Red Raider Preview: South Carolina

Saturday, January 27

Columbia, SC

11:00 AM

Texas Tech Athletics

South Carolina

January 26, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

The Red Raiders have split their first four Big 12/SEC Challenge matchups.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 14 Texas Tech men's basketball team concludes a stretch of three of four games on the road when the Red Raiders step out of Big 12 action one final time during the regular season and take on South Carolina as part of the fifth-annual Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday.

Tip time is slated for 11 a.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESNP2 along with the ESPN app. Beth Mowins and Jimmy Dykes will serve as the announcing team.

The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations Double T 97.3 FM, 100.7 FM The Score and 950 AM in Lubbock. Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will have the radio call. The radio broadcast also will be available on the Texas Tech Sports Network radio affiliates, online at www.TexasTech.com and the Tune-In Radio app. Fans can interact live with Saturday's broadcast by following @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.

The Big 12 has won three of the first four events with the two conferences splitting the 10 matchups last season. Overall, the Big 12 has posted a 25-15 record over the four-year span.

The Red Raiders (16-4, 5-3 Big 12) have garnered a 2-2 record in their previous Big 12/SEC Challenge games. Texas Tech has collected home wins over Auburn (46-44, 2014-15) and LSU (77-64, 2016-17) coupled with road losses to Alabama (76-64, 2013-14) and Arkansas (75-68, 2015-16).

The Red Raiders are in a four-way log jam for second place with Kansas State, Oklahoma and West Virginia in the Big 12 standings. All four teams sit one game behind 13-time defending champion and frontrunner Kansas.

The 16-4 start for Texas Tech is tied for the second-best mark in program history through 20 games. The Red Raiders have been 16-4 or better six times most recently during the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons under Bob Knight when Chris Beard was an assistant coach. Texas Tech's best start through 20 games was a 19-1 mark in 1995-96 under James Dickey. That season, the Red Raiders racked up a program-best 23-game winning streak.

The Gamecocks (13-7, 4-4 SEC) are trending in the right direction courtesy of wins in three of their last four outings. South Carolina has picked up victories over then No. 18 Kentucky (76-68) on Jan. 16 and at No. 20 Florida (77-72) on Wednesday.

The Gamecocks hold a 2-1 edge with all three meetings coming during the 1970's. Texas Tech came away with an 83-75 win behind a 31-point performance by former All-American Mike Russell on Dec. 4, 1976 in Lubbock.

"We're excited for the next opportunity on the schedule which is a road game at South Carolina," Beard said. "Frank Martin is one of the best coaches in college basketball. He's got really good players. They made the Final Four last year and returned several key players including both of their bigs from that team. We are proud to represent the Big 12 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. We are just looking forward to the opportunity. We know we will have to play really well – probably our best 40 minutes of basketball this season - to have a chance in this game."

ABOUT TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders are coming off their third comeback victory of the season where they've trailed by 10 or more points during the second half. Texas Tech erased a 15-point hole over the last 18:39 to turn the tables and snapped a two-game losing skid with a 75-70 win over Oklahoma State on Tuesday.

The Red Raiders continue to sport one of the nation's best defensive units and are ranked among the NCAA's Top 20 in four defensive categories highlighted by scoring defense (61.6 PPG – 7th), field goal percentage (38.8 – 14th), turnovers forced (16.8 – 14th) and turnover margin (+3.9 – 19th).

Keenan Evans has pumped in 17.1 points, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. All three marks rank inside the Big 12's Top 15 sparked by the 17.1 points which check in at fourth place. Evans has secured over 20 points on seven occasions, and Texas Tech has notched a 6-1 record in those games. Last time out, he tallied 26 points and five assists during the Oklahoma State game. Evans heads into Saturday's action 21 points shy of passing Koy Smith (1993-94-95-96) for 23rd place on the program's all-time list.

Jarrett Culver and Zhaire Smith have been inserted into the starting lineup together in the last two games. The freshmen duo has contributed 10.9 and 10.1 points per game, respectively.

Culver exploded for a career-best 25 points and hauled down eight rebounds versus Oklahoma State. He has upped his average to 16.7 points per game over his last three appearances. Smith has accounted for double figures in 12 of his last 15 outings and his 57.6 field goal percentage clip is ranked eighth on the Big 12 leaderboard.

A strength for the Red Raiders has been their bench play which has racked up a Big 12-leading 709 points for a 35.5 per game average. Texas Tech has produced a 242-138 advantage in bench points over their first eight Big 12 contests.

The Red Raider bench is fueled by Niem Stevenson (7.2 PPG), Brandone Francis (6.2 PPG), Tommy Hamilton IV (5.4 PPG) and Davide Moretti (4.5 PPG).

Francis has found his groove and dialed up 9.9 points per game over his last seven games. He has canned 33 of his 66 career field goals from three-point territory and his 50.0 three-point clip in Big 12 games is tied for third place in the Big 12 rankings.

Hamilton IV is creeping his way towards 1,000 career points and heads into Saturday's action 88 points shy of the milestone.

Stevenson has tacked on 7.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He has garnered double figures on eight occasions but the last time was an 11-point effort against Baylor in the Big 12 opener.

Justin Gray and Norense Odiase round out Texas's Tech starting five with 5.3 points and 4.1 points per game, respectively. Gray is the only Red Raider to start all 20 games this season and has knocked down 244-of-434 of his two-point attempts.

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks will be facing their fourth consecutive Top 25 opponent and have won two of the first three games during the stretch.

Chris Silva has been solid in all facets of the game with a team-leading 14.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. He has compiled five double-doubles, most recently 18 points and 12 rebounds versus No. 20 Florida on Thursday. Silva has rattled off four 20-plus performances and matched his career-high with 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting against then No. 18 Kentucky on Jan. 16.

Frank Booker has notched 11.1 points and 1.2 steals per game. He has come off the bench in South Carolina's last six games and secured double figures in three of his last four appearances. Booker provided 18 points during the Kentucky game on Jan. 16 and a season's best 21 points at Ole Miss on Dec. 31.

Maik Kotsar and Justin Minaya have notched 8.6 and 8.3 points per game, respectively. Kotsar, a native of Estonia, has reached double digit points on eight occasions. He tallied 12 points and six rebounds versus Kentucky on Jan. 16. Kotsar managed nine points, six rebounds and four assists at No. 20 Florida last time out.

Wesley Myers has picked up his play as of late and registered 10-plus points in five of his last seven games. He poured in a season-high 22 points aided by five three-pointers during the Florida game. In fact, Myers has drained eight of his 18 treys over South Carolina's last two games.

"I talked to Coach Martin (earlier this week, and both of us shared the view that we weren't enjoying playing against each other," Beard said. "It's a great game for college basketball. I think everybody in the Big 12 and SEC appreciates this platform. The timing is not great for either of us because we are in the middle of our conference grind, but I think it's good for college basketball. My friendship with Frank is well documented. Simply stated, he's one of the realest guys I've ever met."

UP NEXT
Texas Tech closes out the first half of its Big 12 schedule and the month of January versus Texas on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT from the United Supermarkets Arena. The game will be televised by ESPNU and the ESPN app.

Tickets to Wednesday's game can be purchased for as low as $15 online at www.TexasTech.com or at the United Supermarkets Arena Box Office which opens on gameday starting at 6 p.m. CT. Doors open to the USA at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Fans are reminded that the S1 Parking Lot at the John Walker Soccer Complex which is located at 3901 10th Street off of Texas Tech Parkway is the lone free parking lot for all fans which includes ADA parking for all men's basketball games.

A free shuttle service begins 90 minutes prior to tipoff and runs up to 60 minutes following the game to transport fans to and from the United Supermarkets Arena. Buses also are ADA accessible. There is no longer free parking available in the West Lot across from the United Supermarkets Arena.

Traffic patterns around the United Supermarkets Arena have changed for the 2017-18 season. All patrons with North Lot passes must enter their lot from the Main and Flint intersection. All fans with South Lot passes must enter their lot from the 18th and Flint intersection. All West Lot pass holders must enter their lot at the Texas Tech Parkway and Knoxville Avenue intersection. All vehicles will be blocked from Indiana Avenue off of the Texas Tech Parkway.

Fans are reminded to go clear at all Texas Tech basketball games. The clear bag policy provides a safer atmosphere and speeds up the entry process into the United Supermarkets Arena.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.