Game Info

Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (13-4, 3-1)
Bad Guys: BYU Cougars (16-1, 4-0)
When to Watch: Saturday, January 17th @ 7:00 pm
Where to Watch: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas
How to Watch: ESPN
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -2.5

Advanced Stats

Lineups

* Assists.

Starting 5

1. Stats. BYU is very good! Offensively, they do so many things so well, the only thing (to get it out of the way) that they don’t do great is get to the line, which is 144th in the nation, but that’s also a thing for Texas Tech, so this doesn’t make it a bad offense. They are 66th in turnover percentage, 42nd in offensive rebounding, 29th in 2-point shooting and 81st in 3-point shooting. Defensively, they play solid, but not spectacular defense. They don’t turn teams over, 118th, and they do allow a decent amount of offensive boards, 106th overall. What they are good at is defending teams shooting the ball, 35th in opponent 3-point shooting, 47th in opponent 2-point shooting, and are 36th in blocked shots. They also defend without putting teams on the line, 15th in the nation.

2. Scouting. Dybantsa is everything that I think BYU hoped he would be. He’s ahigh usage player that’s a very good rebounder and passer while getting to the line a good amount. He’s grat inside the arc, 74% for close 2’s and 52% for far-away 2’s. The only deficiency is his 3-point shooting, 32%, but his shot is so good, that’s going to happen with time. Saunders is a terrific player as well, he’s more catch-and-shoot, but he’s making 63% of his 2-point shots and 40% of his 3-point shots. Wright is going to be a handful, high assist rate despite not having a particularly high usage rate, also a tremendous shooter, 48% from the field and 46% from deep. Keita is the enforcer inside and Boskovic to an extent.

3. How They Match Up. These are incredibly well-matched teams. BYU is an offensive machine and so is Texas Tech. Thinking about who guards Dybantsa is an interesting concept and it’s one where you think is it Atwell and Bryan who get the call? I don’t think Horner can keep up with him, so I think it will be between those two. Toppin will be a match-up problem because he always is and I’d love to see him draw some fouls, but BYU appears to have decent size so they have guys to throw at him. Anderson and Wright should be a terrific match-up as well, but I’d think that Petty will take Wright. There’s not a ton of places where Texas Tech can really take advantage of BYU. Continuing to shoot the ball well and not turn the ball over should help, but Texas Tech is even worse at turning teams over, 257th overall and BYU isn’t a high turnover team. Texas Tech has played much better defense, the problem recently has been the fouls and sometimes that’s a direct correlation of playing tougher defense.

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

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese: Texas Tech basketball facing another top freshman in BYU’s AJ Dybantsa

“He’s a great player,” Texas Tech’s Donovan Atwell said of Dybantsa. “He can kind of do it all. I think just being solid, making sure that, can’t give him anything in rhythm, because once he gets a rhythm, that’s when it makes it hard to guard him.”

Lady Raider Basketball: K-State up next for the No. 17 Lady Raiders

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

A nationally-ranked matchup and the first of two games this season between No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 11 BYU is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena with the second contest being the regular-season finale. The Red Raiders (13-4, 3-1 Big 12) improved to 9-0 at home with an 88-74 win over Utah on Wednesday while the Cougars (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) extended their 13-game winning streak later that evening with a 76-70 victory over TCU at home. Billed as the top game in the nation this week by Andy Katz, the game has been announced as a sellout and will be broadcast on ESPN.

JT Toppin and Christian Anderson continued showing why they’re the top duo in the nation with both Red Raiders recording double-doubles in the win over the Utes. Toppin is on a career-best streak with six straight double-doubles following a performance against Utah where he had 31 points and 13 rebounds along with establishing new career highs with seven assists and making three 3-pointers. He also had five blocked shots for the third time this season and recorded the seventh double-double of his career when scoring over 30 points and the 42nd overall of his career. Toppin leads the Big 12 and is fifth nationally with 11.1 rebounds per game and is fourth in the conference with 21.3 points per game (16th nationally). He leads the nation with 149 made field goals this season and is the conference leader and second nationally with 4.7 offensive rebounds per game. Anderson secured his fifth double-double of the season and matched a career-high with six made 3-pointers against Utah, finishing with 26 points and 12 assists. He leads the Big 12 with 7.5 assists per game, ranking fourth in the nation, and now has six games of 10 or more assists this season including a career-high 13 in the conference opener against Oklahoma State. His 19.7 points per game is currently the sixth best throughout the conference.