Texas Tech basketball: Scouting the Kansas State Wildcats

Kansas State is worse than Tech on the glass

After the Red Raiders were dominated on the glass in both games last week, we will be paying close attention to that aspect of the game tonight.  Fortunately, this is not an opponent that is very good in that regard.

In fact, KSU is the second-worst team in the Big 12 in rebound margin.   With an average rebounding deficit of 1.00 per game on the season, the Wildcats are one of only four conference teams with a negative rebound margin this year (no, Tech is not one of those four teams) and better than just Iowa State, which the Red Raiders face on Saturday in Lubbock.

On the offensive glass, which is where Tech has been abused in the last week, KSU is nothing special.  Grabbing just 8.5 per game, they rank 177th nationally.  Interestingly, it is guard DeJuan Gordon who leads them with 24 offensive boards this year, not one of the team’s big men.

The defensive glass has been a larger concern for coach Bruce Weber’s team.  Pulling down 22.5 defensive boards per game, his squad is just 277th in the country.

Like Tech, their leading rebounder is a forward, 6-foot-5 Xavier Sneed.  But at 5.1 boards per game, he is far behind Tech’s top rebounder, 6-foot-6 Chris Clarke, who averages 8.5.

In all three conference games thus far, KSU has been beaten on the glass.  That includes being outrebounded by nine against TCU and five by OU.  If the Red Raiders can’t hold a rebounding edge tonight, it will be a rather concerning development indeed.