On Saturday, Grant McCasland and the Texas Tech Red Raiders will be given the perfect opportunity to go on the road and continue to build upon their winning streak against a team that could pose a unique sort of challenge. The Red Raiders are matched up against the UCF Knights, who bear an identical 16-4 overall record to Texas Tech.
UCF isn’t the most impressive team in the Big 12 or the country, but the Red Raiders have struggled to beat UCF lately.
And there’s another thing that’s worth keeping an eye on to ensure that it doesn’t develop into a trend.
Unfortunately for the Red Raiders, when the Texas Tech men’s basketball team has hit the road, things haven’t gone well for them. Right now, as Texas Tech prepares for this matchup against the Knights, the Red Raiders are 2-2 in road games.
That includes losses to the Illinois Fighting Illini (by a score of 81-77) and the Houston Cougars (by a score of 69-65). And again it’s worth pointing to the fact that in each of these road losses, the Red Raiders really struggled to hit from behind the three point line.
Can the Texas Tech Red Raiders continue their dominant three point shooting while playing the UCF Knights on the road in Orlando?
Texas Tech made just 27.3 percent of its three point attempts when facing the Fighting Illini and things weren’t much better when the Red Raiders went to Houston. In that conference matchup, Texas Tech made just 32.1 percent of its three point attempts.
And really, just generally, Texas Tech also hasn’t played well in neutral site matchups either. The Red Raiders are just 3-2 when playing in neutral site contests. Which isn’t bad, but it’s worth noting that Texas Tech is much better when playing at home.
So, can Texas Tech avoid significant stretches of time where the Red Raiders go cold from beyond the three point line? Will Texas Tech be able to stay composed and put points on the board? We’ve seen that this team has a high ceiling. Will the Red Raiders continue to play at a high level against UCF?