Interesting game coming up tonight at the United Supermarkets Arena with Northwestern State rolling into town. The week of Texas Tech athletics madness is reaching its peak and it is another opportunity for the Red Raiders to build some continuity with this group. Let’s dive into what I am expecting to see from the Demons.
NWSU is led by second-year head coach Rick Cabrera, who is coming off a 9-23 debut season after elevating from the JUCO ranks. Before coaching the Demons, Cabrera was the head coach at Tallahassee Community College where he amassed a record of 52-16 and led the program to the NJCAA Final Four in the 2023 season. Cabrera has bounced around as a JUCO head coach and some time as an assistant at Chattanooga and Austin Peay.
There were eight newcomers and four returners who got minutes in the team’s season opener against Dallas Christian College Monday night. The Demons came out victorious in that game 96-55, though this could be skewed since DCC was without their star point guard Blake Walker in that game.
There are really two big names to keep an eye on for Northwestern State tonight, a pair of transfers that will likely be two players they rely on most of the season.
First is Jon Sanders II, a native of Detroit who joined the Southland Conference squad after a season at Coastal Carolina. Before that, Sanders played two seasons at East Los Angeles College, which might ring a bell because that is where former Red Raider KJ Allen played before coming to Lubbock. Sanders and Allen never played together, but just something interesting to point out.
Sanders scored 16 points against DCC the other night, shooting 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from three, which led the team.
Sanders played 30 games at Coastal last season and started in 16, averaging 7.2 points per game and 2.6 assists. Sanders is the team’s leading ball handler. He plays with a loose handle and likes to get downhill. He is a willing shooter, as evidenced by his volume from against DCC, but based off his Coastal tape he is much more proficient at getting to the basket. Sanders is 6-foot-2 but understands leverage and angles really well.
He uses his body to his advantage and gets defenders to play behind him. I think he lacks real explosiveness with the ball in his hands, but he makes up for it with that aforementioned leverage.
Addison Patterson is the other name to pay attention to, particularly because he’s the only player on the roster who has high-major experience. Patterson spent time at Oregon and Nevada, and he actually played alongside Warren Washington and Desmond Cambridge (Devan’s brother) in his time with the Wolf Pack. Patterson then played for Cabrera at Tallahassee and has now found himself again in the Division-I ranks. He plays down low pretty often, but is a bit undersized for that role at 6-foot-7. His athleticism helps him be active in transition and he will bang down low against defenders.
Love Bettis is a guard off the bench who may end up having a role in this game, he played 20 minutes the other night, second-most on the team in the blowout win. Bettis comes over from the SWAC, transferring from Florida A&M after one season there. He only played in six games at FAMU and was a JUCO national champ at Coffeyville Community College. At CCC, he averaged 18.1 points per game and was a near-40 percent three pointer shooter.
I would describe Bettis as a shakedown guard who has a variety of ways to get into shots he wants to take. He’s only 5-foot-11 but he is fearless at the point of attack and will shoot over anybody. Takes shots both off the bounce and in catch-and-shoot settings.
Micah Thomas (6-foot guard) JT Warren (6-foot-7 forward) and Jerald Colonel (6-foot-9 forward) make up the remaining starters for the squad. Landyn Jumawan is another off the bench to keep an eye on, he attempted six threes the other night and took a charge, too.
Their lineup isn’t massive by any means, but they have solid length. From what I gather, they are very overzealous on defense and got beat off the bounce rather easily against DCC. I’m interested to see how Tech handles the varying looks it will see defensively, NWSU used zone, full and half-court pressure.
Overall, another game that Tech should be able to take care of business in.
NWSU is led by second-year head coach Rick Cabrera, who is coming off a 9-23 debut season after elevating from the JUCO ranks. Before coaching the Demons, Cabrera was the head coach at Tallahassee Community College where he amassed a record of 52-16 and led the program to the NJCAA Final Four in the 2023 season. Cabrera has bounced around as a JUCO head coach and some time as an assistant at Chattanooga and Austin Peay.
There were eight newcomers and four returners who got minutes in the team’s season opener against Dallas Christian College Monday night. The Demons came out victorious in that game 96-55, though this could be skewed since DCC was without their star point guard Blake Walker in that game.
There are really two big names to keep an eye on for Northwestern State tonight, a pair of transfers that will likely be two players they rely on most of the season.
First is Jon Sanders II, a native of Detroit who joined the Southland Conference squad after a season at Coastal Carolina. Before that, Sanders played two seasons at East Los Angeles College, which might ring a bell because that is where former Red Raider KJ Allen played before coming to Lubbock. Sanders and Allen never played together, but just something interesting to point out.
Sanders scored 16 points against DCC the other night, shooting 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from three, which led the team.
Sanders played 30 games at Coastal last season and started in 16, averaging 7.2 points per game and 2.6 assists. Sanders is the team’s leading ball handler. He plays with a loose handle and likes to get downhill. He is a willing shooter, as evidenced by his volume from against DCC, but based off his Coastal tape he is much more proficient at getting to the basket. Sanders is 6-foot-2 but understands leverage and angles really well.
He uses his body to his advantage and gets defenders to play behind him. I think he lacks real explosiveness with the ball in his hands, but he makes up for it with that aforementioned leverage.
Addison Patterson is the other name to pay attention to, particularly because he’s the only player on the roster who has high-major experience. Patterson spent time at Oregon and Nevada, and he actually played alongside Warren Washington and Desmond Cambridge (Devan’s brother) in his time with the Wolf Pack. Patterson then played for Cabrera at Tallahassee and has now found himself again in the Division-I ranks. He plays down low pretty often, but is a bit undersized for that role at 6-foot-7. His athleticism helps him be active in transition and he will bang down low against defenders.
Love Bettis is a guard off the bench who may end up having a role in this game, he played 20 minutes the other night, second-most on the team in the blowout win. Bettis comes over from the SWAC, transferring from Florida A&M after one season there. He only played in six games at FAMU and was a JUCO national champ at Coffeyville Community College. At CCC, he averaged 18.1 points per game and was a near-40 percent three pointer shooter.
I would describe Bettis as a shakedown guard who has a variety of ways to get into shots he wants to take. He’s only 5-foot-11 but he is fearless at the point of attack and will shoot over anybody. Takes shots both off the bounce and in catch-and-shoot settings.
Micah Thomas (6-foot guard) JT Warren (6-foot-7 forward) and Jerald Colonel (6-foot-9 forward) make up the remaining starters for the squad. Landyn Jumawan is another off the bench to keep an eye on, he attempted six threes the other night and took a charge, too.
Their lineup isn’t massive by any means, but they have solid length. From what I gather, they are very overzealous on defense and got beat off the bounce rather easily against DCC. I’m interested to see how Tech handles the varying looks it will see defensively, NWSU used zone, full and half-court pressure.
Overall, another game that Tech should be able to take care of business in.
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