PREVIEW: Can Texas Tech continue to play spoiler?

What can be said about Texas Tech’s last two home wins? Well, they have stepped up the defensive intensity to say the least, while getting heroic performances in both games from De’Vion Harmon.

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Harmon and the defense will need to be top notch Monday night when the Red Raiders host first place and #6 ranked Texas at 8 p.m.

(6)Texas (20-5 overall, 9-3 Big 12) comes in to Lubbock fresh off a 34 point drubbing of West Virginia at the Moody Center on Saturday afternoon, led by a 24 point performance by Sir’Jabari Rice as he only missed one shot from the field and was 10-10 from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech (13-12 overall, 2-10 Big 12) comes off its second straight home win over a top-15 opponent in a 71-63 victory over #12 Kansas State, a game in which the Red Raiders forced 23 turnovers. Harmon led the Red Raiders with 20 points and 4 assists.

Both teams have won 3 out of their last 5 games.

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For Texas, Marcus Carr has been finally playing like the player we thought he would be last year, as he is averaging 17 points per game and shooting 47% from the field. Kevin Obanor still leads the Red Raiders with 15 points per game, but Harmon is averaging a little over 13 himself as well.

When these teams first matched up in Austin, Texas got the better of Tech by only two points, 72-70 in a game that featured the deep range of Pop Isaacs and his 23 points, and Jaylon Tyson added 12 points and 14 rebounds. Tech was up 9 at halftime before a lack of defense in the 2nd half allowed Texas to score 47 points en route to a comeback win.

Tonight all eyes will be on the Texas Tech defense as they try to keep up their string of impressive defensive outings at home against a Texas team that averages 80 points per game, while only allowing 68.

While this rivalry may not be as intense as first thought this season, due to the mid-season firing of Chris Beard and the struggles of Texas Tech, I can assure you the atmosphere will still be hostile. It is Texas, after all.

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Can the Red Raiders extend their streak of home wins to 3? At this point in the year, the Red Raiders are just looking to play spoiler to as many teams as possible, and no team deserves to have a loss on their record as much as Texas.