 (8-9, 0-2) |
Date | January 15, 2011 |
 (12-5, 0-2) |
PROBABLE STARTERS
| Position | Player | Ht/Wt | Class | Pts | Rbs | Ast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | John Roberson | 5-11/165 | SR | 11.3 | 1.8 | 3.9 |
| G | David Tairu | 6-3/177 | SR | 10.4 | 2.4 | 0.9 |
| G | Brad Reese | 6-6/195 | SR | 12.0 | 4.9 | 1.6 |
| F | Mike Singletary | 6-5/235 | SR | 13.2 | 5.9 | 2.9 |
| F | Robert Lewandowski | 6-10/256 | JR | 9.9 | 5.4 | 1.1 |
| Position | Player | Ht/Wt | Class | Pts | Rbs | Ast |
| G | Jacob Pullen | 6-1/200 | SR | 17.7 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| G | Nick Russell | 6-4/200 | SO | 4.6 | 2.0 | 1.4 |
| G/F | Rodney McGruder | 6-5/205 | SO | 11.9 | 6.5 | 1.8 |
| F | Jamar Samuels | 6-7/220 | JR | 9.6 | 5.9 | 1.6 |
| F | Wally Judge | 6-9/250 | SO | 6.4 | 4.5 | 1.1 |
PREVIEW
WHAT TO EXPECT | A really angry Kansas St. team. The Wildcats are now 0-2 in the Big 12, same conference record as Texas Tech, with two less than stellar performances against Oklahoma St. (who was blown out by TAMU earlier this week) and at home against Colorado. I would expect that the bleeding will stop for Kansas St. on Saturday and would expect an incredibly motivated bunch. Of course, you would also expect Texas Tech to have the same attitude, but I'm not optimistic. The one thing that the Wildcats can rely on, as their offense appears to be struggling a bit, is that they do play top 30 defense, it's just that the offense has been stagnant. Something tells me that the offense for K-State will be fine on Saturday. And leading scorer and team leader, Jacob Pullen, said that he's not playing in the NIT:
"This is my last go-around," Pullen said. "I'm not going to the NIT. I won't play basketball in the NIT. I'm saying that now. If we lose, and we have to go to the NIT, I will not play."
More after the jump.
KEY MATCHUPS | I'm not at all confident of Texas Tech's ability to guard at any position. The only hope that I have is that K-State's struggle on offense will continue, which will make the Texas Tech defense look somewhat acceptable. I think we'll see Tairu on Pullen and this may be a situation where the Red Raiders let Pullen get his points, but try to limit the other 4 players on the court. This will never work because the other 4 players on the floor for Texas Tech aren't great defenders. Where K-State has a real chance to hurt Texas Tech, like every other team, is rebounding and free throws as the Wildcats get to the line and out-rebound at a better rate than Texas Tech. It's always amazing how the simple things like free throws and rebounding can be indicative of what will happen in every game.
FOUR FACTORS | Have to watch for the rebounding disadvantage and Baylor shooting more free throws.
Fancy basketball glossary found here.