Texas Tech vs. Baylor: 2019-20 college basketball preview, TV schedule
Two of the Big 12’s best teams in the Baylor Bears and Texas Tech Red Raiders go head-to-head for the first time this season.
TV Schedule: Tuesday, January 7, 2020, at 9:00 PM ET, ESPN2
Location: United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, Texas
People are still sleeping on the Baylor Bears and Texas Tech Red Raiders, despite both being ranked in last week’s AP Top 25 poll.
Baylor has lost just one game all season, so long ago most college basketball fans have probably forgotten about it. The defeat came at the hands of the Washington Huskies by a single bucket in Alaska, all the way back on November 8; they haven’t lost a game since.
They even have some impressive victories to count off. Baylor beat a ranked Villanova team at a neutral site and ranked Arizona and Butler teams at home. Perhaps they’ll garner more recognition during conference play, with nine games remaining on either CBS, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU (one of those games is the Big 12/SEC Challenge game at Florida).
Baylor’s optics problem – to the extent they have one – is a lack of recognizable stars. Their best player is sophomore guard Jared Butler, averaging 17.3 points per game while shooting 42.2 percent from 3-point distance and 92.3 percent from the free throw line. He’s an excellent scorer and shooter but doesn’t get the national accolades he deserves.
Texas Tech may have an optics problem as well, but theirs is more self-created. Last year’s national runners-up started the season with a handful of victories over nondescript opponents before falling to Iowa, Creighton and DePaul in consecutive games. Those are all potential NCAA tournament teams, but three straight losses dulled the Red Raiders’ shine.
Interestingly enough, they regained it by rolling over then-No. 1 Louisville at Madison Square Garden, failing to lose since and opening Big 12 play with a 35-point smashing of Oklahoma State.
Davide Moretti was expected to be the focal point of the team, but freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey has exceeded the already lofty expectations that came with being the best recruit in the history of the program. He missed a few games with a hamstring injury but is still averaging 17.4 points per game on 47.9 shooting from 3-point range. He trails only Washington’s Isaiah Stewart, Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, Onyeka Okongwu (USC) and Vernon Carey (Duke) on the freshman scoring list this season.
Momentum won’t really give either team the edge on Tuesday, as they enter the game on a combined 15-game winning streak (Baylor 10, Texas Tech 5). Texas Tech does have the edge in passing, however, as their 17.3 assists per game rank 16th in the nation. While Chris Beard’s teams are built around defense, Baylor is actually better in that regard, surrendering 58.9 points per game (12th in the nation).
dark. Next. Biggest takeaways from the week
Texas Tech hasn’t lost a true home game this season and only lost one last year, against Iowa State in January. Baylor has been a team that gives Beard problems, as the Red Raiders are 3-3 against the Bears during his tenure. All of those wins were at home and all of those losses were on the road.
Prediction: Texas Tech 65, Baylor 62