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Texas Tech kicks off its 2016/2017 season tonight against Houston Baptist. The Red Raiders look to keep last season's success rolling after they had a surprising 19-13 (9-9) year. There are a lot of new faces for the Red Raiders, but the core of last year's team is still there. Can Texas Tech start the season off right with a nice blowout win?
Houston Baptist Key Players
| Category | Stat | Name |
| Points/Game | 10.5 | F Colter Lasher |
| Rebounds/Game | 6.6 | C Josh Ibarra |
| Assist/Game | 2.0 | F Colter Lasher |
| 3pt Made/3pt % | 50/127, 39.4% | G Asa Cantwell |
| Free Throw % | 49-59, 83.1% | F Alex Fountain |
The above stats for the Huskies are from last season. They lose their best player in Anthony Odunsi, but their second leading scorer and assist leader, Colter Lasher, returns for for his senior season. Josh Ibarra is their key big man down low and a big-time contributor for the Huskies. He put up an average of 10 points a game, and he averaged over 6.5 rebounds per game as well. Asa Cantwell averaged only 14 minutes a game last season, but he led the team with 3-point shots taken with 127. He made close to 40% of those 3s as well. I would consider these three guys the Huskies key players so the Red Raiders will most likely try to get them to facilitate their offense through other players.
Last 5 Games
| 3/3 Texas A&M Corpus Christi | L 81-71 |
| 3/5 Incarnate Word | L 97-86 |
| 3/10 Southeastern Lousiana | W 73-68 |
| 3/11 Stephen F. Austin | L 104-68 |
| 3/16 UNC Greensboro | L 69-65 |
Houston Baptist finished its season at 17-17 which is a decent season, but the Huskies finished their season up on the wrong foot. They lost 6 of their last 7, with one of those losses being a 36-point blowout at the hands of Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference tournament. Their best win of the season was a 77-73 victory against Rice.
Prediction
Texas Tech 84 - Houston Baptist 63
The Red Raiders are going to come out strong in their opening game. Chris Beard will have his guys ready, and I don't expect this game to be much of a contest. Look for some of the new faces to get some valuable minutes and we'll get a good idea of what the rotation will look like for the upcoming season.