Texas Tech basketball: Preview and broadcast info for CSUB game
Here is a preview of today’s Texas Tech basketball game as well as the broadcast info you need in order to follow all the action.
Hopefully, today the Texas Tech basketball team will give us a nice and peaceful Sunday afternoon of basketball. That’s because today’s game against Cal State Bakersfield is potentially the last stress-free game on the schedule.
Sure, there will be other blowouts this year but we will go into every other game fearing that the opponent can hand the Red Raiders a loss. Of course, given just how poorly Chris Beard saw his team play last week, he’s going to want to see his team play as if this were the Big 12 Tournament finals.
"“Our opponent is very good,” Beard predictably said on Friday. “They’ve been to several postseasons that last couple of years…including an NCAA Tournament. Last year, they advanced far into their postseason. Their coach is a proven veteran, somebody we have a lot of respect for.”More from Wreck'Em RedTexas Tech football: Red Raider fans need to know about these MountaineersTexas Tech football: Red Raiders land first commit for class of 2025Texas Tech football: Why have the Red Raiders struggled on the road under McGuire?Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders can compete for a Big 12 titleTexas Tech football: Plenty of questions remain as conference play arrives"
This will be only the second all-time meeting between the Raiders and Roadrunners after Tech secured a 74-58 win on Dec. 27, 2011. Of course, Tech will be looking to move to 7-0 at home on the season and push the program’s current winning streak against non-conference teams at home to 54 games. Though CSUB is just 6-8 overall, they are riding a two-game winning streak of their own after taking down Cal Poly and Montana State last week.
It will be the last time the Red Raiders are going to be able to fine-tune their game before conference play starts on January 4th against Oklahoma State in Lubbock. That’s when the brutal 18-round cage match that is the Big 12 regular season will put an end to the joy and relative carelessness of November and December basketball.
There’s still quite a bit we need to learn about this Red Raider team. First of all, can they start hitting shots from the outside with enough consistency to be a balanced offense? After a hot start to the year, they are now shooting just 31.9% from 3-point range on the year.
Also, we want to know if the Red Raiders can rebound at a championship level despite being rather small. Thus far, we aren’t seeing any indications that they can’t. Though the Roadrunners have no players over 6-foot-9, they are a very tough offensive rebounding team that hits the glass on that end of the floor an average of 13.9 times per game so they will present a challenge to the Tech defenders when the shot goes up.
We also want to see this team put together its first complete game since knocking off Louisville in New York. In the two games after beating the No.1 team in the land, Tech has trailed mid-major programs at home thanks to lackadaisical play and poor shooting.
A player two keep an eye on today will be true freshman Kevin McCullar Jr. After matching his season-high with 10 points last time out, will he be more confident and assertive with the ball in his hands? It would be fantastic to see him become a more steady offensive contributor off the bench to give Beard a second reserve that can be counted on for points to go along with Chris Clarke.
It will also be worth keeping an eye on sophomore Avery Benson. After playing the role of the hero against Louisville with 10 points and tons of game-changing hustle plays, he’s been a non-factor in the last two games as he has played just 14 and 3 minutes respectively and scored a total of just 3 points.
Standing to reason that this will be a bit of a dress rehearsal for Big 12 play, Beard’s use of his bench will be telling. That’s especially true for the walk-on Benson as we still look to see whether he will be a true rotational piece or a situational player.
So take it in Red Raider fans. Enjoy what should be a fun game that doesn’t cause our blood pressure to spike. That’s because, in under a week, business begins to pick up.