Many eyes will be on this Tuesday night matchup as Illinois plays host to Texas Tech, with both the Red Raiders and Fighting Illini looking to prove themselves in the early stretch of this season.
TV schedule: Tuesday, November 11, 8:30 pm ET. FS1
Arena: State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois
While Texas Tech (2-0) came painfully close to the Final Four last season, this year’s team is focused solely on what’s to come in the months ahead.
Rough and Tough Red Raiders
The Red Raiders have answered the early challenges with big wins against mid-major foes, putting up 98 points in each of their first two contests as their stars have shined early and often.
Junior forward JT Toppin is fresh off a 31-point, 14-rebound effort in his season debut and is one of the best frontcourt players in the nation. Sophomore guard Christian Anderson (26.0 ppg, 9.0 apg) has been very productive leading the charge for the Red Raiders in these initial games. Texas Tech has also gotten a few great efforts out of Donovan Atwell (20.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg), a senior wing and valuable playmaker for this team.
The Red Raiders opened the season #10 in the AP rankings and sit now 14th in KenPom. There weren’t any problems with the offense, especially from the three players we mentioned above. When you dive further into the analytics, the defense wasn’t exactly perfect in their win over Sam Houston and the entire unit will need to be on their best this week.
High Flyin' Illini
Perhaps the early work for Illinois (2-0) this season has been even more impressive, as Brad Underwood’s crew tries to prove that they can be a national competitor this season. The Fighting Illini actually scored 113 points in each of their first two contests, getting a pair of blowout wins where the offense really soared each night.
Point guard Kylan Boswell (20.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.0 apg) isn’t just the leader of the offense but a returning star and veteran presence and he’ll have to be on his game in these big matchups. A few new faces have really made their mark early, as the Illini have gotten fantastic work from freshman David Mirkovic (18.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg) already. The lineup hasn’t even been fully healthy in these blowouts, as Tomislav Ivisic (21 points in their last outing) and Andrej Stojakovic are still getting back into the swing of things.
The season began with Illinois ranked #17 in the AP Top 25, though the metrics are quite a bit higher on this team. Partially helped by those 100-point outings, Illinois is up to 3rd in KenPom; 2nd in offensive efficiency behind only conference rival Purdue. The early work has unquestionably been outstanding without a full deck, though we’ll have to see how this team handles the pressures of a premier opponent.
The 7-foot Ivisic twins give a size advantage for the Illini, but we can’t forget that Toppin’s on the other side. The battle in the interior is going to be something to watch in this game, especially when the Illini have been getting key play from other frontcourt pieces like Mirkovic. Texas Tech didn’t really limit second chance opportunities against Sam Houston and will need to be much better on the boards in Champaign.
Star Power and Size Will Decide the Night
It’s the kind of matchup where someone like Anderson or Boswell can really change the equation with a strong performance. The path to a road win for the Red Raiders might rest on another strong effort from Toppin but he alone cannot get the job done against this balanced and versatile lineup. We’re riding with Illinois at home but let’s not act like they’re going to just drop 100 on a much more talented opponent this time.