Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (18-6, 8-3)
Bad Guys: Arizona Wildcats (23-1, 10-1)
When to Watch: Saturday, February 14th @ 5:30 pm
Where to Watch: McKale Memorial Center | Tucson, Arizona
How to Watch: ESPN
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | Varsity Network
The Line: Arizona -9.5
Advanced Stats
| TEXAS TECH | STAT | ARIZONA |
|---|---|---|
Lineups
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Christian Anderson (6-3/178) | 19.1 / 7.5* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Jaylen Petty (6-1/168) | 9.4 / 3.8 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Donovan Atwell (6-5/200) | 12.6 / 3.2 |
| POWER FORWARD | LeJuan Watts (6-6/225) | 12.3 / 6.3 |
| CENTER | JT Toppin (6-9/230) | 21.5 / 10.9 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Tyeree Bryan (6-5/215) | 4.3 / 2.9 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Luke Bamgboye (6-11/220) | 4.5 / 2.9 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Josiah Moseley (6-8/225) | 3.0 / 3.3 |
| NINTH MAN | Leon Horner (6-4/215) | 2.6 / 2.3 |
| TENTH MAN | Marial Akuentok (6-11/240) | 1.4 / 2.0 |
| ELEVENTH MAN | Nolan Groves (6-5/205) | 0.9 / 1.3 |
| TWELFTH MAN | Jazz Henderson (5-11/180) | 0.7 / 0.4 |
| THIRTEENTH MAN | LaTrell Hoover (7-0/230) | – / – |
| FOURTEENTH MAN | Jack Francis (6-3/180) | 0.0 / 0.4 |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Jaden Bradley (6-3/200) | 13.5 / 4.5* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Brayden Burries (6-4/205) | 15.7 / 4.7 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7/220) | 9.5 / 3.6 |
| POWER FORWARD | Koa Peat (6-8/235) | 14.3 / 5.6 |
| CENTER | Motiejus Krivas (7-2/260) | 11.1 / 8.6 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Tobe Awaka (6-8/255) | 9.7 / 9.6 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6/205) | 8.1 / 2.5* |
| EIGHTH MAN | Dwayne Aristode (6-8/220) | 4.7 / 2.0 |
| NINTH MAN | – (-/-) | 1.7 / 1.7 |
| TENTH MAN | – (-/-) | – / – |
* Assists.
Starting 5
1. Stats. Arizona is fantastic on offense. They are 4th in offensive rebounding, 41st in free throw rate, 76th in 3-point shooting, and 44th in 2-point shooting. The downsides are 92nd in turnover rate, 161st in free throw percentage, and I cannot figure out why they are 112th in block percentage, especially with such a big team. Defensively, the Wildcats are elite, 14th in opponent offensive rebounding, 36th in opponent free throw rate, 3rd in opponent 2-point field goal percentage, and 53rd in opponent 3-point field goal percentage. The only thing they don’t do well is 116th in opponent turnover percentage.
2. Scouting. Burries may be the best player (he’s a freshman), low turnover and high steals along with a eFG% of 58%, which is really good, factoring into that is his 2-point makes at 59% and 3-point makes at 38%. Bradley is the lone high-assist guy an as a senior, he’s the kind of point guard every team wishes that they have and he makes 42% of his 3-point shots. Krivas sort of does it all in terms of defense and rebounding, he’s so good at that, as is Awaka. I should mention that Krivas and Awaka are terrific shooters inside the arc. Peat is the other freshman that NBA scouts are drooling over, the the only player with a decent usage rate and does everything okay, but maybe not do anything as good as other players. This is a really deep team, maybe the deepest team other than Michigan.
3. How They Match Up. This is a difficult game for Texas Tech, especially with Arizona coming off of a loss to Kansas on the road. They are so darned good at everything, and this is a team that’s going to pound the rock, they are 362nd in 3-point rate, meaning that they are a team that makes a ton of 2-point shots. Texas Tech will need to be wary about fouls, the Wildcats love to get to the line. I don’t know what defense will throw out there, but I can’t imagine that Arizona won’t get the ball out of Anderson’s hands as quickly as possible, so Texas Tech will need to be ready to make rotations and have those 3-point shooters close.
4. lagniappe | something given as a bonus or extra gift.
Lady Raider Basketball: No. 16 Tech heads to Oklahoma State
Texas Tech Softball: No. 1 Tech run rules No. 23 FAU
Texas Tech Baseball: Late surge pushes OU past Tech
Texas Tech Football: Smith joins Texas Tech staff as outside linebackers coach & Texas Tech tabs Albury as defensive line coach
5. Official Site. The official site has their preview right here:
With a 2-2 record against Top 10 opponents this season, No. 16 Texas Tech travels to play No. 1 Arizona at 5:30 p.m. (CST) on Saturday at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona. The Red Raiders (18-6, 8-3 Big 12) are coming off a 78-44 win over Colorado on Wednesday at home while the top-ranked Wildcats (23-1, 10-1 Big 12) took their only loss of the season with an 82-78 defeat at No. 9 Kansas on Monday night in Lawrence.
“Arizona is one of the most physical teams on both sides of the ball,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “Maybe the most physical team. First and foremost, you have to match their fight at the rim. They run in transition so you have to get back and try to make it as difficult as possible. You need to get them in a half-court game where you can play possession basketball and find a way to win those possessions. Offensive and defensive rebounding and limiting them to one shot is going to be huge.”