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THE INFORMATION
| Game Details | |
|---|---|
| TEAMS |
 Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (3-8, 0-0) Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-5, 0-0) |
| WHERE | United Spirit Arena | Lubbock, Texas |
| WHEN | 6:00 pm Monday December 30th |
| CONSUME | Radio - TTSN | TV - Fox College Sports: Suddenlink (511), AT&T U-Verse (649), DirectTV (623) |
THE CHARACTERS
| Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech | Mount St. Mary’s | |
| Robert Turner (6-3/180) | PG | Julian Norfleet (6-2/165) |
| Toddrick Gotcher (6-4/195) | SG | Khalid Nwandu (6-3/165) |
| Jaye Crockett (6-7/210) | SF | Rashad Whack (6-3/195) |
| Jordan Tolbert (6-7/225) | PF | Sam Prescott (6-3/190) |
| Kader Tapsoba (6-10/225) | C | Taylor Danaher (7-0/215) |
THE ANALYSIS
Key Matchup | Gother vs. Nwandu: Gotcher should have a terrific match-up advantage against Nwandu, who is a true freshman and averages just 3 points a game. Gotcher has a significant size advantage and although I tend not to consider a size and experience advantage as much with guards, but this should be a place where Texas Tech has to force the issue. The easy match-up advantage would be Crockett and Tolbert considering Mount St. Mary’s small lineup, but this could be a game where these guys might actually struggle.
Take Aim: Mount St. Mary’s has shot over 100 more three-point attempts than Texas Tech and have made more than 40 more than Texas Tech. Texas Tech is going to have to guard against the three-point shot because this is what the Mountaineers do. They shoot three-point shot, to a tune of 25 three-point shots a game, compared to just 14 a game for Texas Tech. I’m going to be incredibly interested to the game of chicken that should come into play as Jordan Tolbert isn’t really all that adept at guarding the perimeter because this isn’t his strength. Meanwhile, Crockett and Tolbert and Kravic should have a significant size advantage inside. Which coach flinches first?
Norfleet averages almost 19 points a game and 5.5 assists a game. Turner will have his hands full again as Norfleet has shot 161 three-point shots by himself, while Texas Tech, as a team, has shot 175. Whack is the second leading scorer, averaging almost 15 points a game and he has shot 129 three-point attempts thus far in the season. This is Mount St. Mary’s equalizer, the three-point shot and they’ll shot a ton of shots. This is going to be a huge game, defensively, for Turner, Gotcher, Jamal Williams, Dusty Hannahs, and Randy Onwuasor.
One final note, is that I wasn't sure where the college Mount St. Mary was located and it is apparently located in Maryland. A quick Google image search shows that this college is quite picturesque.
Game Day Links:
The official site has your official preview (via official site).
The Red Raiders are hoping that their shot selection can be more improved heading into conference play, which starts next week (via LAJ). Head coach Tubby Smith talked about what needs improvement:
"One of the things we have to eliminate is poor shot selection," Smith said. "I want to see better ball movement. We have to be more efficient in taking care of the basketball. We’ve done a good job for the most part, but we have to get better at just not turning the ball over and finding the open man. Then, when guys are in position to shoot the shots, they’ve got to be down and ready to get the shot off, and when they’re not, to pass it. We don’t need guys taking bad shots."