Texas
Texas Tech basketball begins daunting stretch with Top 25 showdown against No. 5 Houston
The rest of January will provide the Texas Tech basketball team plenty of opportunity to build on its impressive start, though the challenges that lay ahead are hard to ignore.
The Red Raiders (14-2, 3-0) have four games remaining in the first month of 2024, three of them coming on the road, starting with Wednesday night’s trip to Houston to take on the Cougars at 8 p.m. in the Fertitta Center on ESPNU.
Grant McCasland’s bunch cracked into the national rankings this week, coming in at No. 25 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls released Monday. Joining them are seven other Big 12 Conference foes, including the Cougars, who are fifth in the AP rankings.
That alone is a daunting task, even with the Cougars (14-2, 1-2) having lost twice last week. Houston was the last remaining undefeated team in college basketball before setbacks at Iowa State and TCU snapped that streak.
Texas Tech has a hot streak to protect as well. Winners in each of their last nine games, the Red Raiders are tied with Baylor atop the conference standings. Consensus around the country, including NCAA Tournament projections, is the team is good, but the rest of the month could determine just how good.
More: The past is dead for Big 12-leading Texas Tech basketball, Grant McCasland
Including Wednesday’s contest, Texas Tech has four straight games against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. It’ll host No. 18 BYU on Saturday and have road trips to No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 19 TCU to finish the first month of conference play.
Aside from sporting stellar records, and ranking highly in every advanced metric available to the sport, three of those four teams (Houston, BYU and Oklahoma) are all outstanding teams in defending the 3-point line.
The Red Raiders had a 5-for-25 showing from beyond the arc in their 60-59 win over Kansas State. McCasland noted the Wildcats’ length and ability to close out as contributing factors to it. The Cougars (both of them) and Sooners are even better in that regard.
Houston is eighth in the nation in defending the 3. Teams are shooting 27.4% against the Cougars this season. BYU is fifth in this category (27.1%) and Oklahoma is 10th (27.6%).
Texas Tech has found ways to win without relying on the 3, though it is a big part of the team’s offense. It’ll likely need to find other avenues over the next few weeks with the stout defenses they’ll be going against.
WATCH: Joe Toussaint gives Texas Tech basketball a 60-59 win over Kansas State
See the game-tying shot from Joe Toussaint that helped the Texas Tech basketball team knock off Kansas State.
Trends to watch
Texas Tech and Houston are polar opposites when it comes to the free-throw game. The Red Raiders are 10th in the nation in free throw percentage (77.92) and in fewest fouls committed per game (13.6). Meanwhile, the Cougars are 293rd in FT% (66.89) and 276th in fouls committed (18.3).
Houston ranks 11th in blocks per game (5.7) while the Red Raiders are 319th in block percentage, according to KenPom. Kansas State had seven blocks against the Red Raiders on Saturday.
L.J. Cryer, Houston’s leading scorer, averages 15.6 points per game but was held to five points in each of the Cougars’ two losses last week. A 38% shooter from 3, Cryer was 2-for-13 from distance combined in those two games.
The Red Raiders have had at least four players reach double-digit scoring numbers in each of their first three Big 12 contests.
Key statistic
Entering the week, Houston ranked 10th nationally in turnovers forced (17.12) and fewest turnovers given up (9.4) per game. When teams have taken care of the ball, they’ve found success against the Cougars. Opponents have assisted on 64.8% of their field goals against Houston this year with TCU (18 of 22) and Iowa State (14 of 18) assisting on 80% of their combined makes in those victories.
More: Dramatic comeback gives Texas Tech basketball victory over Kansas State: 3 takeaways
Score prediction: Houston 76, Texas Tech 68
Bottom line: The last thing the Cougars want to do is go into a three-game slide in their first year in the Big 12. They’ll be extra motivated in front of the home crowd, where Houston has won 41 out of 44 games since the start of the 2021-22 season. Texas Tech has 14 wins in program history over Top 5 teams, the last coming Jan. 11, 2022 at No. 1 Baylor.
Big 12 Men’s Basketball
No. 25 Texas Tech at No. 5 Houston
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Where: Fertitta Center
TV: ESPNU
Records: Texas Tech 14-2, 3-0; Houston 14-2, 1-2
Notable: This will be the first time this year Houston plays an opponent ranked at the time of the game. The Cougars, have, however, played three teams currently ranked, beating Dayton in November and losing back-to-back games at Iowa State (now No. 24) and TCU (No. 19) last week.
Big 12 Standings (entering the week)
Team Overall Conference
Baylor 14-2 3-0
Texas Tech 14-2 3-0
Kansas 14-2 2-1
Iowa State 13-3 2-1
TCU 13-3 2-1
Kansas State 12-4 2-1
Houston 14-2 1-2
West Virginia 6-10 1-2
Texas 12-4 1-2
Cincinnati 12-4 1-2
BYU 13-3 1-2
Oklahoma 13-3 1-2
UCF 10-5 1-2
Oklahoma State 8-8 0-3
More than 150 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas have been infected with influenza over the past three weeks — a major outbreak less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said American troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated against the flu.
A day off at the pool — and a little sunburn — didn’t stop the Minnesota Twins’ momentum.
Brooks Lee hit a three-run homer as Minnesota scored multiple runs in the first inning for the third consecutive game, and the Twins went on to complete a series sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 9-3 win Thursday.
Minnesota has won four games in a row and scored 25 runs in the three-games series in Texas. The two teams had a rare, mid-series day off on Wednesday with the England-Croatia World Cup game being played in Arlington.
“We’re locked in every day,” Lee told Audra Martin on the team’s broadcast. “Yesterday, taking time off, lay out by the pool, get a little burnt and then right back to it. We did a good job getting focused. I feel like we do that with rain delays, too, just lock back in and we’re doing it.”
Lee’s 12th homer capped a four-run first off Jack Leiter (3-7). Trevor Larnach made it 6-0 in the fourth with a two-run shot to straightaway center that just cleared the extended glove of leaping Alejandro Osuna. Larnach’s third hit was an RBI single in the fifth, and Ryan Kriedler hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
Joe Ryan (5-3) struck out seven but needed 97 pitches to get through five scoreless innings while allowing three singles. Leiter was done after the fourth, and has given up 17 runs while losing three starts in a row.
The Twins never trailed in the sweep that extended their winning streak to four, matching their longest this season. Their 14-5 record at Globe Life Field is the best for any American League opponent since the ballpark opened in 2020.
Wyatt Langford, Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue hit solo homers for the Rangers, who have lost five of six games. They are 0-15 when giving up multiple runs in the first inning.
Twins DH Josh Bell, who was born in nearby Irving and grew up in the area, had an RBI single before Lee’s homer. Bell hit a three-run homer in the first inning of the series-opening 4-2 win Monday, and had an RBI single for a 2-0 lead in the first of a 12-2 win on Tuesday.
“We’re just passing the baton each time,” Lee said of the offensive output. “Our guys are hot. They feel good and they came out swinging today. It was awesome to see. We’ve done that for a while now.”
Up next
Twins rookie left-hander Connor Prielipp (2-4, 5.26 ERA) starts Friday at Arizona. The Diamondbacks are scheduled to start right-hander Michael Soroka (8-3, 3.11).
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