Game Preview | Houston Baptist Huskies vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders

GAME DETAILS
TEAMS	Houston Baptist vs. Texas Tech
WHERE	United Spirit Arena | Lubbock, Texas
WHEN	7:00 pm Friday November 8th
CONSUME	Radio | TTSN :: TV | FOX College Sports Central

Key Matchup

PG Tyler Russell vs. PG Robert Turner | Count them. Three point guards are gone from last year's team: Josh Gray, Daylen Robinson and Ty Nurse. Nurse graduated, Robinson transferred and Gray is at a JUCO in West Texas. So now it's up to Rob Turner, the JUCO transfer from New Mexico JC and the reports are glowing thus far. Turner is supposed to be a high energy player that didn't get a ton of minutes on a very deep NMJC team last year, but he'll be expected to receive and take the reins of this team from the get go. With Tubby Smith tutoring him, this should be an easier transition. Russell for HBU is a scoring point guard (11 PPG and 2.6 APG) and should offer a nice initial test for Turner.

Take Aim

Texas Tech's best course of action for this game is to do what they do. HBI is picked to finish as one of the worst teams of the Southland Conference, a new conference for the Huskies. Theoretically, this should be a very easy game. Texas Tech is obviously working on a new system, their fourth system in as many years. Pat Knight and Chris Walker initially attempted to implement a fast-paced game, while Gillispie had his high-low post game. Smith is starting fresh and you can expect a defensive minded team that can also run a bit with Texas Tech. Last year, Minnesota was 51st in the nation in AdjD and 31st in AdjO according to the KenPom rankings. For comparison purposes, Texas Tech was 159th in both categories last year.

Game Day Links

• It's Tubby Time | The official site has a good intro into the game and they have the channels for your cable provider to watch the game. The DT has a preview of tonight's game. The DMN writes about how Tubby Smith is confident that he can win again at Texas Tech.
• Previews Galore | The LAJ has a handful of articles this morning to start the basketball season including a good preview for the game and the starting lineup for the game (I hope to add this if at all possible, but wasn't sure for the first game). Also, the LAJ has their All-Big 12 team and how this team is preparing to play in a very tough Big 12.
• Kravic at North Pole Hoops | Really cool diary from C Dejan Kravic and NorthPoleHoops and his thought process in transferring to Texas Tech.

Action

Smith talks about the season and expectations and how he's going to turn this thing around. Let's do this.