Texas Tech takes its undefeated record on the road for the first time this season when it squares off against winless Incarnate Word on Saturday afternoon in the South Padre Island Battle on the Beach, a one-off college basketball showcase in South Padre Island, Texas.
The Red Raiders (3-0) will be bolstered by the return of Terrance Shannon Jr., their leading returning scorer from last year, who will make his season debut after sitting out the first three games. Questions related to Shannon’s NBA Draft process have been resolved.
Texas Tech heads south on the heels of an 84-49 win at home over Prairie View A&M on Monday. Bryson Williams led the Red Raiders with 18 points, with Davion Warren adding 15 and Kevin McCullar scoring 12 in the victory.
Texas Tech manhandled Prairie View, forging a 50-26 advantage on the boards and taking 24 offensive rebounds.
“You are what you emphasize,” Red Raiders coach Mark Adams said. “About halfway through the summer, we said we’ve got to become a better rebounding team. So, we spent more time blocking out, a lot more time talking about it, holding these guys accountable. We stress it every day. So far they’ve embraced it.”
Texas Tech is scoring at an 87.0 points-per-game clip, with four players averaging in double figures through three games. Williams leads the team with 18.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Incarnate Word (0-3) lost to Division III Concordia (Texas) 82-78 at home on Tuesday. Josh Morgan led Incarnate Word with 28 points, canning seven 3-pointers, while Drew Lutz added 12 points and RJ Glasper tallied 10.
“For us, this is clearly a very disappointing result,” Incarnate Word coach Carson Cunningham said after the loss. “I’m mad at myself for not doing a better job of getting us ready to play better. Obviously, we all need to be better. It’s a gut-check for us to dig deep and fight to improve.”
Morgan leads the Cardinals with a 20.3 ppg average, while Glasper is adding 11.3 points and Lutz is scoring 11.0 points.
The two teams have met three times, with Texas Tech winning them all, including a 79-51 victory last year in Lubbock.
–Field Level Media
