Tip: 2:30 PM, ABC

It’s a chilly 32 degrees outside the Erwin Center, but inside my tent I’m cooking up a hot and fresh game preview. That was a pretty shitty lead, but then again, I can’t really feel my toes.

Today’s game is being called a split national telecast, but come on. It’s two games being shown regionally. And, according to this coverage map, Alaska and Hawaii are smack in the middle of the North Carolina region. Allllllrighty.

At the helm for Kansas State is infamous coach Bob Huggins. Love him or hate him, he’s the sports story of the year in Kansas and he’s gotten interest in Wildcat hoops back on the rise. One of six new coaches in the Big 12, Huggy Bear is planning to threaten the Jayhawks’ dominance in the near future. It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen this year, but with his squad at 5-2 in conference play, they are already competing for a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

The Wildcats play a style of ball similar to Billy Gillispie’s Aggies and are going to look to force the game into a physical, defensive battle. If Texas gets stuck settling for half-court sets, they will playing right into their opponent’s hands. Burnt Orange Nation took a look at Ken Pomeroy’s statistical analysis earlier this week to quantitatively show the things we’ve been seeing all along, including our reliance on transition and the need to stay away from that half-court game.

Fans of Texas basketball will remember K-State’s Cartier Martin, if only because the announcers of last year’s game said his name more times than they showed Jim Woolridge flailing aroud in his neck brace. This year, Martin is a sixth-man for the purple and grey, and is still just as effective. He is scoring 15.8 points in his nine games coming off the pine and is giving Huggins roughly 27 minutes a game.

For the past five games, the Wildcats have sported the same starting lineup — guards Clent Stewart, Lance Harris, Akeem Wright, and forwards David Hoskins and Luis Colon. Despite only starting two big men, K-State is third in the conference in rebounding advantage (+5.4). Although Texas leads the league in this category, this is going to be one of the toughest battles on the glass that the Horns have had thus far.

Hoskins and Martin are the key men on offense, according to Ken Pomeroy’s metrics. They combine to end possessions for the ‘Cats over 50 percent of the time, which indicates their importance to the (admittedly) anemic offense. Granted, K-State’s offense has seen an upswing with the recent stability of their starting lineup, but this is definitely a team that relies on their defense.

In their current six-game winning streak, the Wildcats are holding opponents to an average of 59 points per game. They are holding league foes to a 39.7 shooting percentage, good enough for fourth in the conference. As earlier stated, Texas cannot afford to let the score stay as low as Kansas State wants.

In the middle, freshman big man Jason Bennett towers over the lane at 7-foot, 3-inches. In only 13.6 minutes per game, he’s averaging 2.3 blocks. If our guards try to penetrate against this guy, we might have a few balls rejected into the mezzanine.

While I’d love to see Big Dex play against this good rebounding squad, I’m not sure he can keep up with the pace we’re going to want. If we can get three to four minutes out of him per half and utilize him inside during those stretches, he will have done his part. Damion James and Connor Atchley are going to have to step up and stop Martin and Colon, while getting the offensive rebounds to keep our possessions alive.

A quick recap of the keys to the game:

Play our tempo – The half-court set does nothing for Texas, particularly in these next two games against defensive-minded opponents. The Horns need to have a good transition game and also keep the Wildcats from capitalizing on their own turnovers.

Fight on the boards – This is particularly important on the offensive end, because K-State is going to likely force more misses from the Horns than they are used to. They’ll need to be nails on the offensive glass if they want to get the second- and third-chance points they’ll need.

Draw fouls – D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant are particularly effective at getting to the rack and then the line. With Kansas State’s physical style of play, the Horns need to try to take advantage of the home-court whistles and get the key Wildcat players on the bench in foul trouble.

Tip is at a little after 2:30 on ABC, but there’s still activity at the ticket window on Red River. So buy up some mezzanine tickets, pack the Drum, and let’s send Huggy Bear back home with a loss — where he can continue to not graduate his players.

I’m kind of a big deal. People know me. And that’s why I’ll be on ESPN Radio in Austin this afternoon at 3:30 P.M. to discuss Longhorn Road Trip, the state of Texas basketball, and why I’d allow Kevin Durant to sleep with my wife. If I had one.

For those of you outside the Austin area, you can listen in to their live stream online. Just visit their website at www.espnaustin.com and click on the red box along the right-hand side that says “Listen Live.”

I’ll be on during the afternoon Beat Down show with Dan Neil — yes, the former Longhorn and NFL star — A.J. Hoffman, and Kevin Scott. And I’ll be sure to remind Kevin that Texas Tech has been completely unable to figure out Rick Barnes since he arrived on the 40 Acres.

For those of you possessing more technical know-how than me, I would be eternally indebted to anyone who can make an MP3 file of my interview on the show. I know it’s possible, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin. And I’ll be kind of busy talking while it’s actually going on.

So listen to 1530 AM in Austin this afternoon, and I’ll bring you a K-State preview late tonight from a tent outside the Frank Erwin Center. Don’t forget your purple sweaters and ineligible athletes — Huggy Bear is in town!

Coach Barnes talks with Craig Way on the post-game show

In the Big 12 Conference, protecting your home court is key for any team hoping to stake a claim for a top spot in the league. Coming into Wednesday night’s game, Texas Tech had done just that, knocking off both Kansas and Texas A&M from their Top-10 national rankings in the span of only a week. So when the Longhorns visited just seven days after barely surviving an average Nebraska team on the road, the chips seemed to be stacked in the Red Raiders’ favor. Apparently someone forgot to tell Kevin Durant that.

Durant, a leading candidate for not only National Freshman of the Year, but for the prestigious Naismith Award as well, dropped 37 points and secured a mind-blowing 23 rebounds en route to a 76-64 win in Lubbock.

Just minutes before tip-off, Tech coach Bobby Knight called Rick Barnes to midcourt for a presentation. Knight referenced a congratulatory call that Barnes had made following the General’s record-breaking 880th career win. The Texas Tech coach gave his friend a framed set of notecards from the New Mexico game where he set the record. Each card outlined the keys to the game on offense or defense, written by Knight prior to the contest.

Once the game was underway, it quickly became a back-and-forth contest. The first half saw seven lead changes despite the Longhorns outshooting the Red Raiders by nearly ten percent. Texas Tech was able to control the ball very well for the first twenty minutes, turning it over only one time while the Longhorns coughed it up six times. The Raiders turned those TOs into thirteen points and headed into the locker room leading by four.

The second half was all about Durant. The freshman phenom scored 24 of his 37 in the second frame as Texas overtook the home team and built an insurmountable lead. With 8:44 left in the game, the Longhorns led by only one. The rest of the way, they would outscore the Red Raiders by a ridiculous 29-8 margin to coast to the victory.

Durant earned his points in just about every way possible. He hit five three pointers, and made a handful of sick bank shots from just outside the lane. And of course he had dunks, such as the rim-shaking alley oop from D.J. Augustin to punctuate the victory.

KD also was able to help the team while being double-teamed in the first half. The Red Raiders would send an extra man from the opposite block to double on Durant, leaving the other Longhorn big man wide open on the back door. KD was able to find both Connor Atchley and Dexter Pittman for easy dunks when they did this, and it caused Knight to have to find another defensive scheme for the star. They clearly did not end up working.

Atchley again had a very good game, and once again did it in a very quiet way. There was a quote from Coach Barnes earlier in the year where he said that Atchley does the little things right. And I think that’s a big reason why he’s been coming up big in key sitautions these past few weeks. Against Tech, he didn’t score on any other plays besides the aforementioned dunk, but did come down with seven rebounds.

But Atchley’s best play on the night was one that likely went unnoticed by many. Coming down the court in transition during the second half, Connor was wide open at the three-point line. But he saw a single man on Durant and decided to step in toward the lane to set a perfect screen. Durant came free, grabbed the pass at the wing, and knocked down the triple without a second thought. Just like Coach Barnes said, Atchley does those little things. And that’s why he’s the most underrated player on this team in my generally meaningless opinion.

D.J. Augustin had eleven assists for the second straight game, although he had a few more turnovers in this contest. There were a few cases where he tried to force a pass that wasn’t there, but most came in the early part of the game and he seemed to adjust. He’s now the fourth-best floor general in the country, giving out 7.1 assists each game, and is even more impressive in Big 12 play with 8.8 assists per conference game.

Augustin also seems to know how to quiet a loud, hostile crowd. It seems that when opponents are threatening to go on a run and the momentum is getting away from the Horns, Augustin will take the ball to the rack for a layup and possibly even draw a foul. The buckets and free throws take the fans out of it, and he’s a consistent 80% from the line. In this one, Augustin had fourteen points, including a few highlight-reel reverse layups.

For Knight’s team, Jarrius Jackson was the man. The senior had 27 points and played every minute of the game, despite picking up his fourth foul with over eight minutes left on the clock. As the Longhorns pulled away, both Jackson and the Red Raiders went cold. Tech shot only 8-of-32 in the second half.

Injured players Charlie Burgess and Jon Plefka both ended up playing, and in fact started for Texas Tech. It seemed that their recent injuries affected their conditioning, though, as both tailed off in that cold second half. Plefka saw his minutes decrease in the second frame, and ended up playing 32 total in the game. He scored fourteen, including 6-of-7 from the line and two three pointers. Big man Burgess pulled down ten boards on the night.

As for my keys to the game? Let’s quickly revisit them:

Rebounding – The Horns had a 43-38 advantage on the boards in the game, but most importantly grabbed 67% of the rebounding chances after Red Raider misses. There were a few frustrating ones that got away from the Horns, but generally Texas — and Durant’s long arms — kept the Red Raiders in a one-and-done situation.

Tempo – With Burgess and Plefka both playing, the idea of keeping a depleted Texas Tech team tired was not as important as predicted. The Horns had only 65 possessions, which was closer to the typical Tech pace of play than Texas’ slightly-faster average tempo.

Keep the crowd out of it – Texas wasn’t able to get out to an early lead, but was able to keep Tech within arm’s reach throughout the first half. The Red Raiders grabbed a couple of six-point leads, but Texas kept their opponents from running away and letting the crowd energy fuel that momentum. In the end, Texas’ massive second-half run was able to keep the crowd quiet during the important late minutes and sent many to the exits early.

Tip: 8 PM
TV: ESPN2

After last year’s trip to Lubbock and the meager, half-dead crowd that filled United Spirit Arena, I never thought I’d call that gym a tough place to play. But in the past two weeks, two different top ten teams have fallen victim to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on their home court. Both Kansas and Texas A&M left the O’Reilly Auto Parts Corporate Whore Court (brought to you by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal with the co-operation of Jason’s Deli) as a mob of red-clad students rushed the floor.

Texas (15-5 overall, 5-1 Big 12) comes to town having won their last two games after dropping the two prior. Texas Tech (15-6, 4-2) is looking to bounce back from an absolute ass-kicking at the hands of the Missouri Tigers this weekend.

The story of the game seems to be the injury bug going around the Red Raider locker room. Seven-footer Esmir Rizvic was knocked out a few weeks ago by the flailing elbows of Longar Longar, while starter Jon Plefka and key reserve Charlie Burgess were both missing from the loss to Mizzou. Plefka is suffering from a leg injury described as a tear and will likely miss tonight’s game. Burgess badly sprained his ankle at a team shootaround on Saturday. No word yet on whether he will be starting or even playing against the Horns.

Seniors Darryl Dora and Jarrius Jackson will be available for Coach Bob Knight, and he will need a ton of minutes out of them with the shortened bench. But if the Mizzou game was any indication, Knight is not too confident in Dora the Explorer. He sat the forward for most of the game, giving him only 10 minutes on the court. Jackson, on the other hand, has been as effective as ever. He’s hitting at just a hair under 50% from behind the arc and is the 8th best player in the entire country when it comes to protecting the basketball.

Martin Zeno is the other man to keep an eye on tonight. Zeno, Jackson, and the injured Burgess are the only players to average over 30 minutes a game for the Red Raiders, while a motley band shares responsibilities the rest of the time. Zeno is scoring 16.4 points a game and leads a poor rebounding team with 4.7 boards a game.

After watching Texas struggle against a Baylor team that was moving the ball very well, I’m fairly concerned about our ability to contain Knight’s highly-effective motion offense. Besides Justin Mason and Craig Winder, the Longhorns don’t have a whole lot of quality defense available, so it’s probably best for the team to stick with a zone. If Tech shoots us out of it, though, we could be in for some trouble.

Kevin Durant heads into the game with 488 points on the year, just 160 shy of Terrence Rencher’s freshman record. (As an interesting aside, I threw a football around with Rencher while waiting to be let into the Baylor game on Saturday. Not something I thought I’d be doing when I woke up that morning.) KD needs only 16 points per game the rest of the way to tie the mark, and I have a strong feeling we’ll be seeing much more than that tonight.

Tonight, Texas needs to look to take advantage of a Texas Tech squad that is not doing very well on the glass, and will now likely be without two of their “better” rebounders in Burgess and Plefka. The Horns average eleven more boards per game than Tech, and will hopefully be able to enjoy that margin against the depleted Red Raiders.

The injuries also mean that Texas should push the tempo in this game. While that’s always a good idea for a team like Texas that is lacking on defense, it should be especially important against a team who will be relying on reserves to fill in a ton of minutes. Get the opponents gassed, and Knight will have to look even further down his bench to get them some rest. Of course, this strategy means that Connor Atchley will have to come up big for a second straight game, while J.D. Lewis will need to refrain from offensive stupidity when giving our starters a brief spell.

The crowd is going to be a huge factor in this one, so hopefully Texas can jump out to an early lead. They had a huge advantage by halftime in Knoxville and never trailed by a significant margin in the first half of the road losses to Oklahoma State and Villanova. The Horns were able to fight back from five down on multiple occasions in the overtimes of the Okie State game, but we have yet to see how they’ll perform if faced with a massive deficit in front of a hostile crowd looking for the knockout punch.

For a shorter look at the game from our opponent’s point of view, be sure to check out the preview at the Red Raider blog Double T Nation. And don’t forget to buy your tickets for the home game against K-State on Saturday afternoon. As of Tuesday morning, approximately 2,600 tickets were remaining for the game. Could we have two huge crowds in a row for historically middle-of-the-road conference teams? I’ll cross my fingers.

See you again on Thursday for a game wrap, and perhaps another album from earlier in the season.

The photos from the long road trip to Tennessee are now online. Just click “photos” above and then select that album from the next page. As for the actual write-up about the Tennessee trip? Slow your roll, kid.

Texas Tech preview will be at your browsers by the time you scramble some eggs in the morning.