerwin Walton (6-5/200) | 3.6 / 0.9 |
| THIRTEENTH MAN | CJ Williams (6-1/155) | 1.2 / 0.5 |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Kedrian Johnson (6-3/185) | 11.0 / 3.3* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Erik Stevenson (6-4/205) | 15.5 / 3.5 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Emmitt Matthews, Jr. (6-7/210) | 10.3 / 4.0 |
| POWER FORWARD | Tre Mitchell (6-9/225) | 11.5 / 5.3 |
| CENTER | Jimmy Bell, Jr. (6-10/285) | 5.1 / 5.3 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Patrick Suemnick (6-8/230) | 1.4 / 1.2 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Joe Toussaint (6-0/190) | 9.5 / 2.9 |
| EIGHTH MAN | James Okonkwo (6-8/240) | 2.5 / 3.0 |
| NINTH MAN | Kobe Johnson (6-3/210) | 2.2 / 1.1 |
| TENTH MAN | Seth Wilson (6-1/215) | 4.4 / 0.9 |
* Assists.
Starting 5
1. Stats. There’s part of my brain that says that these two teams are evenly matched, but then I look at the advanced stats and quickly realize that they are not. WVU is a elite or nearly elite (maybe you have to be top 10 to be elite) offense, 14th in AdjO, largely because they are dogged offensive rebounders, 29th in the nation, and get to the line a ton, 15th in the nation. They also do not get shots blocked, 15th in the nation in that metric. They are a decent shooting team, 125th in 2-point shooting and 113th in 3-point shooting. That’s acceptable. Defensively, having a top 50 team is also very good, the one downside is that they foul a lot, 330th in the nation as far as putting opponents on the line. Other than that, they are quite good at forcing opposing teams to turn the ball over, 48th in the nation, and are in the top 200 at opponent shooting percentage, so not great.
2. Scouting. I felt like the last time these two teams played that Stevenson would absolutely will his team to a win, he at least tried to shoot them to a win, maybe too much so, but he certainly has confidence. He’s making 49% of his 2-point shots and 39% of his 3’s, which is terrific. He also has a high assist rate and is one of two players with the ball in his hands. The other being Toussaint, who also has a high assist rate, but is a terrible shooter. Matthews is also an effective shooter from deep, 33% and Wilson is very good, 41%, but other than that, and maybe Mitchell, that’s your shooters. Bell, Okonkwo, and Suemnick are your rebounders, and much like last time, they are all huge and very good at what they do.
3. How They Match Up. T-Rank has Texas Tech as a 4-point underdog and we get Corey Williams as the head coach for the time-being. It will be interesting as heck to see if things are any different. Fingers crossed. We’re this far into the season that we know what the issues are for Texas Tech. Slow the turnovers and in this particular game, be wary of getting shots blocked (something that happens to Texas Tech on offense and something that WVU is good at doing, i.e. blocking shots), don’t turn the ball over, and get to the line. Defensively, mark Stevenson on defense and don’t let him get hot. Also note, the Family picture does not have Mark Adams or Luke Adams in the photo.
4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.
Family ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZPV1SYIGjR
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 7, 2023
Let’s do this. Ŧogether. pic.twitter.com/pKXiTrxHjp
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 7, 2023
5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:
Texas Tech is set to take on West Virginia at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in a Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship first-round matchup at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The Red Raiders will play in the conference tournament with Corey Williams as the interim head coach.
Tech (16-15, 5-13 Big 12) is making its 26th appearance in the Big 12 Championship following finishing as the runner-up in last year’s tournament. The Mountaineers (18-13, 7-11 Big 12) enter the postseason on a two-game winning streak with wins over Iowa State and Kansas State to finish the regular season. Tech was on a four-game winning streak before losing its final three games, including dropping a 71-68 regular-season finale to Oklahoma State last Saturday in Lubbock. TTU and WVU split their regular-season matchups with the road teams winning. Tech earned a 78-72 win on February 18 in Morgantown after the Mountaineers had won 76-61 on January 25 in Lubbock.