:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/5431189/20121205_ajl_as8_378.0.jpg)
|
GAME INFORMATION |
||
|---|---|---|
 |
vs |
|
Arizona St. Sun Devils (9-2, 0-0) |
Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-3, 0-0) |
|
|
December 22, 2012 @ 1:00 pm |
||
|
United Spirit Arena | Lubbock, TX |
||
|
TV: FOX Sports Southwest Plus | Radio: Affiliates | GameCast: FoxSports |
||
|
Probable Starters |
||
|
Jahii Carson (5-10/175) |
PG |
Josh Gray (6-1/175) |
|
Evan Gordon (6-1/187) |
SG |
Trency Jackson (6-2/185) |
|
Carrick Felix (6-6/197) |
TG |
Jamal Williams, Jr. (6-4/190) |
|
Jonathan Gilling (6-7/219) |
PF |
Jordan Tolbert (6-7/225) |
|
Jordan Bachynski (7-2/250) |
C |
Dejan Kravic (6-11/240) |
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
The logo up top is not the current logo of Arizona St. It is my small protest for the Sun Devils changing their lgo to some sort of trident. I loved that Sun Devil.
ASU has a pretty good RPI, at least better than Texas Tech, at 77 compared to 301 for Texas Tech. They currently sit at 9-2 and have only lost to Creighton and some how lost to DePaul, probably because DePaul kept their devil/demon logo. Their best win is against Arkansas, but their schedule doesn't seem all that impressive as they also have wins against Florida A&M, Cornell, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Sacramento St., Cal-State Northridge and Dartmouth. So they do have a good record and really haven't lost to any team other than DePaul. So a pretty easy non-conference schedule, much like Texas Tech, except they are actually on the road.
ASU's best player is Carson and he is averaging 17.9 PPG and 5.2 APG and is obviously the guy that scores and delivers the ball to his teammates. And he is only a freshman. ASU has three other players in double-figures in Felix who is also scoring 15 PPG, Gordon who is scoring 11 PPG and Bachynski who is scoring 10 PPG. Bachynski is averaging 4.8 blocks per game, which is darn impressive and you can bet that he will affect the game.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Texas Tech really has to get their post players, namely Kravic and Tapsoba because I think they are going to need to play big this week. Texas Tech cannot afford to go to a lineup of Crockett or Tolbert because I think that Arizona St. will pound Texas Tech on the boards. I can't quite figure out Kravic. I think he is a smart guy and I think he gets it, but he has to do a better job of recognizing positioning with his opponent and he has to let the game come to him. He's really rushing his shots and that's discouraging.
I do think that teams are going to start scheming for Crockett because he is that good and it's going to be interesting to see how Crockett will adjust. He just has a different attitude and he was one of the players that was emotionally and physically leading a comeback against Alabama that eventually fell short.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Texas Tech had 5 players averaging in double-figures and now that number is down to three, Crockett, Gray and Kravic.
GAME DAY LINKS
Texas Tech, Arizona State have seen benefits of up-tempo style | Red Raiders
Nurse adjusting to new, reduced role with Red Raiders | Red Raiders