Texas Tech basketball: Previewing CSU Bakersfield

Sunday, the Texas Tech basketball team will face CSU Bakersfield in its final non-conference game before Big 12 play so let’s get to know the Roadrunners.

The Texas Tech basketball team will finally put the holiday break to bed when they return to the court Sunday afternoon at 1 pm, their first game in eight days. The opponent will be one that most Red Raider fans are unfamiliar with, CSU Bakersfield.

At 6-8, the Roadrunners have squared off with two major opponents this year, Gonzaga and Ole Miss. Not surprisingly, they lost to both contests.

Facing the now No. 1 Bulldogs when they were ranked No. 8, CSUB trailed by 18 points at the break on their way to a 77-49 loss in Spokane, Washington. Giving Ole Miss a better test, the Roadrunners were down just 40-37 after the first half but faded in the second twenty minutes en route to an 83-67 defeat.

The ESPN.com matchup predictor gives Tech a 99.5% likelihood of securing the win Sunday. CSUB is scoring on average 73.1 points per game and giving 69.6, 3.4 less and 5.9 more than Tech averages respectively.

One interesting factor to consider is that CSUB isn’t necessarily as heavy of a 3-point shooting squad as many of the mid-major teams that the Red Raiders face. It seems like most mid-major programs have built up an arsenal of 3-point bombers in order to help them overcome size and athleticism disadvantages and that’s usually how they are able to knock off major conference teams.

But that’s not CSUB’s game. Averaging just 15.9 attempts per game, they rank 273rd in the nation. By contrast, Tech is hosting an average of 20.6 shots per game from deep.

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6-foot-5 guard Taze Moore is their most-used player as 23.5% of the possessions when he’s on the floor end with him shooting, assisting, or turning the ball over. After suffering a leg injury in his freshman year that kept him out for all of 2017-18 and a portion of last season and required five operations, he’s back to full strength and is the Roadrunners’ best player.

Scoring 12.1 points per game, he’s a 40% shooter from deep and he’s making an average of 2.5 shots per game from behind the arc. He had 17 points against Ole Miss despite shooting just 1-5 from deep but he had just five points against the Zags when he managed only two 2-5 shooting in 18 minutes of action.

Interestingly, his 6-foot-4 backcourt partner, DeMonte Buckingham, leads the team in rebounding at 4.6 per game. He’s also scoring nine points per game, third-most on the roster.

Though he’s just a 31.5% shooter from 3-point range, Buckingham has made the most 3s on the team (17) and attempted the second-most (54). Tech will need to find Justin Elder-Davis and Cameron Allen as well because each has drilled 16 shots from behind the arc this year.

Like most mid-major teams, CSUB is not a big team with two 6-foot-9 forwards as their only players over 6-foot-8. Therefore, look for the Red Raiders to try to dominate the glass. Interestingly, both teams are grabbing an average of 39.1 boards per game and being as neither team has a ton of size, the rebounding battle among the guards and wings will be worth keeping an eye on.

Surprisingly, the Road Runners had an edge on the glass against both Gonzaga (+10) and Ole Miss (+9). So Tech won’t be able to assume that they will just own the boards without bringing the effort required to do so.

Averaging 18.7 free throws per game, they don’t get to the line on as well as Tech. What’s more, their opponents average 23.6 attempts per game, which is one more than the Red Raiders are shooting so expect Tech to dominate at the line again.

This is another opponent, the final of the season, that Tech should be able to overwhelm with talent and athleticism. But that’s not to suggest that this game will be one that Chris Beard and his team can overlook.

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After playing sloppy and uninspired basketball against two other teams (Southern Miss and UT Rio Grande Valley) that should not have given them the scares that they did last week, the Red Raiders should not be of the mindset that they will simply walk over the Roadrunners. Like we said before each of last week’s games, Tech shouldn’t have any trouble against CSU Bakersfield so long as they play up to their standards. Of course, that’s something this team hasn’t done since knocking off Louisville. Hopefully, that changes on Sunday because, after that, Big 12 play arrives.

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