Texas A&M-CC @ Texas Tech preview
Comerica Center
Last Meeting ( Dec 1, 2011 ) Texas Tech 61, Texas A&M CC 54
Playing lockdown defense can contribute to a successful outcome more often than not, and that was the wave Texas Tech rode Wednesday night in a gritty performance against Abilene Christian.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi experienced the opposite effect Thursday when the Islanders turned in a solid defensive performance against Texas-Rio Grande Valley but tumbled anyway.
Now, the two teams will collide with both looking to enhance their offensive performances when the No. 17 Red Raiders (5-1) and TAMCC (1-4) meet Saturday afternoon in a neutral-site game at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
Abilene Christian forced Texas Tech to grind out a 51-44 victory on Wednesday in a matchup of two teams with nearly identical styles and coached by close friends. The underdog Wildcats even grabbed a brief second-half lead after trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half.
But the Red Raiders found a spark on defense with a pair of late steals to escape an upset, and that is something coach Chris Beard hopes his team learns from.
"This kind of game makes both teams better as the year goes on," Beard said. "They took us out of a lot of the things we like to do, and we've got to figure out why and how, and how to make teams not take us out of what we want to do."
What the Raiders struggled with most vs. Abilene Christian was shot-making. They knocked down only 12-of-43 attempts from the floor -- a season-low 27.9 percent -- and were worse from 3-point territory (2 of 15). Getting second-chance points -- 11 of them on the strength of 14 offensive rebounds -- helped, as did easy looks in transition with 17 points off of 22 Wildcat turnovers.
UTRGV used a similar formula to offset a solid defensive night for TAMCC by whipping the Islanders on the glass on one end of the floor and cashing in on their 24 turnovers.
The Vaqueros put up 18 more floor shots than the Islanders, the result of 16 offensive rebounds, and generated 29 points off the TAMCC miscues.
"You look at the final score and you would never have guessed that the opponent had 18 more shot attempts from the field," Islanders coach Willis Wilson said. "Turnovers and offensive rebounds. There's really nothing more to say about it.
"Defensively, we were pretty good. We held them to (34.8% shooting) from the field, but at the end of the day, conceding 18 scoring opportunities -- that's a lot of points we're not giving ourselves a chance to get."
Solving offensive woes doesn't figure to get any easier against the Red Raiders, who are permitting foes to shoot just 34.2 percent from the floor this season, which leads the Big 12 Conference. Texas Tech also tops the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing only 50.7 points a game.
Abilene Christian warmed up quite a bit in the second half just to wind up at 35.6 percent after making only 5-of-21 shot attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
"They're a heck of a defensive team, so we've got to do a good job of taking care of the ball, spacing the floor and running our stuff," Wilson said.
Injuries continue to be an issue for Texas Tech. Starter Terrence Shannon sat out the Abilene Christian game with an ankle injury, similar to the one that has kept likely starter Kevin McCullar out of action all season. Tyreek Smith also sat out in the second half.
--Field Level Media