Texas Tech basketball: Scouting the Northwestern State Demons
Tonight, the Texas Tech basketball team takes on Northwestern State in the 2020-21 season opener so let’s get to know the year’s first opponent.
Texas Tech basketball is finally back in our lives. For the first time 258 days, when Tech was pulled off the court just minutes prior to their Big 12 Tournament matchup with Texas, Chris Beard’s team will return to action tonight when it faces Northwestern State in Lubbock.
This will be the fifth time that these programs have met with Tech winning all five. What’s more, no game in this series has ever been decided by fewer than eleven points.
But this Northwestern State team is capable of giving the Red Raiders a challenge tonight. So let’s take a look at what the Demons will bring to the table starting with the one advantage they may have.
Northwestern State is experienced
If there is one area where the Demons may have an edge over the Red Raiders, it could be when it comes to experience. That’s because they return the bulk of last year’s team.
Perhaps most importantly, they bring back their starting backcourt of C.J. Jones and Brian White who have between them 70 career starts and 100 career appearances. That duo combined for 11.5 points and 5.2 assists per game in 2019-20.
What’s more, Northwestern State brings back seven guards that played at least 100 minutes for their team last year. That’s quite a difference from the Red Raider roster, which has only two guards returning from last year’s regular rotation (Kyler Edwards and Kevin McCullar).
Also adding to the Demons’ experience advantage is their frontcourt. Four of last season’s six forwards are back.
Senior Jamaure Gregg is back after a 7.5 point, 5.7 rebound season that saw him put up seven double-figure games. Meanwhile, 6-foot-7, 300-pound senior Larry Owens gives them some beef in the post and he will likely spend much of his evening slugging it out with Tech forward Marcus Santos-Silva.
In all, Northwestern State has ten upperclassmen on the roster with all of them being part of last year’s team and with every member of the starting lineup being either a senior or junior. Additionally, they bring back eight of last year’s top 10 scorers and five of the top seven rebounders.
According to their game notes, the Demons return 67.2 percent of their scoring (1,521 of 2,265 points), 59.5 percent of their rebounds (696 of 1,169) and 77.2 percent of their assists (298 of 386). That’s got to make them feel more confident about opening up on the road against the no. 13 team in the nation.
We all know that Tech has the talent advantage in this matchup by a wide margin. But the Red Raiders return only five members of last year’s primary rotation. Additionally, they are trying to work seven newcomers into the mix as well as a pair of players in Joel Ntambwe and Tyree Smith who did not play last year. Thus, the one edge that Northwestern State may have could be their experience as they are a team that has tons of game experience together.