Tuesday, February 9
Lubbock, Texas
8 p.m.
Texas Tech University
vs
No. 14 West Virginia
RED RAIDER PREVIEW: vs. WVU
February 08, 2021 | Men's Basketball
No. 7 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 West Virginia | 8 p.m., Tuesday | TV: ESPN
LUBBOCK, Texas – On a three-game winning streak and back in the national top-10, No. 7 Texas Tech will host No. 14 West Virginia at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (14-5, 6-4 Big 12) are on their three-game winning streak following a 73-62 win at Kansas State last Saturday, while the Mountaineers (13-5, 6-3 Big 12) have won two straight with a 91-79 win over Kansas in their weekend matchup. WVU secured an 88-87 win over TTU on Jan. 25 in Morgantown, West Virginia in the first matchup between the two teams this season.
Tech is 4-0 at home against West Virginia under head coach Chris Beard coming into the game. Beard, who is 108-49 in his fifth season as the head coach at Texas Tech, is 71-12 in games played in Lubbock.
Mac McClung leads the Big 12 at 19.7 points per conference game this season after scoring 23 at Kansas State last Saturday to give him a conference-leading nine games with 20 or more points, while Kevin McCullar is third in the conference with 7.6 rebounds per game. McClung scored a season-high 30 points in the first matchup against West Virginia and is second in the conference at 17.2 points per game for the season. He is currently 17th nationally and the Big 12 leader with 87 made free throws and is second with 103 made baskets. Terrence Shannon, Jr. comes into the Tuesday night matchup against WVU averaging 13.0 points per game, while Marcus Santos-Silva is seventh in the conference with 6.5 rebounds per game and third with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. The Red Raiders are fifth nationally with a plus-6.1 turnover margin advantage after having only 10 and forcing 18 at KSU, while the team is also 14th in the country by holding teams to just 61.7 points per game with 12 of 19 opponents being held under 65 points. Along with securing possession, Tech's defense is 15th nationally by forcing 17.0 turnovers per game.
The Red Raiders come into the matchup against WVU having made the third most free throws in the nation and are shooting 72.5 percent from the line. Tech went 15-for-22 at the line in the win over the weekend at KSU and is now 333 of 459 from the line this season. The team has made 15 or more free throws in 13 games this season, highlighted by going 30-for-36 in the first win over KSU.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and West Virginia will be meeting up for the 22nd time with the Mountaineers holding a 15-6 advantage in the series after the 88-87 win back on Jan. 21 in Morgantown, West Virginia. The two programs first played in the NCAA Sweet 16 on March 24, 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico with WVU advancing with a 65-60 win. The series is even at 4-4 in Lubbock with the Red Raiders having won four straight at home. Tech was 1-9 against WVU before getting its first home win over the Mountaineers with a 77-76 overtime win on Jan. 3, 2017 at the USA.
POLLS: Texas Tech has jumped six spots and returned to the top-10 following a three-game winning streak that has the Red Raiders at No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 8 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. TTU has run off wins over LSU, then-No. 9 Oklahoma and made it three straight with a 73-62 road win at Kansas State last Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas. The wins pushed the Red Raiders up from No. 13 in last week's AP rankings. The team is currently at No. 12 in the NCAA NET Rankings The Red Raiders are back in the top-10 for the second time this season after being at No. 10 two weeks ago. The program's highest ranking was at No. 6 in Week 16 of the 2017-18 season. Prior to Beard, Tech had only been a top-10 team in the 1995-96 season where they were as high as No. 7. The Red Raiders were No. 7 in the final AP Top 25 Poll of the 2018-19 season where they advanced to the Final Four. Texas Tech is currently 3-4 against teams in the AP Top 25 with two wins over No. 9 Oklahoma and a win at Texas when the Longhorns were at No. 4 in the rankings.
MEDIA: The game will be televised on ESPN with Kevin Connors and Chris Spatola on the call, while Geoff Haxton and Chris Level have the radio broadcast that can be found locally on Double T 97.3 and throughout the Texas Tech Sports Network.
UP NEXT: After a postponement at Baylor which was scheduled for Saturday, Tech will now play at TCU on Monday, Feb. 15 before hosting the Horned Frogs on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
RED RAIDER REPORT: McClung leads the Red Raiders this season by scoring 17.2 points per game overall and 19.7 per Big 12 game after going for 23 points last Saturday at Kansas State. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday to honor his performances last week against West Virginia and LSU and was also named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 18. A junior Gate City, Virginia who transferred from Georgetown this season, he is averaging 21.0 points in the past five games including going for a season-high 30 points at West Virginia and 24 against Baylor. McClung has scored 20 or more in nine games this season after also going for 22 points last Saturday at LSU. He was 8-for-17 from the field and 6-for-9 at the free-throw line at KSU to get to 23 points on Saturday. He was limited to six points last Monday against Oklahoma, scoring all six at the free-throw line where he was 6-for-6 in the only Big 12 game that he hasn't scored in double figures. For the season, McClung has made 33 3-pointers which is second on the team. He's also 87-for-107 at the free-throw line (81.3 percent) and is shooting 43.3 percent from the field. McClung reached 1,000 points in his career at LSU and comes into the second matchup of the season against WVU with 1,036 points through 69 games in his collegiate career. He scored a career-high 38 points as a freshman for the Hoyas against Little Rock on Dec. 12, 2018. In his season-high against WVU, McClung was 11-for-21 from the field with four 3-pointers in the 30-point performance in Morgantown. He has made two or more 3-pointers in 11 games this season.
Shannon was limited to only 10 minutes in the second half at KSU with an ankle injury where he scored only two points. He had led the team in scoring in the previous two games after scoring a season-high 23 in the win at LSU before going for 15 points against Oklahoma. He's currently averaging 13.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in conference games and is at 13.0 points per game for the season. A sophomore from Chicago, Shannon has scored in double-digits in 14 games and 20 or more in four games. Against LSU he also added 10 rebounds to his 23-point performance for his first career double-double. He would score the final six points of the win, first on a layup off a steal to take a 72-71 lead before knocking down four free throws to ice the game. He's currently 64-for-78 on free throws (82.1 percent) this season and is 151 of 183 (82.5 percent) for his career. Shannon has scored 518 points, has 211 rebounds and 49 steals through 47 games of his career. He scored a career-high 24 points last season as a freshman at DePaul and also had a career-best 11 rebounds at Kansas. Shannon has made 16 3-pointers this season through 18 games played after having nine through 29 games as a freshman. He is a Julius Erving Award Finalist this season after being named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team last year.
McCullar is averaging 10.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in Big 12 play this season after going for 15 points and six rebounds at KSU following a 13/8 performance in the win over Oklahoma. He hit a career-best three 3-pointers (3-for-4) and also matched a career-high with four assists against KSU. The other four-assist game coming in the first matchup at WVU. A redshirt sophomore from San Antonio, McCullar missed the first nine games of the season due to an injury suffered in the preseason but has emerged as one of the top players in the conference. He has recorded two double-doubles this season, first with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State and then again with a 10/10 double-double at home against No. 2 Baylor. He has three double-digit rebounding performances in his career after also having 11 rebounds last season at Iowa State. He has two double-doubles in his career, both this season. McCullar scored a career-high 16 points in the win at Texas where he was 6-for-7 from the field, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers. He hit two 3-pointers again last Monday night against Oklahoma where he was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and also 5-for-6 on free throws. McCullar redshirted during the historic run to the 2019 NCAA Final Four before playing in 29 games last season. He has now scored 282 points and has 164 rebounds through 39 games of his career. McCullar matched a career-high with four steals against Oklahoma after also having two four-steal performances last season.
Santos-Silva is averaging 8.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game along with leading the Red Raiders with 1.1 blocks per game (20 total) this season after going for six points and six rebounds at KSU. He recorded a career-high five assists in the win over the Wildcats and now has 24 assists for the season. Tech's only senior, Santos-Silva is in his first season with the program after transferring from VCU. He comes into the second matchup against WVU with 986 points in his career along with 743 rebounds and 112 blocks through 116 games. He had nine points and two rebounds in Morgantown against the Mountaineers. He has recorded two double-doubles this season with 10 points and 13 rebounds against Northwestern State before going for 12 points and 10 rebounds against Sam Houston State. He also had double-digit rebounding performances with 11 rebounds against Baylor and then 12 rebounds against LSU in Baton Rouge. He's also had an eight-rebound game against the Sooners last Monday. Santos-Silva scored a season-high 14 points in the first matchup against Kansas State. At VCU, he had a pair of 26-point games highlighted by a 26-point, 22-rebound double-double against Rhode Island on March 15, 2019. He leads Tech with 20 blocks this season, including career-high performances with four blocks in games against Abilene Christian and Oklahoma State.
Edwards filled the stat sheet with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal in the win at Kansas State and is now averaging 9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds a team-leading 2.4 assists per game. He was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers against KSU and 4-for-6 from the field. A junior from Arlington, Edwards has been a part of 63 wins through 88 games as a Red Raider that includes playing in all 38 games a freshman during the run to the 2019 NCAA Championship Final. Edwards scored a season-high 19 points in wins over Abilene Christian and Iowa State this season and has now scored 748 points in his career. He's shooting 35-for-91 (36.9 percent) on 3-pointers this season and has made 114 3-pointers in his career. Edwards leads Tech with 47 assists this season, including a career-high seven assists in the opener against Northwestern State. He had three more assists in the win at KSU and has recorded three or more assists in 10 games this season. Edwards eight points and three rebounds against WVU in the first matchup.
Peavy has started 18 of 19 games to begin his collegiate career where he is averaging 5.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. A true freshman who was the Class 6A Player of the Year and a Class 6A State Champion at Duncanville HS, Peavy has scored a season-high 14 points in the season opener against Northwestern State and has a conference-high of nine points in the first matchup against Kansas State but was held scoreless against them last Saturday. He scored six points and had five rebounds against Baylor before also scoring six points at West Virginia. In the first matchup at WVU, he was 2-for-4 from the field and also had two rebounds. Peavy is shooting 44.4 percent from the field this season and is one point away from 100.
Smith is coming off a week where he had a career-high eight rebounds in the win over Oklahoma before matching a career-high with three blocks at KSU. A redshirt freshman, Smith is averaging 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds through 19 games. He went for five points, three blocks and two steals at KSU last Saturday in 12 minutes of play. Smith scored a career-high seven points in the non-conference wins over Northwestern State and Troy. Against Troy, he had a career-high three blocks that was matched at KSU to take his season total to 18. Burton is averaging 4.5 points and 1.3 assists per game in his first season at Tech after transferring from Wichita State. A junior from Charlotte, North Carolina, Burton has scored 616 points and has 253 assists through 86 games of his collegiate career. He scored a season-high 10 points in the win over Grambling in non-conference play and had a Big 12-best of nine at West Virginia where he was 4-for-7 from the field with one 3-pointer. Burton had a season-high five assists in the win over Northwestern State and has an 11-assist performance against Oklahoma State on his resume from Wichita State. Burton has made four starts and appeared in 15 games as a reserve this season.
Nadolny is coming off a week where he scored a season-high seven points against Oklahoma where he was 2-for-2 from the field, including hitting one 3-pointer before scoring three points at KSU. A sophomore from France, he had a season-best three assists at West Virginia in the first matchup where he played 17 minutes before scoring his seven points in 15 minutes against OU. He had a previous season-high of six points in the win over Corpus Christi and has a career-high of nine points last season against Houston Baptist as a freshman. He is currently 23 points away from 100 in his career. Benson has missed the past three games with an injury and is currently averaging 1.6 points and 1.0 rebound per game. A redshirt junior, Benson is the only player on the current roster who was with the program when it advanced to the 2018 Elite 8. He is currently 4-for-6 on 3-pointers this season and scored a season-high six points against Incarnate Word. Benson had a career-high 10 points and two blocked shots last season in the win over No. 1 Louisville at the 2019 Jimmy V Classic in New York. Chibuzo Agbo and Vladislav are true freshman along with Peavy and have had some moments in their first season at Tech. A San Diego native, Agbo is averaging 1.8 points per game with a season-high five coming in the opener against Northwestern State. He had three points at West Virginia with a 3-pointer and also had two points at LSU. Agbo has hit six 3-pointers this season. Goldin is the tallest player on the roster at 7-foot-1 and is averaging 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. A forward from Russia, Goldin scored a career-high six points against Grambling in non-conference play and also added four rebounds in the win. Goldin has not played since the win at Iowa State on Jan. 9 in Ames.
SECURING POSSESSION: Beard stresses a 10-or-less turnover game is one of the keys to victory in every game the Red Raiders play which the team has accomplished 10 times this season after only having 10 against Oklahoma last Monday and then against at Kansas State. The season has been highlighted by a two-turnover showing at West Virginia which matched the Big 12 single-game record. The Red Raiders are currently averaging only 10.9 turnovers per game which is the second in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally. In Big 12 play, Tech also had only seven turnovers against Texas and Kansas, nine in the win over Kansas State and 10 at Iowa State. Tech had only one turnover at halftime against the Cyclones to get out to a 24-point lead. In non-conference play, Tech had only four turnovers against Corpus Christi which was the low in the Beard era before the two in Morgantown. During his five seasons, Tech has committed 10 or less turnovers 61 times under Beard. The program's low turnover output was highlighted at the 2019 Final Four with only seven in a win over Michigan State and eight in the overtime loss to Virginia in the National Championship game. Tech currently has a plus-6.1 turnover margin which is fifth nationally. OU leads the Big 12 with only 10.8 turnovers per game after having 11 against the Red Raider defense last Monday. The Red Raiders have drastically improved in the turnover category after committing 13.7 last season.
FORCING THE ISSUE: Texas Tech forced 30 turnovers against Grambling for the most since the 2009 season opener against South Dakota. At KSU, Tech forced 18 turnovers and has had more turnovers than their opponent in only four of 19 games. The Red Raiders forced 16 against Baylor after 15 turnovers at Texas and Iowa State. Tech has recorded 13 steals in two games this season, against Grambling and Northwestern State before having eight at KSU. The team had seven steals against the Mountaineers in the first matchup. McCullar matched his career-high with four steals in the win over OU while McClung, Burton and Smith had two each against the Wildcats. The 13 steals against Grambling and Northwestern State is the most steals in a game since a 15-steal game by the team against Rice on Dec. 16, 2017.
GAME-BY-GAME TURNOVERS (TTU-OPPONENT): TTU 10-NSU 19; TTU 12-SAM 18; TTU 18-HOU 14; TTU 13-TROY 22; TTU 13-GRAM 30; TTU 16-ACU 22; TTU 4-TAMUCC 20; TTU 7-KU 16; TTU 13-OU 16; TTU 7-UIW 20; TTU 14-OSU 13; TTU 9-KSU 14; TTU 10-ISU 15; TTU 7-UT 15; TTU 20-BU 16; TTU 2-WVU 12; TTU 13-LSU 12; TTU 10-OU 11; TTU 10-KSU 18.
STIFLING STARTS: The Texas Tech defense has been strong throughout the first 18 games, but especially solid in the first half where it has outscored its first 18 opponents by a combined 662-524 margin. TTU limited OU to only 18 points in the first half by holding the Sooners to 25.9 shooting from the field and 1-for-10 on 3-pointers before leading 30-25 at Kansas State. The Longhorns were an anomaly, outscoring the Red Raiders by a 48-38 margin before Tech made its second-half comeback for the win. Only seven of the first 19 opponents have scored over 30 points through the opening 20 minutes of games. ACU was limited to only 14 points in the opening 20 minutes and Sam Houston was at 15. The 14 points scored by ACU at the break was the lowest since Northwestern State was held to 10 points at halftime in 2018.
OUR LEADER: Beard is in his fifth season as the Texas Tech head coach where he has led the program to a 108-49 record, including an 8-2 mark in the NCAA Tournament. Beard was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year and earned Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019. An assistant coach at Texas Tech under Bob and Pat Knight, Beard has amassed an impressive 138-54 record as a Division I head coach that started with one season at Little Rock where he was 30-5. He also has head coaching stops at Fort Scott Community College, Seminole State, McMurry and Angelo State in his collegiate career. Beard is the 17th head coach in Texas Tech history and reached 100 wins on Dec. 12, 2020 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He is the fastest Tech coach to reach that milestone following James Dickey (148 games), Bob Knight (150), Gerald Myers (152) and Polk Robison (170). Beard is now 200-77 as an NCAA head coach.
TEXAS Tech Coaching wins
COACH RECORD SEASONS
1. Gerald Myers 325-262 (.554) 1971-1991
2. Polk Robison 255-197 (.564) 1942-46; 1947-1961
3. James Dickey 166-124 (.574) 1991-2001
4. Bob Knight 138-82 (.627) 2001-08
5. Berl Huffman 116-72 (.617) 1935-1942; 1946-1947
6. Chris Beard 108-49 (.686) 2016-present
7. Gene Gibson 100-92 (.521) 1961-1969
BEARD AT HOME (71-12, 30-11 Big 12)
2016-17: 16-3, 6-3 Big 12
2017-18: 17-1, 8-1 Big 12
2018-19: 17-1, 8-1 Big 12
2019-20: 13-4, 6-3 Big 12
2020-21: 8-3, 2-3 Big 12
THE STAFF: Beard is assisted this season by associate head coach Mark Adams, assistant coaches Ulric Maligi and Bob Donewald, Casey Perrin (Chief of Staff), Sean Sutton (Advisor/Player Development), John Reilly (Strength & Conditioning) and associate athletic trainer Mike Neal. Adams is entering his fifth season on Beard's staff and also assisted him at Little Rock. A 1979 graduate of Texas Tech, Adams is a former head coach at Clarendon College, Wayland Baptist, West Texas A&M, Texas-Pan American and Howard College. He earned 2019 TABC Assistant Coach of the Year and is a member of multiple hall of fames, most recently being inducted into the NJCAA's Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class for 2020. Donewald is in his second season on the staff, but his first as an assistant. He has extensive experience in professional basketball and worked last season as the program's director of player development. Maligi is also in his second season on the staff and is widely respected as one of the top emerging assistants in the nation. He led the charge in the recruitment of this year's signing class which was the highest ranked in program history. Reilly, a Killeen, Texas native who competed on the BYU Track & Field team, is also in his fifth season having led the strength and conditioning each year for Beard. Neal is in his second season, coming over from Little Rock where he played basketball and was the team's athletic trainer during Beard's year leading the program.
UNCOMFORTABLE – BEARD EXPLAINS: "Being comfortable gets you beat every single time. You see it all the time in sports. You win a big game and the next time there's a letdown and a loss. We've all seen that. Life is the same way. You can have a great day at work and you could take the edge off. It takes a special person, we use the word 'elite', to remain uncomfortable. Coach Knight would talk a lot about when things were going good that we need to shake the tree from time to time. Everybody expects the best and have focus during times of adversity, but only the elite people can push themselves each day to stay uncomfortable. I think being uncomfortable is where growth comes from. Uncomfortable is what you have to be to compete in the Big 12. Our guys have embraced this. Each season we try to have a theme and with this year's group, we just feel that if we can stay uncomfortable we'll be where we need to be. We like our talent. We like our culture. If this team can keep pushing and not get too high or too low by staying uncomfortable right there in the middle, we think we have a great chance to grow."
The Red Raiders (14-5, 6-4 Big 12) are on their three-game winning streak following a 73-62 win at Kansas State last Saturday, while the Mountaineers (13-5, 6-3 Big 12) have won two straight with a 91-79 win over Kansas in their weekend matchup. WVU secured an 88-87 win over TTU on Jan. 25 in Morgantown, West Virginia in the first matchup between the two teams this season.
Tech is 4-0 at home against West Virginia under head coach Chris Beard coming into the game. Beard, who is 108-49 in his fifth season as the head coach at Texas Tech, is 71-12 in games played in Lubbock.
Mac McClung leads the Big 12 at 19.7 points per conference game this season after scoring 23 at Kansas State last Saturday to give him a conference-leading nine games with 20 or more points, while Kevin McCullar is third in the conference with 7.6 rebounds per game. McClung scored a season-high 30 points in the first matchup against West Virginia and is second in the conference at 17.2 points per game for the season. He is currently 17th nationally and the Big 12 leader with 87 made free throws and is second with 103 made baskets. Terrence Shannon, Jr. comes into the Tuesday night matchup against WVU averaging 13.0 points per game, while Marcus Santos-Silva is seventh in the conference with 6.5 rebounds per game and third with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. The Red Raiders are fifth nationally with a plus-6.1 turnover margin advantage after having only 10 and forcing 18 at KSU, while the team is also 14th in the country by holding teams to just 61.7 points per game with 12 of 19 opponents being held under 65 points. Along with securing possession, Tech's defense is 15th nationally by forcing 17.0 turnovers per game.
The Red Raiders come into the matchup against WVU having made the third most free throws in the nation and are shooting 72.5 percent from the line. Tech went 15-for-22 at the line in the win over the weekend at KSU and is now 333 of 459 from the line this season. The team has made 15 or more free throws in 13 games this season, highlighted by going 30-for-36 in the first win over KSU.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and West Virginia will be meeting up for the 22nd time with the Mountaineers holding a 15-6 advantage in the series after the 88-87 win back on Jan. 21 in Morgantown, West Virginia. The two programs first played in the NCAA Sweet 16 on March 24, 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico with WVU advancing with a 65-60 win. The series is even at 4-4 in Lubbock with the Red Raiders having won four straight at home. Tech was 1-9 against WVU before getting its first home win over the Mountaineers with a 77-76 overtime win on Jan. 3, 2017 at the USA.
POLLS: Texas Tech has jumped six spots and returned to the top-10 following a three-game winning streak that has the Red Raiders at No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 8 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. TTU has run off wins over LSU, then-No. 9 Oklahoma and made it three straight with a 73-62 road win at Kansas State last Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas. The wins pushed the Red Raiders up from No. 13 in last week's AP rankings. The team is currently at No. 12 in the NCAA NET Rankings The Red Raiders are back in the top-10 for the second time this season after being at No. 10 two weeks ago. The program's highest ranking was at No. 6 in Week 16 of the 2017-18 season. Prior to Beard, Tech had only been a top-10 team in the 1995-96 season where they were as high as No. 7. The Red Raiders were No. 7 in the final AP Top 25 Poll of the 2018-19 season where they advanced to the Final Four. Texas Tech is currently 3-4 against teams in the AP Top 25 with two wins over No. 9 Oklahoma and a win at Texas when the Longhorns were at No. 4 in the rankings.
MEDIA: The game will be televised on ESPN with Kevin Connors and Chris Spatola on the call, while Geoff Haxton and Chris Level have the radio broadcast that can be found locally on Double T 97.3 and throughout the Texas Tech Sports Network.
UP NEXT: After a postponement at Baylor which was scheduled for Saturday, Tech will now play at TCU on Monday, Feb. 15 before hosting the Horned Frogs on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
RED RAIDER REPORT: McClung leads the Red Raiders this season by scoring 17.2 points per game overall and 19.7 per Big 12 game after going for 23 points last Saturday at Kansas State. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday to honor his performances last week against West Virginia and LSU and was also named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 18. A junior Gate City, Virginia who transferred from Georgetown this season, he is averaging 21.0 points in the past five games including going for a season-high 30 points at West Virginia and 24 against Baylor. McClung has scored 20 or more in nine games this season after also going for 22 points last Saturday at LSU. He was 8-for-17 from the field and 6-for-9 at the free-throw line at KSU to get to 23 points on Saturday. He was limited to six points last Monday against Oklahoma, scoring all six at the free-throw line where he was 6-for-6 in the only Big 12 game that he hasn't scored in double figures. For the season, McClung has made 33 3-pointers which is second on the team. He's also 87-for-107 at the free-throw line (81.3 percent) and is shooting 43.3 percent from the field. McClung reached 1,000 points in his career at LSU and comes into the second matchup of the season against WVU with 1,036 points through 69 games in his collegiate career. He scored a career-high 38 points as a freshman for the Hoyas against Little Rock on Dec. 12, 2018. In his season-high against WVU, McClung was 11-for-21 from the field with four 3-pointers in the 30-point performance in Morgantown. He has made two or more 3-pointers in 11 games this season.
Shannon was limited to only 10 minutes in the second half at KSU with an ankle injury where he scored only two points. He had led the team in scoring in the previous two games after scoring a season-high 23 in the win at LSU before going for 15 points against Oklahoma. He's currently averaging 13.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in conference games and is at 13.0 points per game for the season. A sophomore from Chicago, Shannon has scored in double-digits in 14 games and 20 or more in four games. Against LSU he also added 10 rebounds to his 23-point performance for his first career double-double. He would score the final six points of the win, first on a layup off a steal to take a 72-71 lead before knocking down four free throws to ice the game. He's currently 64-for-78 on free throws (82.1 percent) this season and is 151 of 183 (82.5 percent) for his career. Shannon has scored 518 points, has 211 rebounds and 49 steals through 47 games of his career. He scored a career-high 24 points last season as a freshman at DePaul and also had a career-best 11 rebounds at Kansas. Shannon has made 16 3-pointers this season through 18 games played after having nine through 29 games as a freshman. He is a Julius Erving Award Finalist this season after being named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team last year.
McCullar is averaging 10.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in Big 12 play this season after going for 15 points and six rebounds at KSU following a 13/8 performance in the win over Oklahoma. He hit a career-best three 3-pointers (3-for-4) and also matched a career-high with four assists against KSU. The other four-assist game coming in the first matchup at WVU. A redshirt sophomore from San Antonio, McCullar missed the first nine games of the season due to an injury suffered in the preseason but has emerged as one of the top players in the conference. He has recorded two double-doubles this season, first with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State and then again with a 10/10 double-double at home against No. 2 Baylor. He has three double-digit rebounding performances in his career after also having 11 rebounds last season at Iowa State. He has two double-doubles in his career, both this season. McCullar scored a career-high 16 points in the win at Texas where he was 6-for-7 from the field, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers. He hit two 3-pointers again last Monday night against Oklahoma where he was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and also 5-for-6 on free throws. McCullar redshirted during the historic run to the 2019 NCAA Final Four before playing in 29 games last season. He has now scored 282 points and has 164 rebounds through 39 games of his career. McCullar matched a career-high with four steals against Oklahoma after also having two four-steal performances last season.
Santos-Silva is averaging 8.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game along with leading the Red Raiders with 1.1 blocks per game (20 total) this season after going for six points and six rebounds at KSU. He recorded a career-high five assists in the win over the Wildcats and now has 24 assists for the season. Tech's only senior, Santos-Silva is in his first season with the program after transferring from VCU. He comes into the second matchup against WVU with 986 points in his career along with 743 rebounds and 112 blocks through 116 games. He had nine points and two rebounds in Morgantown against the Mountaineers. He has recorded two double-doubles this season with 10 points and 13 rebounds against Northwestern State before going for 12 points and 10 rebounds against Sam Houston State. He also had double-digit rebounding performances with 11 rebounds against Baylor and then 12 rebounds against LSU in Baton Rouge. He's also had an eight-rebound game against the Sooners last Monday. Santos-Silva scored a season-high 14 points in the first matchup against Kansas State. At VCU, he had a pair of 26-point games highlighted by a 26-point, 22-rebound double-double against Rhode Island on March 15, 2019. He leads Tech with 20 blocks this season, including career-high performances with four blocks in games against Abilene Christian and Oklahoma State.
Edwards filled the stat sheet with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal in the win at Kansas State and is now averaging 9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds a team-leading 2.4 assists per game. He was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers against KSU and 4-for-6 from the field. A junior from Arlington, Edwards has been a part of 63 wins through 88 games as a Red Raider that includes playing in all 38 games a freshman during the run to the 2019 NCAA Championship Final. Edwards scored a season-high 19 points in wins over Abilene Christian and Iowa State this season and has now scored 748 points in his career. He's shooting 35-for-91 (36.9 percent) on 3-pointers this season and has made 114 3-pointers in his career. Edwards leads Tech with 47 assists this season, including a career-high seven assists in the opener against Northwestern State. He had three more assists in the win at KSU and has recorded three or more assists in 10 games this season. Edwards eight points and three rebounds against WVU in the first matchup.
Peavy has started 18 of 19 games to begin his collegiate career where he is averaging 5.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. A true freshman who was the Class 6A Player of the Year and a Class 6A State Champion at Duncanville HS, Peavy has scored a season-high 14 points in the season opener against Northwestern State and has a conference-high of nine points in the first matchup against Kansas State but was held scoreless against them last Saturday. He scored six points and had five rebounds against Baylor before also scoring six points at West Virginia. In the first matchup at WVU, he was 2-for-4 from the field and also had two rebounds. Peavy is shooting 44.4 percent from the field this season and is one point away from 100.
Smith is coming off a week where he had a career-high eight rebounds in the win over Oklahoma before matching a career-high with three blocks at KSU. A redshirt freshman, Smith is averaging 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds through 19 games. He went for five points, three blocks and two steals at KSU last Saturday in 12 minutes of play. Smith scored a career-high seven points in the non-conference wins over Northwestern State and Troy. Against Troy, he had a career-high three blocks that was matched at KSU to take his season total to 18. Burton is averaging 4.5 points and 1.3 assists per game in his first season at Tech after transferring from Wichita State. A junior from Charlotte, North Carolina, Burton has scored 616 points and has 253 assists through 86 games of his collegiate career. He scored a season-high 10 points in the win over Grambling in non-conference play and had a Big 12-best of nine at West Virginia where he was 4-for-7 from the field with one 3-pointer. Burton had a season-high five assists in the win over Northwestern State and has an 11-assist performance against Oklahoma State on his resume from Wichita State. Burton has made four starts and appeared in 15 games as a reserve this season.
Nadolny is coming off a week where he scored a season-high seven points against Oklahoma where he was 2-for-2 from the field, including hitting one 3-pointer before scoring three points at KSU. A sophomore from France, he had a season-best three assists at West Virginia in the first matchup where he played 17 minutes before scoring his seven points in 15 minutes against OU. He had a previous season-high of six points in the win over Corpus Christi and has a career-high of nine points last season against Houston Baptist as a freshman. He is currently 23 points away from 100 in his career. Benson has missed the past three games with an injury and is currently averaging 1.6 points and 1.0 rebound per game. A redshirt junior, Benson is the only player on the current roster who was with the program when it advanced to the 2018 Elite 8. He is currently 4-for-6 on 3-pointers this season and scored a season-high six points against Incarnate Word. Benson had a career-high 10 points and two blocked shots last season in the win over No. 1 Louisville at the 2019 Jimmy V Classic in New York. Chibuzo Agbo and Vladislav are true freshman along with Peavy and have had some moments in their first season at Tech. A San Diego native, Agbo is averaging 1.8 points per game with a season-high five coming in the opener against Northwestern State. He had three points at West Virginia with a 3-pointer and also had two points at LSU. Agbo has hit six 3-pointers this season. Goldin is the tallest player on the roster at 7-foot-1 and is averaging 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. A forward from Russia, Goldin scored a career-high six points against Grambling in non-conference play and also added four rebounds in the win. Goldin has not played since the win at Iowa State on Jan. 9 in Ames.
SECURING POSSESSION: Beard stresses a 10-or-less turnover game is one of the keys to victory in every game the Red Raiders play which the team has accomplished 10 times this season after only having 10 against Oklahoma last Monday and then against at Kansas State. The season has been highlighted by a two-turnover showing at West Virginia which matched the Big 12 single-game record. The Red Raiders are currently averaging only 10.9 turnovers per game which is the second in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally. In Big 12 play, Tech also had only seven turnovers against Texas and Kansas, nine in the win over Kansas State and 10 at Iowa State. Tech had only one turnover at halftime against the Cyclones to get out to a 24-point lead. In non-conference play, Tech had only four turnovers against Corpus Christi which was the low in the Beard era before the two in Morgantown. During his five seasons, Tech has committed 10 or less turnovers 61 times under Beard. The program's low turnover output was highlighted at the 2019 Final Four with only seven in a win over Michigan State and eight in the overtime loss to Virginia in the National Championship game. Tech currently has a plus-6.1 turnover margin which is fifth nationally. OU leads the Big 12 with only 10.8 turnovers per game after having 11 against the Red Raider defense last Monday. The Red Raiders have drastically improved in the turnover category after committing 13.7 last season.
FORCING THE ISSUE: Texas Tech forced 30 turnovers against Grambling for the most since the 2009 season opener against South Dakota. At KSU, Tech forced 18 turnovers and has had more turnovers than their opponent in only four of 19 games. The Red Raiders forced 16 against Baylor after 15 turnovers at Texas and Iowa State. Tech has recorded 13 steals in two games this season, against Grambling and Northwestern State before having eight at KSU. The team had seven steals against the Mountaineers in the first matchup. McCullar matched his career-high with four steals in the win over OU while McClung, Burton and Smith had two each against the Wildcats. The 13 steals against Grambling and Northwestern State is the most steals in a game since a 15-steal game by the team against Rice on Dec. 16, 2017.
GAME-BY-GAME TURNOVERS (TTU-OPPONENT): TTU 10-NSU 19; TTU 12-SAM 18; TTU 18-HOU 14; TTU 13-TROY 22; TTU 13-GRAM 30; TTU 16-ACU 22; TTU 4-TAMUCC 20; TTU 7-KU 16; TTU 13-OU 16; TTU 7-UIW 20; TTU 14-OSU 13; TTU 9-KSU 14; TTU 10-ISU 15; TTU 7-UT 15; TTU 20-BU 16; TTU 2-WVU 12; TTU 13-LSU 12; TTU 10-OU 11; TTU 10-KSU 18.
STIFLING STARTS: The Texas Tech defense has been strong throughout the first 18 games, but especially solid in the first half where it has outscored its first 18 opponents by a combined 662-524 margin. TTU limited OU to only 18 points in the first half by holding the Sooners to 25.9 shooting from the field and 1-for-10 on 3-pointers before leading 30-25 at Kansas State. The Longhorns were an anomaly, outscoring the Red Raiders by a 48-38 margin before Tech made its second-half comeback for the win. Only seven of the first 19 opponents have scored over 30 points through the opening 20 minutes of games. ACU was limited to only 14 points in the opening 20 minutes and Sam Houston was at 15. The 14 points scored by ACU at the break was the lowest since Northwestern State was held to 10 points at halftime in 2018.
OUR LEADER: Beard is in his fifth season as the Texas Tech head coach where he has led the program to a 108-49 record, including an 8-2 mark in the NCAA Tournament. Beard was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year and earned Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019. An assistant coach at Texas Tech under Bob and Pat Knight, Beard has amassed an impressive 138-54 record as a Division I head coach that started with one season at Little Rock where he was 30-5. He also has head coaching stops at Fort Scott Community College, Seminole State, McMurry and Angelo State in his collegiate career. Beard is the 17th head coach in Texas Tech history and reached 100 wins on Dec. 12, 2020 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He is the fastest Tech coach to reach that milestone following James Dickey (148 games), Bob Knight (150), Gerald Myers (152) and Polk Robison (170). Beard is now 200-77 as an NCAA head coach.
TEXAS Tech Coaching wins
COACH RECORD SEASONS
1. Gerald Myers 325-262 (.554) 1971-1991
2. Polk Robison 255-197 (.564) 1942-46; 1947-1961
3. James Dickey 166-124 (.574) 1991-2001
4. Bob Knight 138-82 (.627) 2001-08
5. Berl Huffman 116-72 (.617) 1935-1942; 1946-1947
6. Chris Beard 108-49 (.686) 2016-present
7. Gene Gibson 100-92 (.521) 1961-1969
BEARD AT HOME (71-12, 30-11 Big 12)
2016-17: 16-3, 6-3 Big 12
2017-18: 17-1, 8-1 Big 12
2018-19: 17-1, 8-1 Big 12
2019-20: 13-4, 6-3 Big 12
2020-21: 8-3, 2-3 Big 12
THE STAFF: Beard is assisted this season by associate head coach Mark Adams, assistant coaches Ulric Maligi and Bob Donewald, Casey Perrin (Chief of Staff), Sean Sutton (Advisor/Player Development), John Reilly (Strength & Conditioning) and associate athletic trainer Mike Neal. Adams is entering his fifth season on Beard's staff and also assisted him at Little Rock. A 1979 graduate of Texas Tech, Adams is a former head coach at Clarendon College, Wayland Baptist, West Texas A&M, Texas-Pan American and Howard College. He earned 2019 TABC Assistant Coach of the Year and is a member of multiple hall of fames, most recently being inducted into the NJCAA's Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class for 2020. Donewald is in his second season on the staff, but his first as an assistant. He has extensive experience in professional basketball and worked last season as the program's director of player development. Maligi is also in his second season on the staff and is widely respected as one of the top emerging assistants in the nation. He led the charge in the recruitment of this year's signing class which was the highest ranked in program history. Reilly, a Killeen, Texas native who competed on the BYU Track & Field team, is also in his fifth season having led the strength and conditioning each year for Beard. Neal is in his second season, coming over from Little Rock where he played basketball and was the team's athletic trainer during Beard's year leading the program.
UNCOMFORTABLE – BEARD EXPLAINS: "Being comfortable gets you beat every single time. You see it all the time in sports. You win a big game and the next time there's a letdown and a loss. We've all seen that. Life is the same way. You can have a great day at work and you could take the edge off. It takes a special person, we use the word 'elite', to remain uncomfortable. Coach Knight would talk a lot about when things were going good that we need to shake the tree from time to time. Everybody expects the best and have focus during times of adversity, but only the elite people can push themselves each day to stay uncomfortable. I think being uncomfortable is where growth comes from. Uncomfortable is what you have to be to compete in the Big 12. Our guys have embraced this. Each season we try to have a theme and with this year's group, we just feel that if we can stay uncomfortable we'll be where we need to be. We like our talent. We like our culture. If this team can keep pushing and not get too high or too low by staying uncomfortable right there in the middle, we think we have a great chance to grow."