Red Raider Preview: No. 9 West Virginia

Saturday, February 18

Morgantown, W Va.

1:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

No. 9 West Virginia

Red Raider Preview: No. 9 West Virginia

February 17, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game27WestVirginiaNotes

The Red Raiders are facing three straight ranked opponents for the second time this season.

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The Texas Tech men's basketball team will look to collect back-to-back conference victories and earn its first Big 12 road win when the Red Raiders travel to No. 9 West Virginia on Saturday.

Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT with the game televised by ESPN2 along with www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla will serve as the announcing team.

The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations 97.3 FM, 100.7 FM and 950 AM in Lubbock. Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will have the call. The radio broadcast also will be available on the Texas Tech Sports Network radio affiliates, online at www.TexasTech.com and the TuneIn Radio app. Fans can interact live with Saturday's broadcast @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.

The Red Raiders (17-9, 5-8 Big 12) piled up a season's best 52 points during the second half en route to an 84-78 victory over No. 4 Baylor on Monday. Texas Tech will look to defeat three Associated Press Top 10 during the same season for the first time since 2006-07.

West Virginia (20-6, 8-5 Big 12) has forced all but seven of its opponents into at least 18 turnovers this season. The Red Raiders were one of those teams and committed 13 turnovers during a 77-76 overtime victory over the Mountaineers back on Jan. 3.

The Mountaineers have won nine of the previous 11 meetings between the two teams and all four decisions in Morgantown by an average of 12.3 points per contest. The initial meeting came during the Sweet 16 round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Other than the win earlier this season, Texas Tech's lone victory was a 71-69 decision at the 2013 Big 12 Tournament.

"I think every player on your team is important when you try to break West Virginia's press," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "It's impossible to do it with just one lead guard because they'll pressure the primary ball handler. We'll need different guys to step up and help us with our ball handling, passing, releasing and ultimately dribbling it up the court."

About Texas Tech
The Red Raiders are coming off a season-high 84 points during Big 12 play against No. 4 Baylor and have relied heavily on their starting five who has scored 205 of the team's 224 points in the last three games.

Texas Tech is ranked among the NCAA's Top 40 in fewest turnovers per game at 10.8, fewest total turnovers at 284 and plus 3.0 turnover margin. The Red Raiders are second on the Big 12 leaderboard allowing 66.2 points per game and have buried 48.3 percent of their field goals.

Keenan Evans has compiled 14 consecutive games in double figures and upped his scoring mark to 15.2 points per game on the strength of three straight games of 20-plus points. The 15.2 points per game are eighth in the Big 12. Evans has totaled eight of his Top 10 career scoring efforts and secured six of his eight 20-point career performances this season. Evans also has moved into 14th place on the Big 12 list with 3.1 assists per game.

Zach Smith has registered double figures in 11 of his last 13 games and notched 14.5 points per game in his last six games. He is a staple in the Big 12 rankings with 7.6 rebounds (5th), a 54.1 field goal percentage (5th), 7 double-doubles (5th) and 1.6 blocks (5th). Smith has added a block in 23 of his 25 appearances and claimed 131 career blocks which is second on Texas Tech's all-time list behind Tony Battie at 162 rejections.

Anthony Livingston and Aaron Ross has managed 10.7 points and 9.7 points per game, respectively. Ross has been the team's top performer off the bench and came away with all eight of his points versus No. 4 Baylor during the second half. Livingston has rattled home 48 of his 96 field goals on treys. His 40.3 three-point percentage is eighth in the Big 12 rankings.

Niem Stevenson has begun to come on strong and been inserted into the starting lineup during Teas Tech's last four games. He has jumped his scoring mark to 13.7 points per game and connected on 11 of his 21 three's over the last six games. Stevenson is coming off back-to-back offensive explosions where he posted 22 points against No. 3 Kansas and 21 points versus No. 4 Baylor.

Justin Gray has garnered 8.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He has knocked down 85 of his 138 two-point attempts, and the Red Raiders are 9-1 this season when Gray reaches double digit points. Most recently, Gray secured his first double-double against a Big 12 opponent with 13 points and 10 rebounds during the Baylor game.

Thomas Brandsma, Shadell Millinghaus, Devon Thomas and Matthew Temple round out the 10-man playing rotation for Texas Tech. Millinghaus scored a Big 12 season's best six points during the first matchup with West Virginia.

Texas Tech has played 23 of its 26 games this season which includes its last 10 games without Norense Odiase who turned in 8.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game last season.

"I think we're a better defensive rebounding team," Beard said. "We've been working on that in practice. The guys have embraced that. Our guards are doing a better job of rebounding. We've been doing a pretty good ball handling team all year, just been a little inconsistent. I think our last few road games we've taken care of the ball for the most part. We've just had some individual players step up with Niem being at the top of that list. That's what it's about this time of year. It's a player's game."

About West Virginia
The Mountaineers have reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh time in 10 seasons under the direction of Bob Huggins. West Virginia has won five of its last seven games with the lone exceptions coming versus Oklahoma State on Feb. 4 and at No. 3 Kansas on Monday.
Esa Ahmad has put together a stellar sophomore season and has improved his scoring average to a team-leading 11.9 points per game after averaging 4.9 points last season. He has reached double figures in 16 games which includes four of his last six outings. He racked up a season's best 27 points in West Virginia's 85-69 win over then No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 24.

Jevon Carter has secured 11.8 points, 4.2 assists and a Big 12-leading 2.9 steals per game. He has notched 10-plus points in nine of West Virginia's 13 conference games and 19 times overall. Carter dialed up a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds during the Oklahoma game on Jan. 18 coupled with a pair of 19-point efforts at Iowa State on Jan. 31 and against Kansas State last Saturday.

Nathan Adrian has filled the stats sheet with 10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. His two best Big 12 scoring performances was a season-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds during the Iowa State game on Jan. 31. Adrian also amassed 22 points as part of an 89-68 victory over then No. 1 Baylor on Jan. 10.

Tarik Phillip and Daxter Miles Jr. have chipped in 9.8 and 9.2 points per game, respectively. Phillip has tucked away double figures in seven of his last 11 outings. He scored 20 points during WVU's 80-76 victory over the Red Raiders in Lubbock last season.

Coming on as of late for the Mountaineers has been James Bolden who has posted 7.6 points per game in the last five games. The redshirt freshman has knocked down eight of his 13 field goals during the run from beyond the three-point line.

Up Next
Texas Tech faces a quick turnaround for the second straight week and squares off with Iowa State on Monday to wrap up a four-game stretch over a 10-day span. Tipoff is on-tap for 8 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU along with being available on the Watch ESPN app.

Fans can purchase tickets to Monday's game for as low as $15 online at www.TexasTech.com or in person at the United Supermarkets Arena Box Office which opens 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

Texas Tech is offering enhancements for the remainder of the season to better serve its fans. The S1 Parking Lot at the John Walker Soccer Complex will be open for free parking for all fans. Texas Tech also will provide a free shuttle beginning 75 minutes prior to tipoff and 60 minutes following the game to transport fans to and from the United Supermarkets Arena.

Fans are reminded to go clear at all Texas Tech basketball games. The clear bag policy provides a safer atmosphere and speeds up the entry process into the United Supermarkets Arena.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB and @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.