No. 20 Texas Tech wants to break a particular curse against Memphis in Miami

In the first game as a ranked team, the Red Raiders continue their trips around the country. This time they landed in Miami, where they’ll face Memphis in the HoopHall Invitational. The game will be played in the AmericanAirlines Arena and is set to start at 1.30 CT.

The team led by coach Chris Beard began its season with six straight victories and is one of the three Big 12 teams remaining undefeated, alongside Kansas and Kansas State. After it was snubbed by the experts in the preseason, Texas Tech quickly gained a spot in the rankings again, showing out in the last poll at No. 20.

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This will be the sixth game between these two schools, and Memphis holds a 5-0 record. The first match was played in 1956, and the last one in 1985. Four out of five of those losses came by a double-digit margin, but in 1961 the Red Raiders only lost by one point.

The Tigers began their season with a 3-3 and they are coached by one of the best products of this school, Penny Hardaway. The four-time NBA All-Star didn’t begin his first experience on a college bench with a good record, losing to LSU, Oklahoma State, and Charleston. On the other side, he has shown interesting recruiting skills. Indeed, Hardaway already obtained the commitment of the best center of the 2019 class, the Memphis native James Wiseman.

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In this first period of the year, the Tigers mainly relied on three players. Senior forward Kyvon Davenport leads the team both in points and rebounds, senior guard Jeremiah Martin averages more than 34 minutes on the field, and freshman guard Tyler Harris already gained a lot of space and averages 13.8 points per game.

The Red Raiders are heavily favored in this game, and the -12 spread clearly indicates so. But the Tigers are a more than decent basketball teams, and without the necessary attention, this could become a tricky game.