RED RAIDER PREVIEW: at Oklahoma State
The Red Raiders (14-7, 6-6 Big 12) are coming off a 67-61 loss at No. 23 Kansas on Saturday afternoon after being off for 10 days due to Covid protocols in the Baylor program and weather postponements against TCU, while the Cowboys (14-6, 7-6 Big 12) had the weekend off but are on a two-game winning streak following wins over Kansas State and Iowa State. OSU is currently 4-3 at home in conference play and the Red Raiders are 4-2 on the road.
Tech is currently ranked No. 15 in the AP Top 25, No. 11 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 14 in the NCAA NET Rankings. Statistically, the Red Raiders are fifth nationally with a 5.4 turnover margin advantage, 23rd with only 11.0 turnovers per game and seventh by making 359 free throws. The Tech defense is 22nd nationally and second in the Big 12 by limiting opponents to 62.9 points per game and are third in the conference with teams shooting 40.8 percent from the field. The team is forcing 16.3 turnovers per game from opponents which is second in the Big 12 and 26th in college basketball.
Updated national rankings will be posted on Monday. The Red Raiders have been ranked throughout the season, rising as high as No. 7 in the nation before falling back to No. 15 in the AP Top 25. Tech has been a ranked team in each of the last eight matchups against Oklahoma State in the series.
The Cowboys earned an 82-77 overtime win over Tech in the first meeting on Jan. 2 in Lubbock with Mac McClung leading the Red Raiders with 21 points and Kyler Edwards adding 18 points and seven rebounds. Terrence Shannon, Jr. also had seven rebounds and finished with 13 points. Avery Anderson and Isaac Likekele led OSU with 17 points each, while Cade Cunningham had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Kevin McCullar and Marcus Santos-Silva led Tech with 12 points each at Kansas and both approached their third double-doubles of the season with McCullar having nine rebounds and Santos-Silva grabbing eight. Santos-Silva surpassed the 1,000-point career milestone with his eighth double-digit scoring performance of the season while McCullar is now averaging 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in conference play. McClung added 11 points and four assists against the Jayhawks and Micah Peavy had a career-high seven rebounds to go along with 10 points in the loss. Tech shot 41.5 percent at KU, but was limited to just 5-for-17 on 3-pointers and went 12 of 19 at the free-throw line. The Jayhawks hit eight 3-pointers, committed only six turnovers and saw all five of their starters score in double digits.
MEDIA: The game will be featured on ESPN Big Monday with Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla on the call along with on ESPN Radio with Marc Kestecher and Malcolm Huckaby on the national call. 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 three of the last five meetings in the series, but is coming off the 82-77 overtime loss in the first matchup this season. The Red Raiders are 4-5 against OSU under Beard and are 5-24 all-time in Stillwater. OSU leads the all-time series by a 46-23 margin. Texas Tech advisor/player development director Sean Sutton played at OSU, was an assistant for his father Eddie Sutton and was the Cowboy head coach from 2006-08. Tech’s last win in Stillwater came with a 78-50 win on Feb. 13, 2019.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech is scheduled to host No. 12 Texas at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the regular-season finale at the United Supermarkets Arena, but still has four games that were postponed that could be rescheduled. The Red Raiders still have two games against TCU, a home game against Iowa State and a road game at Baylor that they were unable to play. Prior to the game against Texas the Red Raiders will honor senior Marcus Santos-Silva and head manager Ty Larson.
RED RAIDER REPORT: McClung leads the Red Raiders this season by scoring 16.9 points per game overall and 18.8 per Big 12 game after going for 11 points at KU. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 1 to honor his performances at West Virginia and LSU and was also named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 18 following a game-winner at Texas and 24 points against Baylor. A junior Gate City, Virginia who transferred from Georgetown this season, he is averaging 15.8 points in the past five games. He went for a season-high 30 points at West Virginia six games ago and then had 22 in the road win at LSU. McClung has scored 20 or more in 10 games this season after his 23 points in Manhattan, Kansas on 8-for-17 shooting. He was limited to six points against Oklahoma on Feb. 1, scoring all six at the free-throw line where he was 6-for-6 in the only Big 12 game that he hasn’t scored in double figures. For the season, McClung has made 38 3-pointers which is second on the team after hitting two in Kansas. He’s also 88-for-109 at the free-throw line (80.7 percent) and is shooting 42.4 percent from the field. McClung reached 1,000 points in his career at LSU and comes into the matchup against OSU with 1,064 points through 71 games in his collegiate career. He scored a career-high 38 points as a freshman for the Hoyas against Little Rock on Dec. 12, 2018. In his season-high against WVU, He has made two or more 3-pointers in 13 games this season and five or more free throws in 10 games.
Shannon is coming off scoring five points at KU and 13 points in the home loss to WVU after he was limited to only 10 minutes of play in the second half at KSU with an ankle injury where he scored only two points. He had led the team in scoring in the previous two games after scoring a season-high 23 in the win at LSU before going for 15 points against Oklahoma. He’s currently averaging 12.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in conference games and is at 12.6 points per game for the season. A sophomore from Chicago, Shannon has scored in double-digits in 15 games and 20 or more in four games. Against LSU he also added 10 rebounds to his 23-point performance for his first career double-double. He would score the final six points of the win, first on a layup off a steal to take a 72-71 lead before knocking down four free throws to ice the game. He’s currently 70-for-87 on free throws (80.5 percent) this season and is 157 of 192 (81.8 percent) for his career after going 6-for-9 from the line against WVU. He did not shoot a free throw at KU. Shannon has scored 536 points, has 216 rebounds and 50 steals through 49 games of his career. He scored a career-high 24 points last season as a freshman at DePaul and also had a career-best 11 rebounds at Kansas last season. Shannon has made 17 3-pointers this season through 20 games played after having nine through 29 games as a freshman. He is a Julius Erving Award Finalist this season after being named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team last year.
McCullar is coming off scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds at KU and is now averaging 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in Big 12 play this season. He hit a career-best three 3-pointers (3-for-4) and also matched a career-high with four assists against KSU. The other four-assist game coming in the first matchup at WVU. A redshirt sophomore from San Antonio, McCullar missed the first nine games of the season due to an injury suffered in the preseason but emerged as one of the top players in the conference. He has recorded two double-doubles this season, first with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State and then again with a 10/10 double-double at home against No. 2 Baylor. He has three double-digit rebounding performances in his career after also having 11 rebounds last season at Iowa State. He has two double-doubles in his career, both this season. McCullar scored a career-high 16 points in the win at Texas where he was 6-for-7 from the field, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers. McCullar redshirted during the historic run to the 2019 NCAA Final Four before playing in 29 games last season. He has now scored 302 points and has 174 rebounds through 41 games of his career. McCullar matched a career-high with four steals against Oklahoma at home after also having two four-steal performances last season. He has recorded two or more steals in seven of 11 games played this season.
Santos-Silva produced 12 points and eight rebounds in the loss at KU where he reached the 1,000-point milestone in his career. He is now averaging 8.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He leads the Red Raiders with 1.0 blocks per game (21 total) this season after one block against the Jayhawks. He recorded a career-high five assists in the win at Kansas State and now has 25 assists for the season. Tech’s only senior, Santos-Silva is in his first season with the program after transferring from VCU. He comes into the second matchup against OUS with 1,004 points in his career along with 751 rebounds and 113 blocks through 118 games. He has recorded two double-doubles this season with 10 points and 13 rebounds against Northwestern State before going for 12 points and 10 rebounds against Sam Houston State. He also had double-digit rebounding performances with 11 rebounds against Baylor and then 12 rebounds against LSU in Baton Rouge. Santos-Silva scored a season-high 14 points in the first matchup against Kansas State and has eight double-digit scoring games this season (four in-conference). At VCU, he had a pair of 26-point games highlighted by a 26-point, 22-rebound double-double against Rhode Island on March 15, 2019 and 16 double-doubles. He leads Tech with 21 blocks this season, including career-high performances with four blocks in games against Abilene Christian and Oklahoma State.
Edwards filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists against WVU after also producing a game at KSU with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal but is coming off being limited to three points and two assists at KU. He is now averaging 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds a team-leading 2.6 assists per game. He was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers against KSU and 4-for-6 from the field before knocking down three shots and going 5-for-5 on free throws against the Mountaineers in the home loss. A junior from Arlington, Edwards has been a part of 63 wins through 90 games as a Red Raider that includes playing in all 38 games a freshman during the run to the 2019 NCAA Championship Final. Edwards scored a season-high 19 points in wins over Abilene Christian and Iowa State this season and has now scored 762 points in his career. He’s shooting 35-for-93 (36.9 percent) on 3-pointers this season and has made 114 3-pointers in his career. Edwards leads Tech with 53 assists this season, including a career-high seven assists in the opener against Northwestern State and the six he dished out against WVU. He had three more assists in the win at KSU and has recorded three or more assists in 11 games this season.
Peavy is coming off a career-high seven rebounds to go along with 10 points at Kansas. He has started 20 of 21 games to begin his collegiate career where he is averaging 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game after going for eight points and three rebounds against WVU. A true freshman who was the Class 6A Player of the Year and a Class 6A State Champion at Duncanville HS, Peavy has scored a season-high 14 points in the season opener against Northwestern State and had a conference-high of nine points in the first matchup against Kansas State before going 4-for-6 from the field and 2 of 4 at the line at Allen Fieldhouse. He scored six points and had five rebounds against Baylor before also scoring six points at West Virginia. Peavy, who was held scoreless in the first matchup against OSU, is shooting 47.3 percent from the field this season and has scored 117 points this season.
Tyreek Smith had a career-high eight rebounds in the win over Oklahoma at home before matching a career-high with three blocks at KSU where he also had five points. A redshirt freshman, Smith is averaging 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds through 21 games after having two points and two rebounds at KU. He went for five points, three blocks and two steals at KSU in 12 minutes of play. Smith scored a career-high seven points in the non-conference wins over Northwestern State and Troy. Against Troy, he had a career-high three blocks that was matched at KSU to take his season total to 18. Burton is averaging 4.7 points and 1.3 assists per game after going for eight points, two assists and two rebounds against WVU. He had only one point at KU. A junior from Charlotte, North Carolina who transferred from Wichita State, Burton has scored 625 points and has 256 assists through 88 games of his collegiate career. He scored a season-high 10 points in the win over Grambling in non-conference play and had a Big 12-best of nine at West Virginia where he was 4-for-7 from the field with one 3-pointer. Burton had a season-high five assists in the win over Northwestern State and has an 11-assist performance against Oklahoma State on his resume from Wichita State. Burton has made four starts and appeared in 17 games as a reserve this season.
Clarence Nadolny scored a season-high seven points against Oklahoma where he was 2-for-2 from the field, including hitting one 3-pointer before scoring three points at KSU. A sophomore from France, he had a season-best three assists at West Virginia in the first matchup where he played 17 minutes before scoring his seven points in 15 minutes against OU. He had a previous season-high of six points in the win over Corpus Christi and has a career-high of nine points last season against Houston Baptist as a freshman. He is currently 23 points away from 100 in his career. Avery Benson is currently averaging 1.6 points and 1.0 rebound per game. A redshirt junior, Benson is the only player on the current roster who was with the program when it advanced to the 2018 Elite 8. He is currently 4-for-6 on 3-pointers this season and scored a season-high six points against Incarnate Word. Benson had a career-high 10 points and two blocked shots last season in the win over No. 1 Louisville at the 2019 Jimmy V Classic in New York. Chibuzo Agbo and Vladislav Goldin are true freshman along with Peavy and have had some strong moments in their first season at Tech. A San Diego native, Agbo is averaging 1.7 points per game after two at KU with a season-high five coming in the opener against Northwestern State. He had three points at West Virginia with a 3-pointer and also had two points at LSU. Agbo has hit six 3-pointers this season. Goldin is the tallest player on the roster at 7-foot-1 and is averaging 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. A forward from Russia, Goldin scored a career-high six points against Grambling in non-conference play and also added four rebounds in the win. Goldin has not played since the win at Iowa State on Jan. 9 in Ames.
SECURING POSSESSION: Beard stresses a 10-or-less turnover game is one of the keys to victory in every game the Red Raiders play which the team has accomplished 11 times this season after having 10 at Kansas. The season has been highlighted by a two-turnover showing at West Virginia which matched the Big 12 single-game record. The Red Raiders are currently averaging only 11.0 turnovers per game which is the second in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally. In Big 12 play, Tech also had only seven turnovers against Texas and Kansas, nine in the win over Kansas State and 10 at Iowa State. The team is averaging only 10.4 turnovers per game in Big 12 play. Tech had only one turnover at halftime against the Cyclones to get out to a 24-point lead. In non-conference play, Tech had only four turnovers against Corpus Christi which was the low in the Beard era before the two in Morgantown. During his five seasons, Tech has committed 10 or less turnovers 62 times under Beard. The program’s low turnover output was highlighted at the 2019 Final Four with only seven in a win over Michigan State and eight in the overtime loss to Virginia in the National Championship game. Tech currently has a plus-5.4 turnover margin which is fifth nationally. The Red Raiders have drastically improved in the turnover category after committing 13.7 last season.
FORCING THE ISSUE: Texas Tech forced 30 turnovers against Grambling for the most since the 2009 season opener against South Dakota. At KSU, Tech forced 18 turnovers and has had more turnovers than their opponent in only five of 20 games after Kansas had only six. The Red Raiders forced 16 against Baylor after 15 turnovers at Texas and Iowa State. Tech has recorded 13 steals in two games this season, against Grambling and Northwestern State before having eight at KSU. The 13 steals against Grambling and Northwestern State is the most steals in a game since a 15-steal game by the team against Rice on Dec. 16, 2017. Tech had only two steals on the stat sheet at Kansas.
GAME-BY-GAME TURNOVERS (TTU-OPPONENT): TTU 10-NSU 19; TTU 12-SAM 18; TTU 18-HOU 14; TTU 13-TROY 22; TTU 13-GRAM 30; TTU 16-ACU 22; TTU 4-TAMUCC 20; TTU 7-KU 16; TTU 13-OU 16; TTU 7-UIW 20; TTU 14-OSU 13; TTU 9-KSU 14; TTU 10-ISU 15; TTU 7-UT 15; TTU 20-BU 16; TTU 2-WVU 12; TTU 13-LSU 12; TTU 10-OU 11; TTU 10-KSU 18; TTU 13-WVU 15; TTU 10-KU 6.
OUR LEADER: Beard is in his fifth season as the Texas Tech head coach where he has led the program to a 108-51 record, including an 8-2 mark in the NCAA Tournament. Beard was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year and earned Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019. An assistant coach at Texas Tech under Bob and Pat Knight, Beard has amassed an impressive 138-56 record as a Division I head coach that started with one season at Little Rock where he was 30-5. He also has head coaching stops at Fort Scott Community College, Seminole State, McMurry and Angelo State in his collegiate career. Beard is the 17th head coach in Texas Tech history and reached 100 wins on Dec. 12, 2020 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He is the fastest Tech coach to reach that milestone following James Dickey (148 games), Bob Knight (150), Gerald Myers (152) and Polk Robison (170).
UNCOMFORTABLE – BEARD EXPLAINS: « Being comfortable gets you beat every single time. You see it all the time in sports. You win a big game and the next time there’s a letdown and a loss. We’ve all seen that. Life is the same way. You can have a great day at work and you could take the edge off. It takes a special person, we use the word ‘elite’, to remain uncomfortable. Coach Knight would talk a lot about when things were going good that we need to shake the tree from time to time. Everybody expects the best and have focus during times of adversity, but only the elite people can push themselves each day to stay uncomfortable. I think being uncomfortable is where growth comes from. Uncomfortable is what you have to be to compete in the Big 12. Our guys have embraced this. Each season we try to have a theme and with this year’s group, we just feel that if we can stay uncomfortable we’ll be where we need to be. We like our talent. We like our culture. If this team can keep pushing and not get too high or too low by staying uncomfortable right there in the middle, we think we have a great chance to grow. »