The Stanford Cardinal (8-0) will come home on Sunday night and try to stay
unbeaten on the season as they take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-3) at
Maples Pavilion at 7:00pm on December 28th as part of this year's edition of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.
Stanford is coming off another tough, hard fought, yet almost wire-to-wire,
victory over West Conference neighbor Santa Clara at the Leavey Center,
77-69. In that contest, the Cardinal’s Landry Fields got back on track
after a couple of subpar performances, scoring 18 points on 7-13 shooting, while
senior guards Anthony Goods and Mitch Johnson combined for 30 points against the
young Broncos backcourt , helping Stanford get their third road win of the year.
Stanford is looking to continue their momentum as their non-conference season
winds down against a team they have now faced for the third season in a
row. Their first matchup took place in the final Pete Newell Challenge in
San Jose where the Cardinal won 70-59. Last year, Stanford made its way to
the O'Reilly Red Raider Christmas Classic in Dallas and edged Texas Tech, 62-61,
coming back from seven points down at the half to get the win. In that
contest, Brook Lopez had 17 of his 19 points after the half for the
Cardinal. The Red Raiders were led by Martin Zeno and Alan Voskuil, who
were the only players in double figures for Texas Tech, scoring 14 and 13
points, respectively.
The 2008 edition of the Texas Tech Raiders are led by sophomore guard John Roberson, a 5-11 sophomore out of Plano, Texas. Roberson does a little of
everything for Texas Tech, averaging 16.3 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds
per contest. Three other players score in double figures for Tech,
including the aforementioned Voskuil (14.6), now a senior in Lubbock, junior
Nick Okorie (11.8), a junior college transfer from South Plains JC, and
sophomore Mike Singletary (10.7), a 6-6 forward from Kingwood, Texas.
Texas Tech is coached by Pat Knight, the son of legendary coach Bobby Knight,
as he tries to lead a program that was back on the rise under the tutelage of
his father. So far, the Red Raiders have had a mostly successful season,
but have had a couple of mind-boggling games along the way. At home in
late November, Texas Tech beat East Central University (out of Ada, Oklahoma, in
case you were wondering) in a “Wild West” shootout, 167-115. Three weeks
later, the Red Raiders took to the road and were swept away in Beaumont by Lamar
by six, 85-79, and by a resounding 28-point margin in El Paso by UTEP,
96-68. Since those two losses, Tech has rebounded to beat New Mexico
and Centenary College by margins of eight and 14, respectively.
Like Santa Clara, Texas Tech has used a variety of starting lineups thus far
in 2008. Of the 14 players who have had some time on the floor for the Red
Raiders, 10 of them have started at least one game and only two (leading scorers
Roberson and Voskuil) have played more than 30 minutes per game. However,
three players (Roberson, Voskuil, and sophomore D’Walyn Roberts) have started
every game this season for Texas Tech. Okorie has started in all eight
games he has played in for the Red Raiders and should be back for today's game at Maples after missing almost four weeks of action due to a sprained ankle he suffered in practice following Texas Tech's game versus Wichita State.
Looking at the statistical comparisons between the two teams, Texas Tech is
the better shooting team from the field (48% vs. 45%), while both teams shoot
the same percentage from beyond the arc, right around 39%. Texas Tech
allows opponents to shoot just 42% from the field, while Stanford opponents
shoot 47%. Both squads shoot around 70% from the line, with Texas Tech at
69%, Stanford at 71%, but Stanford’s number has fallen more than five percentage
points due to some subpar performances against Northwestern and Santa
Clara. Texas Tech outrebounds opponents by less than a rebound per game,
while Stanford is being outboarded by almost two rebounds a contest.
Finally, Texas Tech outscores opponents by an 86-77 margin, while Stanford,
despite closer games the last three times out, is beating teams by an average
score of 77-65.
To win this game, Stanford will again have to continue to shoot the ball well
from beyond the arc and do a better job of defending inside the three-point
line, especially against a team at potent as Texas Tech. So far this year,
Stanford opponents are shooting a dismal 31% from outside the arc, but are
allowing teams to make baskets at will from inside the three-point line, letting
them convert at a 54% clip. With no one over 6-9 playing more than 15
minutes per game for the Red Raiders, Stanford will not have to deal with a big
man who is as big and strong as John Bryant was for Santa Clara, but they better
be ready to play 40 minutes of up-and-down basketball and hope that their
defense can stop Texas Tech’s offense on occasion to win this game on their home
court and move their record to 9-0 on the year.
After playing Texas Tech, the Cardinal will turn around and play their
second-to-last non-conference game of the year, taking on the America East
Conference’s Hartford Hawks (4-8) on Tuesday, December 30th at 7:30pm.
Pac-10 Conference play begins just a few short days later as Stanford will
welcome Arizona State and Arizona to Maples Pavilion for Friday/Sunday tilts as
2009 begins.
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