Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-0, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Illinois Fighting Illini (2-0, 0-0)
When to Watch: Tuesday, November 11th @ 7:30 pm
Where to Watch: State Farm Center | Champaign, IL
How to Watch: FS1
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | Varsity Network
The Line: Illinois -3.5
Advanced Stats
| TEXAS TECH | STAT | ILLINOIS |
|---|---|---|
Lineups
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Christian Anderson (6-3/178) | 26.0 / 9.0* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Donovan Atwell (6-5/200) | 20.5 / 3.5 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Tyree Bryan (6-5/215) | 9.5 / 7.5 |
| POWER FORWARD | LeJuan Watts (6-6/225) | 11.0 / 6.0 |
| CENTER | JT Toppin (6-9/230) | 31.0 / 14.0 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Luke Bamgboye (6-11/220) | – / – |
| SEVENTH MAN | Josiah Moseley (6-8/225) | – / – |
| EIGHTH MAN | Jaylen Petty (6-1/168) | 4.5 / 4.5 |
| NINTH MAN | Leon Horner (6-4/215) | 10.0 / 3.0 |
| TENTH MAN | Nolan Groves (6-5/205) | 7.0 / 8.0 |
| ELEVENTH MAN | Marial Akuentok (6-11/240) | 3.5 / 5.0 |
| TWELFTH MAN | Jazz Henderson (5-11/180) | 1.0 / 1.5 |
| THIRTEENTH MAN | LaTrell Hoover (7-0/230) | – / – |
| FOURTEENTH MAN | Jack Francis (6-3/180) | 0.0 / 1.0 |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Kylan Boswell (6-2/205) | 20.5 / 4.0* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Keaton Wagler (6-6/180) | 20.0 / 6.5 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Jake Davis (6-6/205) | 8.0 / 3.0 |
| POWER FORWARD | David Mirkovic (6-9/255) | 18.0 / 12.5 |
| CENTER | Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2/245) | 10.0 / 9.0 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Ben Humrichous (6-9/225) | 15.0 / 5.0 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Adrej Stojakovic (6-7/205) | 9.0 / 5.0 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Jason Jakstys (6-10/210) | 3.0 / 5.0 |
| NINTH MAN | Blake Fagbemi (6-0/160) | 1.0 / 2.0 |
| TENTH MAN | AJ Redd (6-3/170) | 2.5 / 0.5 |
* Assists.
Starting 5
1. Stats. Alright, we’ve got some real stats, although I still don’t know that we know what each team actually is. Illinois is statistically a top 5 team! They are a high-end offense, 13th in the nation in 2-point percentage and 4th in offensive rebounding percent. Defensively, they are incredibly good on that end of things, 18th in opponent eFG%, specifically they are limiting opponents to 16th in the nation in 2-point buckets.
2. Scouting. I want to note that they have the Ivisic Brothers, Tomislav didn’t play in the 2nd game and he was the leading scorer in the 1st game and is a 7-footer. Zvonimir is the other Ivisic brother and also a 7-footer. Sure would be nice to have a shot-blocking center available for Texas Tech. Back to Illinois, they played two cupcakes and scored 113 points each game, which is part of the reason why the offense looks so outstanding. Wagler, Boswell, and Humrichous are all shooting lights out this early in the season. Mirkovic, Zvonimir and Jakstys are all gobbling up rebounds. This entire team does not turn the ball over and they basically look like the Harlem Globetrotter offense with two bad opponents thus far.
3. How They Match Up. Texas Tech is not at full strength and as mentioned above, there is some legitimate size for Illinois and you can probably expect Akuentok and sure would be nice to have Bamgboye be healthy and ready to play. Texas Tech needs to probably crank up the defense, but I don’t know if that happens right now without Bamgboye and Akuentok probably isn’t quite ready just yet. I thought that Texas Tech had issues getting Anderson good looks, especially in the 2nd half against Sam Houston. I think that a second ball-handler or someone who can initiate the offense is going to need to emerge. I don’t think that’s going to be Petty based on early returns, but I should stress it is early.
4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.
ESPN: AP men’s college basketball Top 25 poll breakdown
Texas Tech: Stat to know: JT Toppin is a double-double machine. He has four career 30-point double-doubles — all other Texas Tech players have combined for three such double-doubles in the past 20 seasons. He’s also tied with Hunter Dickinson and Trae Young for fourth-most 30-point double-doubles by a Big 12 player in past 20 seasons, after Michael Beasley (13), Kevin Durant (7) and Blake Griffin (6).
Illinois: Stat to know: Illinois beat Florida Gulf Coast 113-70, and Jackson State 113-55. The Fighting Illini have scored 110-plus points in consecutive games for the second time in the AP poll era; they last did it Nov. 23 and Nov. 26, 2019, against Hampton and Lindenwood, respectively.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo: 2026 NBA draft big board rankings: Top 100 prospects
35. JT Toppin, PF/C, Texas Tech | Age: 20.4
36. Tomislav Ivisic, C, Illinois | Age: 22.2
66. Christian Anderson, PG, Texas Tech | Age: 19.6
68. Andrej Stojakovic, SG/SF, Illinois | Age: 21.2
75. Kylan Boswell, PG/SG, Illinois | Age: 20.6
90. Zvonimir Ivisic, C, Illinois | Age: 22.2
5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:
A nationally-ranked road game begins the second week of the college basketball season for No. 10 Texas Tech with a matchup against No. 17 Illinois set for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. The Red Raiders (2-0) and Fighting Illini (2-0) have both started their seasons with a pair of dominant wins and will be meeting for the first time ever. A return game is set for next season in Lubbock on a date to be determined.
Tech, which went 8-2 on the road last season, is coming off a 98-77 win over Sam Houston in a game where JT Toppin recorded his 32nd career double-double with 31 points and 14 rebounds while Christian Anderson had 18 points and seven assists. Anderson was named the Big 12 Player of the Week and to the Big 12 Starting Five on Monday. Donovan Atwell went 6-for-11 on 3-pointers, finishing with 19 points in the game, and is now 12-for-24 from beyond the arc in the first two games of the season and head coach Grant McCasland improved to 53-20 leading the program. Toppin, a returning Consensus All-America and Big 12 Player of the Year, made his season debut and continued his dominance by shooting 10-for-19 from the field, making 11 free throws, grabbing eight offensive rebounds and also contributing four assists and three steals. In the season opener, the Red Raiders established a new program record with 17 made 3-pointers in the win over Lindenwood – breaking the record of 16 that had been set six times, including three times last season. The Red Raiders, who shot 45 3s in the game for the second most in program history, saw seven players make at least one 3-pointer, led by Atwell who made six and Anderson knocking down three. Nolan Groves led Tech with 16 rebounds, setting a program record for a freshman in a game where the team owned a 59-43 rebounding advantage. Anderson travels to Illinois averaging 26.0 points and 9.0 assists through two games played this season.