Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (15-4, 5-1)
Bad Guys: Houston Cougars (17-1, 5-0)
When to Watch: Saturday, January 24th @ 1:00 pm
Where to Watch: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, Texas
How to Watch: ESPN
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | Varsity Network
The Line: Houston -1.5
Advanced Stats
| TEXAS TECH | STAT | HOUSTON |
|---|---|---|
Lineups
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Christian Anderson (6-3/178) | 20.2 / 7.4* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Jaylen Petty (6-1/168) | 8.9 / 3.8 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Donovan Atwell (6-5/200) | 11.9 / 3.1 |
| POWER FORWARD | LeJuan Watts (6-6/225) | 13.4 / 6.5 |
| CENTER | JT Toppin (6-9/230) | 21.6 / 10.8 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Tyeree Bryan (6-5/215) | 4.7 / 3.1 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Leon Horner (6-4/215) | 2.7 / 2.3 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Nolan Groves (6-5/205) | 1.1 / 1.4 |
| NINTH MAN | Marial Akuentok (6-11/240) | 1.4 / 2.0 |
| TENTH MAN | Luke Bamgboye (6-11/220) | 5.6 / 3.4 |
| ELEVENTH MAN | Josiah Moseley (6-8/225) | – / – |
| TWELFTH MAN | Jazz Henderson (5-11/180) | 0.4 / 0.6 |
| THIRTEENTH MAN | LaTrell Hoover (7-0/230) | – / – |
| FOURTEENTH MAN | Jack Francis (6-3/180) | 0.0 / 1.0 |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Kingston Flemmings (6-4/190) | 15.6 / 5.4* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Emanuel Sharp (6-3/205) | 15.9 / 3.2 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Milos Uzan (6-4/195) | 11.6 / 4.1* |
| POWER FORWARD | Joseph Tugler (6-8/230) | 8.6 / 5.9 |
| CENTER | Chris Cenac Jr. (6-11/240) | 9.6 / 7.6 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Isiah Harwell (6-6/220) | 5.3 / 2.4 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Kalifa Sakho (6-11/230) | 1.9 / 2.7 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Chase McCarty (6-5/215) | 3.2 / 2.4 |
| NINTH MAN | Mercy Miller (6-4/200) | 4.4 / 1.2 |
| TENTH MAN | Ramon Walker Jr. (6-5/215) | 3.3 / 2.4 |
* Assists.
Starting 5
1. Stats. What’s fueling Houston is that they are just a terror on defense and getting better on offense. The only thing holding them back from having a great offense, like top 5, is that they simply do not get to the line, 359th in the nation, so they sort of check every other offensive box, 8th in turnover percentage, 12th in offensive rebounding, 50th in free throw percentage, and 16th in not having a shot blocked. They are still not a great shooting team, 162nd in 3-point shooting and 142nd in 2-point shooting. Defensively, they just do so many things well, 49th in opponent 3-point shooting, 19th in opponent 2-point shooting, and 4th in forcing turnovers. The Cougars will allow teams to rebound on the offensive end, 176th and will put teams on the line, 250th. I’m sure you are shocked to learn that Houston will foul some folks.
2. Scouting. We’ve talked the last time about how good Kingston Flemings is and after having seen him, you get that he’s just such a strong player, high assist rate, high steal rate, a good shooter inside the arc, 57%, and a bit meh from deep, 38%, but that’s still fine. Sharp and Uzan are his backcourt mates and Sharp isn’t shooting as well, but he’s exactly the kind of guy that Kelvin Sampson loves and fits them, while Uzan is sort of a secondary point guard. If you were going to let one guy shoot too much, go with Uzan who is only making 31% of his 3-point shots. Cenac and Tugler are your big inside presence and Sakho fills in nicely. Cenac is just a freshman and he’s got so much potential.
3. How They Match Up. Both teams don’t get to the line at all, although Texas Tech is slightly better, 327th overall. Teams shoot a ton of 3’s against Houston, that’s probably by design and that fits Texas Tech’s game plan just fine. The biggest news of the day is that there is actually some movement for Texas Tech on the availability report. Josiah Moseley is listed as probable and Luke Bamgboye is listed as questionable. I don’t even know what to think about potential additional depth. This will be a huge game and one where I’m expecting it to be a 12-round battle. I also think that Anderson will have a better game than he did when Texas Tech was in Houston and the offense was one where I think they have figured out the pieces about where players need to be and how to get Anderson on a match-up that’s more beneficial.
4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.
In Lubbock, we welcome the fight. We feed off it.
See y’all tomorrow. Wear Black.#TTW | 🗣️: @ChanceMcMillian pic.twitter.com/fDm8vSm7ST
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) January 24, 2026
5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:
No. 12 Texas Tech is 10-0 at home and on a four-game winning streak. No. 6 Houston has won 16 straight road games and is currently on an 11-game winning streak. The surging teams, who have both been ranked in seven straight meetings between them, put each of their streaks on the line when they square off in a heavyweight fight for the second time this month at 1 p.m. on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena following the Cougars taking a 69-65 win in Houston back on January 6. The matchup will be featured on ESPN and follows ESPN College GameDay taking place live from 9-10 a.m. in Lubbock with arena doors opening at 8 a.m. for fans.
The Red Raiders (15-4, 5-1 Big 12) are coming off a game against Baylor where they matched a program record by making 17 3-pointers in a 92-73 win on Tuesday night while the Cougars (17-1, 5-0 Big 12) have not played since a 103-73 win over Arizona State on Sunday in Houston. Tech, which matched its program record with 17 3-pointers for the third time this season, was 17-for-27 (63.0%) from beyond the arc in the win over Baylor and set a new Big 12 record by making 14 of those 17 3-pointers in the first half. The Red Raiders went into halftime shooting 14-for-19 (73.7%) on 3-pointers to jump out to a 55-36 lead. With a 10-0 home record this season, Grant McCasland enters the game with a 40-5 home record and is 66-24 through 90 games as the Red Raider head coach. He is 277-113 as a NCAA head coach.