Texas Rio Grande Valley @ Texas Tech preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 28, 2018 ) Texas Rio Grande Valley 46, Texas Tech 71

No. 25 Texas Tech avoided a letdown after a signature win and will try to stretch its winning streak to three games when it hosts Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Saturday. After knocking off top-ranked Louisville at Madison Square Garden earlier this month, the Red Raiders rallied to steer clear of an upset bid by Southern Miss at home Monday night.

Freshman guard Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 18 points as Texas Tech did just enough for a 71-65 triumph, its 52nd in a row at home against non-conference opponents. "I think a lot of times when we sit around and feel sorry for ourselves, we're disrespecting the opponent," Red Raiders coach Chris Beard told reporters. "They played harder than us in a lot of stretches of the game and we don't really say that about our team as much but that's exactly what happened." Saturday's contest and another home date with Cal State Bakersfield will give the Texas Tech two more chances to get in sync before Big 12 play begins Jan. 4. The Vaqueros are 1-7 against Division I opponents after suffering a 92-82 loss at Omaha on Sunday.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, FS Southwest Plus

ABOUT TEXAS-RIO GRANDE VALLEY (4-7): Senior guard Jordan Jackson leads the Vaqueros with 14.9 points per game but saw a string of nine straight double-digit efforts come to an end with a five-point showing at Omaha. Senior forward Lesley Varner II picked up much of the slack with 29 points and he is second on the team in scoring (12.9) and first in rebounding (6.3). Junior guard Javon Levi added a career-high 21 points in his fourth game back from a calf injury and he hands out 7.7 assists per contest, including 13 earlier this season against Sam Houston State.

ABOUT TEXAS TECH (7-3): The Red Raiders have played four straight games without leading scorer Jahmi'us Ramsey (17.3), who is out with a hamstring injury but hopeful to play in this one, according to Beard. Junior guard Davide Moretti is next on the scoring list at 14.5 after posting 17 despite 4-of-17 shooting versus Southern Miss. Senior guard Chris Clarke leads the team in rebounds (9.0) and assists (5.9) after stuffing the stat sheet last time out with 14 points, 11 boards and six assists.

TIP-INS

1. Varner is averaging 18.5 points over his last four games despite scoring just two at Creighton on Dec. 13.

2. Shannon is averaging 15.8 points in the four games that Ramsey has missed.

3. The Red Raiders won last season's matchup 71-46 to improve to 6-0 against the Vaqueros.

PREDICTION: Texas Tech 82, Texas-Rio Grande Valley 55