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THE INFORMATION
| Game Details | |
|---|---|
| TEAMS |
 Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-7, 0-2)  Texas Longhorns (11-4, 0-2) |
| WHERE | Frank Erwin Special Events Center | Austin, Texas |
| WHEN | 7:00 pm Saturday January 11th |
| CONSUME | Radio - TTSN | TV - Can’t watch, it’s on the LHN |
THE CHARACTERS
| Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech | Texas | |
| Robert Turner (6-3/180) | PG | Isaiah Taylor (6-1/170) |
| Toddrick Gotcher (6-4/195) | SG | Demarcus Holland (6-2/185) |
| Jaye Crockett (6-7/210) | SF | Kendal Yancy (6-3/200) |
| Jordan Tolbert (6-7/225) | PF | Jonathan Holmes (6-8/240) |
| Dejan Kravic (7-0/235) | C | Cameron Ridley (6-9/285) |
THE ANALYSIS
Key Matchup | Holmes vs. Tolbert: I haven’t had the time to watch a ton of Longhorn basketball, but from what I’ve been able to see, Holmes is the Longhorns best player. Holmes is averaging 13 points a game while grabbing a bit over 7 boards a game. Texas Tech really needs for Tolbert to, at the very least, break even here with Holmes. This is a battle that needs to even out for Texas Tech to win
Take Aim: Texas Tech and Texas are both pretty similar in that they have some okay depth, but neither one have a true superstar in the truest sense of the word. I think that Yancy started the last game, but Javan Felix gets the most playing time and averages double-figures. The Longhorns’ other starting four all average in double-figures too and Holland is a real productive player, averaging 10 points, almost 6 boards and 2.5 assists a game. That’s pretty good production from a third guard.
Texas Tech and Texas are opposites in terms of play. The Longhorns are much better defensively than Texas Tech, while Texas Tech has a better offense. I suspect the rims will be tighter on the road and Texas Tech will have to have a top tier game defensively. And watch out for the free throw disparity in this game. The Longhorns shoot an average of 4 more free throws a game, which is actually 64 over the course of their 15 games thus far. Texas Tech’s inability to get to the line was very problematic against Iowa St. Only 8, that’s right only 8, free throw attempts for the entire game.
Game Day Links:
The official site has your game preview (via TexasTech).
The LAJ writes that the the team needs to get some wins and that they are playing teams close (via LAJ). HC Tubby Smith talks about how the team is playing hard and winning is a team effort:
"We’re playing extremely hard, maybe we have to do a better job of knowing what plays to call," Smith said. "We can’t put the ball in the basket for them but maybe we can have more effective offensive play or set. We’ve tried a smaller lineup putting Jaye (Crockett) at the four spot. We just have to make some plays. Players play the game but we have to have a team effort."
Also somewhat interesting in that article is that Kliff Kingsbury stopped by to talk to the team, so that's pretty cool.