Texas Tech is unbeaten against mid-major competition and the Red Raiders are displaying the mettle and consistency that will be necessary once they start facing more powerful foes next week.
Texas Tech will look to maintain its perfect start Saturday afternoon against visiting Lamar in a Lone Star state battle at Lubbock, Texas.
Texas Tech rolled to a 96-40 home win over Omaha on Tuesday and visiting Lamar was left with its fifth straight loss by falling to Texas-San Antonio 79-73 on Wednesday.
Texas Tech’s Terrence Shannon Jr. finished with a game-high 18 points Tuesday, when all 12 players scored at least three points and the Red Raiders (5-0) recorded the program’s most lopsided win since a 101-39 victory over South Carolina State on Dec. 17, 2014.
Texas Tech has won its first five games — four at home and a fifth at the South Padre Island Battle on the Beach — by an average of 30.8 points, with none of the wins by fewer than 15 points. After Sunday, three of the Red Raiders’ next four games are against top programs — Providence in the Big 12-Big East Battle on Wednesday, Tennessee in the Jimmy V. Classic on Dec. 7 and No. 1 Gonzaga in the Jerry Colangelo Classic on Dec. 18.
“I tell the team all the time to think of every game like we’re going against the No. 1 team in the country,” Shannon said Wednesday night. “I feel like we did a good job doing that (Tuesday), being focused.”
The losing streak has been filled with near-misses for Lamar (1-5), which fell to Georgia Tech 75-66 on Nov. 15 before squandering double-digit leads in defeats against Stetson and Southern Mississippi.
The game Saturday will be the first of back-to-back set against power conference foes for the Cardinals, who are slated to visit the SEC’s Mississippi State on Thursday.
Lamar was picked to finish 11th in the Western Athletic Conference, which it joined this season after 23 years in the Southland Conference. Junior guard Jordyn Adams is averaging 12.8 points per game to lead four Cardinals scoring in double figures.
This marks the fifth all-time meeting between the schools. Texas Tech leads the series 3-1 and earned a win in the most recent game Nov. 21, 2009, when the Red Raiders won 77-54 at Lubbock.
–Field Level Media
