Texas Tech basketball plays for Hall of Fame title tonight against Nebraska

The Texas Tech basketball team will face off with Nebraska tonight in Kansas City in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic at 8:30 pm on ESPN 2.

Last year, the Texas Tech basketball made some early-season noise on the national scene by winning the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament in Connecticut. Tonight, they have an opportunity to do the same when they take on Nebraska in the finals of the Hal of Fame Classic in Kansas City.

Both the Red Raiders and the Corn Huskers are coming off impressive wins on Monday night. Tech took care of USC 78-63 while Nebraska dispatched of Missouri State 85-62.

If Chris Beard’s team can take down their former Big 12 rival, they could find themselves ranked in the top 25 polls just like they did following last year’s 85-49 drubbing of No. 20 in the finals of the Tip-Off Tournament.

But moving to 5-0 on the year will not be easy. Nebraska is an excellent team that will play a much more disciplined and team-oriented game than USC and their NBA prospects did last night.

The Huskers are also 4-0 this year with their most impressive win being a 80-57 home victory over Seaton Hall. They have won their past two games by 23 points, which is their most narrow margin of victory on the season.

Nebraska averages an astonishing 91 points per game while giving up just 43, the same amount that the Red Raiders are surrendering. What’s more, both teams are shooting nearly 51% from the floor and both have been great on the boards with the Huskers grabbing 46 rebounds per game and Texas Tech pulling down 41.

But whereas USC was led by its talented big men, Nebraska is a guard-heavy attack. Its top three scorers are all perimeter players led by 6-foot-6 senior James Palmer Jr.

The native of Maryland is off to a fantastic start averaging 21 points per game. After testing the NBA Draft waters this summer, he has garnered plenty of national attention by being placed on the Naismith Award watch list.

It will be fascinating to watch Palmer and Jarrett Culver go head-to-head for much of this game. If Culver can get the upper hand, he will continue to make a name for himself to those outside the Big 12 who may not be aware of how talented the Lubbock native is.

One key will be to entice Palmer to settle for three-point shots. He is shooting only 17.6% from deep this year but that has not discouraged him from hoisting 5.7 attempts per game. Fortunately, Culver is Texas Tech’s best one-on-one defender thanks to his length and he must make it a priority to keep Palmer out of the lane.

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But the Red Raiders must keep a close eye on Glynn Watson Jr, who is an excellent shooter from distance. The 6-foot-tall senior is shooting 60% from downtown this year and has made 13 threes in four games. He is the Huskers’ second-leading scorer at 16.3 points per game and he must be accounted for at all times.

The only other doubled-digit scorer on Nebraska’s roster is 6-foot-9 senior Isaac Copeland Jr. The North Carolina native is putting up 13.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game thus far. He too is a slasher that does most of his damage off the dribble. Like Palmer, he’s not proven to be a quality long-range shooter hitting just 27.3% from behind the arc.

6-foot-8 forward Isaiah Roby is also a dangerous player despite averaging just 7.7 points per game. He is a high-flyer in the mold of former Red Raider Zach Smith and he must be kept off the glass.

If there is one area where Texas Tech may have a decided advantage, it is in the post. The Huskers lost their starting center this summer when he decided to transfer leaving them with only one player over 6-foot-9 and that is a true freshman, Brady Heiman (6-foot-11, 215-pounds).

Against a bigger USC team, Tech was dominant inside thanks to the athleticism of Tariq Owens. Though Tech’s big men are not primary scorers that the offense runs through, they should be able to have success against a smaller Nebraska team.

Norense Odiase could be a bigger factor offensively than the four points he had against USC. He was the only starter to play fewer than 20 minutes because the athletic USC posts were too much for him to handle but he is a better matchup against the Huskers. Also expect to see more of forward Malik Ondigo who played only minutes off the bench Monday night.

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This is another opportunity for the Red Raiders to put a key non-conference win on its resume. Nebraska is thought by many to be a threat to make a nice run in the NCAA Tournament but if the Red Raiders can play as well tonight as they did over the final 20 minutes against USC, they could very well win another big November tournament.

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