The No. 16 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders are facing an uphill battle when it comes to winning the Big 12 title at this point, but that doesn’t mean that this Texas Tech men’s basketball team can’t continue to build its resume and improve down the stretch. This season has already been really solid and it can continue to be great.
Like, you know, if the Red Raiders were to go on the road and upset the No. 1 team in the country. I mean, if Texas Tech had the chance to do that, that’d be great! And if my notes are accurate, it sure sounds like the Red Raiders might just have that chance!
That’s because Grant McCasland and the Texas Tech men’s basketball team are set to meet up with the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats, who are no longer unbeaten.
Arizona, fresh off a loss against the Kansas Jayhawks, will be hosting the Red Raiders on Saturday. And with that, I have a few questions for Texas Tech as they meet up with a Wildcats team looking to bounce back.
No. 1: Is Texas Tech prepared to fight for rebounds against the Arizona Wildcats?
I’m not saying this is going to be what decides the outcome of this matchup, but the Wildcats are such a dominant team in large part due to how good Arizona is at grabbing rebounds. We’re talking about a team that is among the best in the country.
Arizona grabs 44 rebounds per game while Texas Tech is averaging 37.7 rebounds per game. And that’s a significant difference, but it’s not as significant as the +13 rebound advantage that the Wildcats have as an average against their opponents this season.
The Wildcats are holding opponents to just 31 rebounds per game, which is alarming! Is Texas Tech prepped for that?
No. 2: Can Texas Tech hit enough three pointers while on the road?
So far this season, the Red Raiders have been so productive with their three point shooting and are a good bit better than the Wildcats in this category. Texas Tech makes 11.5 three pointers per game while Arizona is making just 5.9 threes per game.
But, well, Arizona is good at defense. And the Wildcats are limiting foes to just 31.4 percent from behind the three point line. The fact that Texas Tech makes a ton of threes doesn’t guarantee much success because of how good Arizona is at clamping down on foes.
No. 3: What will Arizona look like after its first loss?
I’m sure a ton of folks are going to be asking this one because of the way the Kansas Jayhawks managed to secure a 4-point win over Arizona earlier this week. The Wildcats, entering that game, were boasting an unblemished record of 23-0 and managed to hold on to the top spot in the college basketball rankings for a bit because of how dominant they’d been.
So how will they play after dropping a road game in close fashion? How will Arizona do when returning home and playing in front of a home crowd against a really good conference opponent? I, for one, would appreciate it if the Wildcats didn’t happen to have a chip on their shoulder about the whole deal. But we’ll see.