Southern Miss @ Texas Tech preview

Texas Tech found its top form on a big stage last time out and the Red Raiders look to build on the inspiring triumph when they go after a 52nd straight non-conference win at home Monday night against Southern Miss. Texas Tech had lost three straight games - two in overtime - before holding top-ranked Louisville to 34 percent shooting from the field in a 70-57 upset at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Dec. 10.

“We just played better tonight,” Red Raiders coach Chris Beard told reporters after the victory. “We played on a Monday night a few months ago in April. We’re a good program and we’re worthy. We’ve got good players. We work really hard. We respect everybody, but we don’t fear anyone.” Texas Tech came up with a big effort despite leading scorer Jahmi’us Ramsey (17.3) being out for the third straight game with a hamstring injury and the freshman guard is considered day-to-day for the matchup against Southern Miss. The Red Raiders have won 11 straight home games overall, dating back to last season, and could face a Golden Eagles squad without its top scorer Boban Jacdonmi (12.4 points on 61.4 percent shooting), who is questionable with a foot injury after missing the last three contests. Southern Miss has lost five of its last six games after falling 72-69 at home against North Florida on Saturday.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS (3-8): Sophomore forward Tyler Stevenson had a career-high 27 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals in the loss to North Florida and is scoring 14.6 per game over the past five. Sophomore guard Gabe Watson totaled 30 points in the past two contests to raise his scoring average to 11.9, just ahead of Stevenson (11.4) and senior forward Leonard Harper-Baker (9.6 points, with team highs of 7.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals). Junior guard LaDavius Draine leads the team with 22 makes from 3-point range and averages 9.5 points after pouring in 27 combined the past two games.

ABOUT TEXAS TECH (6-3): Beard told reporters Ramsey “won’t play until he is 100 percent” and the Red Raiders have three games against mid-majors - all under .500 - left before opening Big 12 play against Oklahoma State on Jan. 4. Junior guard Davide Moretti is second on the team in scoring (14.2) and owns the most 3-point goals (20) while freshman guard Terrence Shannon Jr. has chipped in with 11.6 points per contest. Sophomore guard Kyler Edwards adds 10.6 points per game and senior TJ Holyfield averages 9.9, but has managed just 33 over the past six outings after scoring 56 in the first three this season.

TIP-INS

1. Texas Tech’s 6-6 senior G Chris Clarke averages 6.1 points with team highs of 8.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists.

2. Southern Miss sophomore G Jay Malone leads the team with 4.5 assists per game - fourth in Conference-USA entering Sunday.

3. Red Raiders sophomore G Avery Benson had career highs of 10 points and two blocks in the win over Louisville.

PREDICTION: Texas Tech 74, Southern Miss 54