Texas Tech basketball: 5 teams that hopefully won’t end up in Red Raiders’ region

LSU features dynamic athletes all over the floor

Another S.E.C. team that would be a tough matchup for the Red Raiders is LSU, which won the regular season title after being a bit of an afterthought to begin the season, just like Texas Tech in the Big 12.  But there is good reason why LSU has emerged as a potential Final Four team; their roster is loaded with rangy and athletic players.

Of the seven Tigers averaging over 20 minutes per game, all but one are at least 6-foot-4,  And the Tigers have two athletic big men in Naz Reid (6-foot-10, 240-pounds) and Kavell Bigby-Williams (6-foot-11, 230-pounds) that combine for 21.6 points and 13.8 boards per game.

But it is the smallest player on the roster that makes the Bayou Bengals go.  5-foot-11 Tremont Waters leads the team with 15.1 points and 5.6 assists per game and is the type of speedy guard that Tech has had problems with this year.

The Tigers score 81.4 points per game (11th in the nation) and grab 53.5% of available rebounds (34th-most overall).  But they are not particularly strong defensively as they surrender the 204th-most points in the nation (73.0).  However, they have five players in their rotation with the size to switch off on Jarrett Culver and their size in the paint could make it tough for him to finish at the rim.

But many do not know what to make of the Tigers since their head coach Will Wade has been suspended by the university for potential recruiting violations.  They are now led by former Red Raider and Hobbs, N.M. native Tony Benford which would add another storyline should the Red Raiders and Tigers meet.  Hopefully, that doesn’t happen until the Final Four.