Texas Tech Red Raider Basketball Questions

Q: Will Texas Tech still be a top 6 team in steals by the end of next week?

A: No. Texas Tech as a team is tied for #6 in the nation for most steals at 11.2 per game. This next week we have McNeese State and Alabama coming to visit the United Spirit Arena. MSU is averaging only 12 turnovers per game, and Alabama only 12.1 TOPG. As you know this means that both teams only average giving the ball away 12 times a game by giving up a few steals, traveling, charging, throwing the ball away out of bounds, etc. The point is that MSU and Alabama handle the ball very well, and even though they will get more pressure from Tech than they have in other games, I don’t think Tech will keep their average of 11.2 steals at the end of this next week.

Q: Will Jaye Crockett be the Texas Tech leading scorer for the 6^th straight game?

A: Yes. Crockett has found his game and elevated it to the next level. He is scoring 15.3 ppg (#5 in Big 12), and has been on a hot streak since game #2 of the season. Jaye is getting 25.3 mpg right behind Josh Gray (26 mpg) and should be in this one long enough to do his thing and make his buckets. It’ll be interesting to see what the others on our team do in terms of scoring, but what sticks out to me is that Crockett was the only player on Tech to get double figures in the Arizona game. If he can do that against the undefeated #8 ranked team in the country, he should be able to do it against Mcneese State.

Q: How many more games in the non-conference schedule will Texas Tech win?

A: 3 should be the lucky number. The next 5 opponents are McNeese State (5-3), Alabama (6-2), Arizona State (8-2), North Carlonia A&T (3-6), and Florida A&M (4-6). At the beginning of non-conference play I wrote a prediction that we would be 8-3 when Big 12 play started up and I’m still sticking with that number. The three games I predicted a loss was to Arizona, Alabama, and Arizona State (easy enough to assume at the beginning of the season). If we can get by MSU on Sunday with a win it looks like that is what should happen. I do still have faith that we might pull out a big upset against one of the Alabama or ASU games and will be cheering the squad on like crazy. Wreck ‘em Tech!