Thursday, March 4
Lubbock, Texas
6 p.m.
Texas Tech University
vs
Iowa State
RED RAIDER PREVIEW: vs. Cyclones
March 03, 2021 | Men's Basketball
Iowa State at No. 18 Texas Tech | 6 p.m., Thursday | TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 18 Texas Tech will host Iowa State in its home finale at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the United Supermarkets Arena before finishing off the regular season at No. 3 Baylor on Sunday in Waco.
The Red Raiders (16-8, 8-7 Big 12) are currently 10-4 at home this season after wins over Texas and TCU to begin a three-game home stand to end their home slate in the regular season, while the Cyclones (2-19, 0-16 Big 12) have dropped 15 straight following a loss to the Longhorns on Tuesday night in Ames, Iowa. Tech has won four in a row over ISU in the series, including a 91-64 win on Jan. 9 at the Hilton Coliseum where Kevin McCullar recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Kyler Edwards leading the team with 19 points. The Red Raiders have won the past three games over ISU with margins of 27, 30 and 20.
Mac McClung, who scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the first matchup against ISU, leads the Red Raiders with 16.3 points per game this season and is third in the Big 12 with 17.5 ppg. in conference play. McClung is fifth in the Big 12 in scoring for the season and is second with 391 total points. Edwards is coming off a season-high 20 points in the win and has racked up 19 assists in the past five games after having four to go along with his scoring. Terrence Shannon, Jr. is second on the team with 12.6 points per game, while Kevin McCullar is averaging 10.5 points and is tied for the team lead with Marcus Santos-Silva with 6.5 rebounds per game. Tech is coming off a 22-assist game against TCU led by McClung who matched a season high with six and Edwards and Santos-Silva each having four.
Texas Tech comes into its home finale fifth in the nation with a 5.2 turnover margin advantage and lead the Big 12 by limiting opponents to only 62.6 points per game. The Red Raiders have held 11 opponents to under 60 points this season, including in the 68-59 win last Saturday over Texas. The team has also held 11 opponents under 40 percent shooting and are currently limiting teams to 40.8 percent which ranks third in the Big 12. Tech is 22nd nationally with only 10.9 turnovers per game after having nine in the 20-point win over TCU.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech will finish the regular season at No. 3 Baylor with a 3 p.m. game on Sunday in Waco before the start of the Big 12 Championship next week in Kansas City.
MEDIA: The game will be featured on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Rich Hollenberg and Lance Blanks on the call, while Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will broadcast locally on Double T 97.3 and the Texas Tech Sports Network. The Red Raiders will finish off the regular season with an ESPN matchup at No. 3 Baylor.
RED RAIDER REPORT: McClung leads the Red Raiders this season by scoring 16.3 points per game overall and 17.5 per Big 12 game despite coming off his season low with only four points against TCU on Tuesday. McClung led Tech with six assists in the 20-point win to match his season-high in assists and has now had three games with five or more assists and has 58 total (2.4 per game). McClung scored 16 in the win over Texas after going for 17 points at Oklahoma State and is averaging 13.0 ppg. in the last five game. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 1 to honor his performances at West Virginia and LSU and was also named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 18 following a game-winner at Texas and 24 points against Baylor. A junior Gate City, Virginia who transferred from Georgetown this season, he went for a season-high 30 points at West Virginia and then had 22 in the road win at LSU. McClung has scored 20 or more in 10 games this season with his most recent coming with 23 points at Kansas State where he was 8-for-17 from the field and 6 of 9 at the line. For the season, McClung has made 41 3-pointers which is second on the team after going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc against UT but 0-for-1 against TCU. He's also 96-for-118 at the free-throw line (81.4 percent) after making 6 of 7 at the line in the 16-point performance against the Longhorns but did not attempt a free throw on Tuesday night. McClung reached 1,000 points in his career at LSU and comes into the matchup against Iowa State with 1,101 points through 74 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 went 11-for-21 from the field with four 3-pointers. He has made two or more 3-pointers in 14 games this season, four 3-pointers in two games and has made five or more free throws in 10 games. He has led Tech in scoring in 12 games this season and now has 50 games in his career scoring in double digits.
Shannon is coming off a game against TCU where he scored eight points after going for 11 against Texas last Saturday. He led Tech with 18 points at OSU last Monday where he made six shots and was 5-for-8 at the free-throw line. He was named one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award last Wednesday. Dealing with an ankle issue, he was coming off scoring five points at KU after 13 points in the home loss to WVU and was limited to only 10 minutes of play in the second half at KSU with the 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 12.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in conference games and is at 12.6 points per game for the season. A sophomore from Chicago, Shannon has scored in double-digits in 17 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 77-for-99 on free throws (77.8 percent) this season and is 164 of 204 (80.7 percent) for his career. Shannon has scored 573 points, has 222 rebounds and 53 steals through 52 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 last season. Shannon has made 20 3-pointers this season through 23 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. Shannon has now scored in double digits in 17 games this season after going 5-for-7 from the field for his 11 points against the Longhorns.
McCullar had nine points and five rebounds against TCU after going for 10 points, four steals, three assists and five rebounds in the win over Texas. In the first matchup against ISU, McCullar recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in his fourth game back from a preseason injury. He scored 12 points against Kansas and Oklahoma State in the previous two games before UT and TCU. He is now averaging 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds for the season. He also grabbed nine rebounds at KU and had seven rebounds and four steals at OSU. His back-to-back four steals against UT and OSU matched a career high that he's now had five times through 44 games in his career. McCullar hit a career-best three 3-pointers (3-for-4) and also matched a career-high with four assists against KSU where he scored 15 points. 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 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. 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. McCullar redshirted during the historic run to the 2019 NCAA Final Four before playing in 29 games last season. He has now scored 333 points and has 191 rebounds through 44 games of his career. He has recorded two or more steals in nine of 15 games played this season where he is averaging a team-best 1.7 steals per game after having on against TCU.
Santos-Silva grabbed nine rebounds against Texas and also had 10 points in the win after he went for nine rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots in the overtime loss at OSU. He is coming off a game against TCU where he had six rebounds, four assists, three steals and four points in the 20-point victory. He also produced 12 points and eight rebounds in the loss at KU where he reached the 1,000-point milestone in his career. He is now averaging 8.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He leads the Red Raiders with 1.1 blocks per game (27 total) this season with seven in the past three games. He recorded a career-high five assists in the win at Kansas State and now has 30 assists for the season after his four against TCU. Tech's only senior, Santos-Silva is in his first season with the program after transferring from VCU. He comes into the matchup against Iowa State with 1,026 points in his career along with 775 rebounds and 119 blocks through 121 games. 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. Santos-Silva scored a season-high 14 points in the first matchup against Kansas State and has nine double-digit scoring games this season (five in-conference). 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 and 16 double-doubles. He leads Tech with 27 blocks this season, including career-high performances with four blocks in games against Abilene Christian and the home game against Oklahoma State. He's led the team in rebounding in nine games.
Edwards is coming off a season-high 20 points after hitting four 3-pointers against TCU where he also had four assists. Against the Horned Frogs, he was 7-for-8 from the field and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He leads Tech with 43 3-pointers this season. The season-high performance came after Texas where he had 10 points and four assists and is now averaging 9.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and a team-leading 2.8 assists per game for the season. He filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists against WVU after also producing a game at KSU with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal. A junior from Arlington, Edwards has been a part of 65 wins through 93 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 previous season-high 19 points in wins over Abilene Christian and Iowa State this season and has now scored 797 points in his career. He's shooting 43-for-106 (40.6 percent) on 3-pointers this season and has made 122 3-pointers in his career. Edwards leads Tech with 66 assists this season, including a career-high seven assists in the opener against Northwestern State. He's recorded 19 assists in the past five games and has recorded three or more assists in 13 games this season. Edwards comes into the game against Iowa State with 203 assists in his career and needing only three points to reach the 800-point milestone.
Peavy matched a career-high with seven rebounds in the win over TCU where he also had seven points and two assists. He had recorded the career-high seven rebounds at Kansas four games ago and then had a performance against the Longhorns where he produced five points, four assists and five rebounds. He has started 23 of 24 games to begin his collegiate career where he is averaging 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. A true freshman who was the Texas 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 had a conference-high of 10 points at Kansas where he was 4-for-6 from the field and 2 of 4 at the line at Allen Fieldhouse to go along with his seven rebounds. Peavy, who had six points in the first matchup against the Cyclones, is shooting 45.5 percent from the field this season and has scored 133 points.
Tyreek Smith is coming off a career-high nine points in the win over TCU where he was 4-for-4 from the field and also had six rebounds. He had a career-high eight rebounds in the win over Oklahoma at home before matching a career-high with three blocks at KSU where he also had five points. A redshirt freshman, Smith is averaging 2.6 points and 2.5 rebounds through 24 games after his career-best scoring performance on Tuesday night. Smith scored a previous 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. He's second on the team with 21 blocks this season. Burton is averaging 4.7 points and 1.3 assists per game. He's missed the past three games against OSU, UT and TCU with a toe injury and is listed as day-to-day. A junior from Charlotte, North Carolina who transferred from Wichita State, Burton has scored 628 points and has 256 assists through 88 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 17 games as a reserve this season.
Clarence Nadolny 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 19 points away from 100 in his career after scoring two against TCU. Avery Benson 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 5-for-7 on 3-pointers this season after hitting one at OSU. 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 Goldin are true freshman along with Peavy and have had some strong moments in their first season at Tech. A San Diego native, Agbo is averaging 1.9 points per game after scoring a Big 12-best four points in the wins over TCU and Texas. In the win over the Longhorns last Saturday he made a layup and then two free throws in the final minute to help ice the game. He also scored two points at KU and his freshman resume also includes a season-high five points 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 2.4 points and 1.3 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 played one minute against UT after he had not played since the win at Iowa State on Jan. 9 in Ames. He entered the game on Tuesday against TCU upon fans chanting his name and scored two points and had one rebound in seven minutes of play.
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 12 times this season after having only nine in the win over TCU. 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 11.0 turnovers per game which is the second in the Big 12. In Big 12 play, Tech also had only seven turnovers at Texas and Kansas, nine in the win over Kansas State and 10 at Iowa State. The team is averaging only 10.6 turnovers per game in Big 12 play. Tech had only one turnover at halftime against the Cyclones to get out to a 24-point lead in the first matchup. 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 63 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-5.3 turnover margin. 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. Against TCU, Tech forced 15 turnovers and has had more turnovers than their opponent in only five of 24 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 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. Tech had seven steals against TCU with Santos-Silva leading the team with three. Over the past five games, McCullar has 12 steals and Tech has 34.
The Red Raiders (16-8, 8-7 Big 12) are currently 10-4 at home this season after wins over Texas and TCU to begin a three-game home stand to end their home slate in the regular season, while the Cyclones (2-19, 0-16 Big 12) have dropped 15 straight following a loss to the Longhorns on Tuesday night in Ames, Iowa. Tech has won four in a row over ISU in the series, including a 91-64 win on Jan. 9 at the Hilton Coliseum where Kevin McCullar recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Kyler Edwards leading the team with 19 points. The Red Raiders have won the past three games over ISU with margins of 27, 30 and 20.
Mac McClung, who scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the first matchup against ISU, leads the Red Raiders with 16.3 points per game this season and is third in the Big 12 with 17.5 ppg. in conference play. McClung is fifth in the Big 12 in scoring for the season and is second with 391 total points. Edwards is coming off a season-high 20 points in the win and has racked up 19 assists in the past five games after having four to go along with his scoring. Terrence Shannon, Jr. is second on the team with 12.6 points per game, while Kevin McCullar is averaging 10.5 points and is tied for the team lead with Marcus Santos-Silva with 6.5 rebounds per game. Tech is coming off a 22-assist game against TCU led by McClung who matched a season high with six and Edwards and Santos-Silva each having four.
Texas Tech comes into its home finale fifth in the nation with a 5.2 turnover margin advantage and lead the Big 12 by limiting opponents to only 62.6 points per game. The Red Raiders have held 11 opponents to under 60 points this season, including in the 68-59 win last Saturday over Texas. The team has also held 11 opponents under 40 percent shooting and are currently limiting teams to 40.8 percent which ranks third in the Big 12. Tech is 22nd nationally with only 10.9 turnovers per game after having nine in the 20-point win over TCU.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech will finish the regular season at No. 3 Baylor with a 3 p.m. game on Sunday in Waco before the start of the Big 12 Championship next week in Kansas City.
MEDIA: The game will be featured on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Rich Hollenberg and Lance Blanks on the call, while Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will broadcast locally on Double T 97.3 and the Texas Tech Sports Network. The Red Raiders will finish off the regular season with an ESPN matchup at No. 3 Baylor.
RED RAIDER REPORT: McClung leads the Red Raiders this season by scoring 16.3 points per game overall and 17.5 per Big 12 game despite coming off his season low with only four points against TCU on Tuesday. McClung led Tech with six assists in the 20-point win to match his season-high in assists and has now had three games with five or more assists and has 58 total (2.4 per game). McClung scored 16 in the win over Texas after going for 17 points at Oklahoma State and is averaging 13.0 ppg. in the last five game. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 1 to honor his performances at West Virginia and LSU and was also named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 18 following a game-winner at Texas and 24 points against Baylor. A junior Gate City, Virginia who transferred from Georgetown this season, he went for a season-high 30 points at West Virginia and then had 22 in the road win at LSU. McClung has scored 20 or more in 10 games this season with his most recent coming with 23 points at Kansas State where he was 8-for-17 from the field and 6 of 9 at the line. For the season, McClung has made 41 3-pointers which is second on the team after going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc against UT but 0-for-1 against TCU. He's also 96-for-118 at the free-throw line (81.4 percent) after making 6 of 7 at the line in the 16-point performance against the Longhorns but did not attempt a free throw on Tuesday night. McClung reached 1,000 points in his career at LSU and comes into the matchup against Iowa State with 1,101 points through 74 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 went 11-for-21 from the field with four 3-pointers. He has made two or more 3-pointers in 14 games this season, four 3-pointers in two games and has made five or more free throws in 10 games. He has led Tech in scoring in 12 games this season and now has 50 games in his career scoring in double digits.
Shannon is coming off a game against TCU where he scored eight points after going for 11 against Texas last Saturday. He led Tech with 18 points at OSU last Monday where he made six shots and was 5-for-8 at the free-throw line. He was named one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award last Wednesday. Dealing with an ankle issue, he was coming off scoring five points at KU after 13 points in the home loss to WVU and was limited to only 10 minutes of play in the second half at KSU with the 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 12.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in conference games and is at 12.6 points per game for the season. A sophomore from Chicago, Shannon has scored in double-digits in 17 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 77-for-99 on free throws (77.8 percent) this season and is 164 of 204 (80.7 percent) for his career. Shannon has scored 573 points, has 222 rebounds and 53 steals through 52 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 last season. Shannon has made 20 3-pointers this season through 23 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. Shannon has now scored in double digits in 17 games this season after going 5-for-7 from the field for his 11 points against the Longhorns.
McCullar had nine points and five rebounds against TCU after going for 10 points, four steals, three assists and five rebounds in the win over Texas. In the first matchup against ISU, McCullar recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in his fourth game back from a preseason injury. He scored 12 points against Kansas and Oklahoma State in the previous two games before UT and TCU. He is now averaging 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds for the season. He also grabbed nine rebounds at KU and had seven rebounds and four steals at OSU. His back-to-back four steals against UT and OSU matched a career high that he's now had five times through 44 games in his career. McCullar hit a career-best three 3-pointers (3-for-4) and also matched a career-high with four assists against KSU where he scored 15 points. 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 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. 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. McCullar redshirted during the historic run to the 2019 NCAA Final Four before playing in 29 games last season. He has now scored 333 points and has 191 rebounds through 44 games of his career. He has recorded two or more steals in nine of 15 games played this season where he is averaging a team-best 1.7 steals per game after having on against TCU.
Santos-Silva grabbed nine rebounds against Texas and also had 10 points in the win after he went for nine rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots in the overtime loss at OSU. He is coming off a game against TCU where he had six rebounds, four assists, three steals and four points in the 20-point victory. He also produced 12 points and eight rebounds in the loss at KU where he reached the 1,000-point milestone in his career. He is now averaging 8.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He leads the Red Raiders with 1.1 blocks per game (27 total) this season with seven in the past three games. He recorded a career-high five assists in the win at Kansas State and now has 30 assists for the season after his four against TCU. Tech's only senior, Santos-Silva is in his first season with the program after transferring from VCU. He comes into the matchup against Iowa State with 1,026 points in his career along with 775 rebounds and 119 blocks through 121 games. 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. Santos-Silva scored a season-high 14 points in the first matchup against Kansas State and has nine double-digit scoring games this season (five in-conference). 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 and 16 double-doubles. He leads Tech with 27 blocks this season, including career-high performances with four blocks in games against Abilene Christian and the home game against Oklahoma State. He's led the team in rebounding in nine games.
Edwards is coming off a season-high 20 points after hitting four 3-pointers against TCU where he also had four assists. Against the Horned Frogs, he was 7-for-8 from the field and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He leads Tech with 43 3-pointers this season. The season-high performance came after Texas where he had 10 points and four assists and is now averaging 9.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and a team-leading 2.8 assists per game for the season. He filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists against WVU after also producing a game at KSU with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal. A junior from Arlington, Edwards has been a part of 65 wins through 93 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 previous season-high 19 points in wins over Abilene Christian and Iowa State this season and has now scored 797 points in his career. He's shooting 43-for-106 (40.6 percent) on 3-pointers this season and has made 122 3-pointers in his career. Edwards leads Tech with 66 assists this season, including a career-high seven assists in the opener against Northwestern State. He's recorded 19 assists in the past five games and has recorded three or more assists in 13 games this season. Edwards comes into the game against Iowa State with 203 assists in his career and needing only three points to reach the 800-point milestone.
Peavy matched a career-high with seven rebounds in the win over TCU where he also had seven points and two assists. He had recorded the career-high seven rebounds at Kansas four games ago and then had a performance against the Longhorns where he produced five points, four assists and five rebounds. He has started 23 of 24 games to begin his collegiate career where he is averaging 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. A true freshman who was the Texas 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 had a conference-high of 10 points at Kansas where he was 4-for-6 from the field and 2 of 4 at the line at Allen Fieldhouse to go along with his seven rebounds. Peavy, who had six points in the first matchup against the Cyclones, is shooting 45.5 percent from the field this season and has scored 133 points.
Tyreek Smith is coming off a career-high nine points in the win over TCU where he was 4-for-4 from the field and also had six rebounds. He had a career-high eight rebounds in the win over Oklahoma at home before matching a career-high with three blocks at KSU where he also had five points. A redshirt freshman, Smith is averaging 2.6 points and 2.5 rebounds through 24 games after his career-best scoring performance on Tuesday night. Smith scored a previous 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. He's second on the team with 21 blocks this season. Burton is averaging 4.7 points and 1.3 assists per game. He's missed the past three games against OSU, UT and TCU with a toe injury and is listed as day-to-day. A junior from Charlotte, North Carolina who transferred from Wichita State, Burton has scored 628 points and has 256 assists through 88 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 17 games as a reserve this season.
Clarence Nadolny 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 19 points away from 100 in his career after scoring two against TCU. Avery Benson 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 5-for-7 on 3-pointers this season after hitting one at OSU. 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 Goldin are true freshman along with Peavy and have had some strong moments in their first season at Tech. A San Diego native, Agbo is averaging 1.9 points per game after scoring a Big 12-best four points in the wins over TCU and Texas. In the win over the Longhorns last Saturday he made a layup and then two free throws in the final minute to help ice the game. He also scored two points at KU and his freshman resume also includes a season-high five points 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 2.4 points and 1.3 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 played one minute against UT after he had not played since the win at Iowa State on Jan. 9 in Ames. He entered the game on Tuesday against TCU upon fans chanting his name and scored two points and had one rebound in seven minutes of play.
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 12 times this season after having only nine in the win over TCU. 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 11.0 turnovers per game which is the second in the Big 12. In Big 12 play, Tech also had only seven turnovers at Texas and Kansas, nine in the win over Kansas State and 10 at Iowa State. The team is averaging only 10.6 turnovers per game in Big 12 play. Tech had only one turnover at halftime against the Cyclones to get out to a 24-point lead in the first matchup. 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 63 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-5.3 turnover margin. 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. Against TCU, Tech forced 15 turnovers and has had more turnovers than their opponent in only five of 24 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 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. Tech had seven steals against TCU with Santos-Silva leading the team with three. Over the past five games, McCullar has 12 steals and Tech has 34.