Big 12 Basketball: 2020-21 power rankings heading into New Year
. Red Raiders . 5. team. 468. . 8-2 (1-1)
If you exclude the easy “buy” games that were on the schedule, the Red Raiders played three meaningful matchups. That includes an 11-point loss to Houston after being down by around 20 points at one time, losing to Kansas at home in a tight back-and-forth contest, while surviving Oklahoma on the road despite struggling in some end-of-game scenarios.
There are some promising signs for Texas Tech Basketball this season. Georgetown transfer Mac McClung leads the team with 14.4 ppg and 3.0 apg and has been a consistent source of offense, although the percentages could use a boost. Sophomore forward Terrence Shannon (13.0 ppg) is the team’s other double-digit producer, while freshman wing Micah Peavy looks like an NBA Draft prospect out of the gate.
The team’s shooting has looked lackluster against the top opponents, which is something to consider going forward against the better defensive units in the Big 12. And after Joel Ntambwe elected to leave after a few games, the Red Raiders have mainly Marcus Santos-Silva as the source of frontcourt depth inside. Again, that’ll be something to watch.
At least the addition of guard Kevin McCullar back into the rotation after missing the first month of the season gives Texas Tech another proven scoring to work with. They have to ability to use small lineups and create mismatches, so look for the offense to finally start gelling soon.