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Texas Tech Basketball Tale Of The Tape: Kansas State (10-5, 0-3)

The Red Raiders and Wildcats meet up tonight at 7:00 PM.

Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Texas Tech has lost two straight to elite competition and look to get back on track. Kansas St is also on a skid of its own losing three straight to #19 West Virginia, Baylor and #2 Oklahoma. The Wildcats won't be a pushover by any means and this should be a great game.

Kansas St Key Players

Category Stat Name
Points/Game 12.7 F Wesley Iwundu
Rebounds/Game 6.0 F Dean Wade
Assist/Game 3.2 G Justin Edwards
3pt Made/3pt % 20/54, 37.0% G Barry Brown
Free Throw % 54/81, 66.7% F Wesley Iwundu

The Wildcats don't really have a standout stud but instead play with a team mentality. Freshmen forward Dean Wade is having a great first season. He's averaging just over 10 points and 6 rebounds a game. One thing that won't be much of a threat is K State's outside game. Barry Brown leads the team in 3-point percentage only making 37% of his shots. Kamau Stokes has taken the most 3s with 73 shots but has only made 28.8%. Both Brown and Stokes are freshmen so that might explain the low percentage.

Last 5 Games

12/22 North Dakota W 63-49
12/29 Saint Louis W 75-47
1/2 #19 West Virginia L 87-83
1/5 Texas L 60-57
1/9 #2 Oklahoma L 86-76

Kansas State is better than their 10-5 record. They have lost 5 games against good competition including a loss to North Carolina in non-conference play. With a 4-point loss to West Virginia and 10-point loss against OU, it shows that K State can hang around with some really good teams (just like Tech). The Wildcats picked up wins against Missouri, Georgia and Saint Louis in non-conference games. The games don't get any easier after tonight either, the Wildcats face #17 Iowa State and #22 Baylor in their next two games.

Prediction

Texas Tech 69 - Kansas St 65

The Red Raiders need to force the Wildcats to shoot the 3-ball. Since K State's leading 3-point shooter only shoots 37% and he hasn't even taken the most 3s on the team, that's a good thing for Texas Tech. On the offensive end, the Red Raiders need to feed Norense Odiase down low. All of Odiase's 14 points came in the 2nd half against Kansas this past weekend. Feed him inside and if there's nothing there for him then he'll kick it back out.