Texas Tech basketball: What has to change in rematch with Kansas

AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 08: Kevin McCullar #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders plays defense against the Texas Longhorns at The Frank Erwin Center on February 08, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)

McCullar will play this time around

Maybe the greatest difference today will be the fact that Kevin McCullar Jr. will play in this contest against KU. Remember, he missed the first meeting between these teams this season with a sprained ankle that kept him out of the first handful of games on the schedule.

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McCullar is obviously a key addition to this Texas Tech basketball team. Most importantly, he’s third on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game. That type of offensive production would have been invaluable in round one with KU.

That day, Tech shot only 32.3% from the floor. But McCullar, which his propensity for making gritty and tough plays, can help in that regard as he is shooting 41.5% from the floor so far, much of that being thanks to his ability to get “dirty” buckets.

Also, McCullar will almost certainly spend plenty of time harassing Agbaji. That should help keep KU’s leading scorer from going nuts the way he did in Lubbock.

McCullar is Tech’s Swiss Army knife on both ends of the floor and his absence in this season’s earlier meeting was noticeable. Here’s betting that today he finds a way to impact this contest and helps push the Red Raiders to a win.