Texas Tech basketball: Matchups to watch when Red Raiders face WVU

McCullar vs. McBride will pit elite defense against elite offense

One of the breakout sophomores of this year in the Big 12 has been WVU’s, Miles McBride.  After a nice freshman season that saw him score 9.5 points per game, he’s upped that average to 15.3 this season to lead the Mountaineers.

More from Wreck'Em Red

• Texas Tech football: Red Raider fans need to know about these Mountaineers
• Texas Tech football: Red Raiders land first commit for class of 2025
• Texas 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 title
• Texas Tech football: Plenty of questions remain as conference play arrives

Today, look to see if Tech sends Kevin McCullar to follow McBride around the court in the hopes of keeping him from having his usual offensive impact.  But whomever Tech throws at McBride, they had best bring their “A” defensive game.

What makes McBride so tough to guard is that he’s developed a deadly outside shot this year to complement the other aspects of his offensive game.  After shooting just over 30% last year from deep, he’s now hitting at a 45.1% clip in his second season as a collegiate.

As most Texas Tech basketball fans know, defending the 3-point shot has not been the Red Raiders’ strength this year. In fact, in Big 12 games, Beard’s team is last in the conference by allowing opponents to shoot 39.2% from beyond the arc.

So while McCullar will likely be McBride’s primary defender, it will require a team effort to corral this dangerous scorer.  Hopefully, the week off has allowed Tech to work on its sometimes shaky perimeter defensive rotations and that will keep opposing guards from having the type of 3-point shooting success that we’ve seen recent opponents have.

For instance, reserve Baylor guard Adam Flagler helped down the Red Raiders by hitting three of six shots from deep, only the fourth time this year that he had made more than two 3’s in a game. Then, there was Andrew Jones of Texas who was 4-6 from long distance against Tech in Austin.  Similarly, in the Big 12 opener, KU’s Ochai Agbaji nailed 4 of his 7 shots from downtown to help his team to a 1-point win.

The point is that Tech has to keep McBride from bombing away from deep.  This year, 32.2% of his points have come from 3-point range.  That can’t continue tonight if the Red Raiders are going to come out of one of the toughest arenas in the Big 12 to play in with a victory.