PREVIEW: vs. Texas Longhorns - Texas Tech Red Raiders
No. 18 Texas Tech will host No. 14 Texas at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 18 Texas Tech will host No. 14 Texas at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (14-8, 6-7 Big 12) are looking to snap a three-game losing streak following a 74-69 overtime loss at Oklahoma State on Monday, while the Longhorns (14-6, 8-5 Big 12) are coming off a 75-72 overtime win over Kansas in Austin on Tuesday. Tech earned a 79-77 win over Texas on Jan. 13 in the first matchup with Mac McClung going off for 22 points, including hitting the game-winning jump shot with three seconds remaining and Kevin McCullar scoring a career-high 16 to go along with eight rebounds.
The Red Raiders are currently 8-4 overall and 2-4 in Big 12 play in home games, while Texas is 3-1 in road games. Under head coach Chris Beard, Tech is 71-13 in home games including going 3-1 on its home court against the Longhorns.
Marcus Santos-Silva is a grad transfer from VCU who is averaging 8.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game for the Red Raiders in his first season with the program. He is coming off a game at OSU where he had nine rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots.
McClung leads the Red Raiders with 16.9 points per game for the season and is second in the Big 12 with 18.6 ppg. in conference play after going for 17 points in the overtime loss at OSU. Terrence Shannon, Jr. was named one of five finalist for the Julius Erving Award on Wednesday and comes into the matchup against Texas averaging 12.9 ppg. and 4.7 rpg. after leading Tech with 18 points at OSU. McCullar is at 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and leads the team with 1.6 steals per game after matching a career-high with four steals at OSU. McCullar scored 12 points at Kansas and Oklahoma State in the past two games, while Kyler Edwards had three steals in a 10-steal game for Tech against OSU. Edwards is averaging 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and leads Tech with 2.6 assists per game (58 total) after having three on Monday night.
Texas is coming off its 75-72 overtime win over Kansas with Courtney Ramey leading the team with 15 points (8-for-8 free throws) and Greg Brown and Andrew Jones scoring 13 points each. Down 43-32 at halftime, the Longhorns limited KU to only 29.6 percent shooting in the second half. Jones, who recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds to go along with his 13 points, leads UT with 15.4 points per game this season. Brown tops the team with 7.4 rebounds per game and has 21 blocked shots coming into his first trip to Lubbock. The Longhorns lead the Big 12 with 40.0 rebounds per game after owning a 50-38 advantage on the boards over KU.
Tech comes into the second matchup against the Longhorns fifth in the nation with a 5.4 turnover margin advantage and are second in the Big 12 by forcing 16.4 turnovers per game and committing only 11.0. The Red Raiders rank 24th in both of those categories. Despite only getting the free-throw line 12 times on Monday night at Oklahoma State, Texas Tech ranks 13th nationally in free throws attempted and has made the eighth most free throws in the nation. The Red Raiders come into Saturday's game shooting 367 of 510 from the line this season after going 8-for-12 against OSU which was 22-for-32 on its free throws. Defensively, Tech is second in the Big 12 and 31st nationally by liming opponents to 63.4 points per game.
MEDIA: The game will be featured on CBS with Carter Blackburn and Pete Gillen on the call, while Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will broadcast locally on Double T 97.3 and the Texas Tech Sports Network.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech has won six of the last seven games in the series, including a 79-77 win in the first matchup this season with McClung hitting the game-winner in the final seconds. Chris Beard is 7-4 as Tech's head coach against his alma mater. The Longhorns lead the all-time series with an 87-62 advantage, while TTU leads 34-29 in games played in Lubbock. Tech has won five in a row in Lubbock over the Longhorns.
UP NEXT: The Big 12 announced this week the addition of three games next week that were postponed earlier in the season. The Red Raiders will now host TCU at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2 and Iowa State at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 4 before traveling to play at No. 2 Baylor at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 7 in Waco. The three games to complete the regular season will be followed by the Big 12 Championship which is slated for March 10-13 in Kansas City.
