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Game Details:
Date: Tuesday, February 10th
Time: 8:00 pm
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-12, 2-9)
Bad Guys: Kansas Jayhawks (19-4, 8-2)
Location: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, TX
TV/Stream: ESPN2
Radio/Stream: Broadcast Affiliates and TuneIn App
Starting Lineup
 | Pts / Reb |  | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Robert Turner (6-3/190) | 9.0 / 1.8* | Frank Mason III (5-11/185) | 12.6 / 4.1* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Devaugntah Williams (6-4/205) | 10.5 / 3.3 | Wayne Selden, Jr. (6-5/230) | 9.7 / 2.6 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Randy Onwuasor (6-3/190) | 5.1 / 3.2 | Kelly Oubre, Jr. (6-7/200) | 8.2 / 4.7 |
| POWER FORWARD | Zach Smith (6-8/205) | 5.3 / 5.1 | Jamari Traylor (6-8/220) | 5.0 / 3.7 |
| CENTER | Norense Odiase (6-8/270) | 6.0 / 4.3 | Perry Ellis (6-8/225) | 12.8 / 6.9 |
* Assists.
Three Keys to the Game:
1. Scouting the Jayhawks. Of course Texas Tech gets Kansas coming off of a loss to Oklahoma State, who is surging of late, which I think means that you'll see a very motivated Kansas club looking to start fast and put away Texas Tech early. Prior to the OSU loss, Kansas had won five straight and with Baylor coming up for Kansas on the weekend, I think we'll see a very focuses Jayhawk team. I should mention that Mason and Ellis continue to lead the team, although Cliff Alexander gets a ton of time off the bench and if I remember correctly, he had a pretty good game against Texas Tech.
2. Stats. The stats show that Kansas is a better shooting team, doesn't turn the ball over and crashes the board better than Texas Tech. As mentioned numerous times before, Texas Tech has a tough time scoring and teams that are efficient at scoring will give Texas Tech lots of problems, simply because Texas Tech normally can't keep pace.
Kansas is 19th in AdjO and 21st in AdjD with an overall rating of 11th in the KenPom rankings, while Texas Tech is 168th overall in KenPom rankings, 264th in AdjO and 94th in AdjD.
*AdjO and AdjD via KenPom.
3. Matching Up. I mentioned this the last time and it still holds true, which is that teams that have small forwards and big-sized guards are going to give Texas Tech problems in terms of matching up because the lone small forward is out for the rest of the year. Kansas has small forward types in spades and they can all generally shoot pretty well. Texas Tech has been able to upset opponents based on Gotcher, Turner and Williams all hitting from the outside and it will take a Herculean effort from those three. You never know in the world of basketball, but I can't shake the feeling that Kansas will be plenty motivated as they don't want to let go of that first place standing in the Big 12 with Oklahoma hot on the Jayhawks' heels. I'd love to see a game where the turnovers aren't greater than the assists, which would mean that Texas Tech is being careful with the ball and that gives Texas Tech a better chance.