Coming off their second ACC victory of the year, Louisville basketball is set for another big challenge, heading up north to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Tuesday night.
ACC games are not always a walk in the park, and that became evidently clear against the Pittsburgh Panthers. The top-ranked Louisville basketball program may have not played their prettiest game of the season, but they ended the game on top, and that’s truly all that matters.
The Cards will be coming off back-to-back impressive defensive performances as they overpowered the likes of Michigan and Pittsburgh. Neither game looked like it was ever in doubt for the Cardinals either. They guaranteed that they will be the top-ranked team in all of college basketball for at least one more week.
The Cards are now 2-0 in ACC play this season, and they now will wrap up the remainder of their non-conference schedule to finish the month. The rest of the slate begins with a tough test against Texas Tech, who lost in the national championship game last season to Virginia. It’s a much different team in Lubbock this season, however, and it should be a fun game to watch.
As they spend the next few days preparing for this tenacious opponent, the Cards should not be overlooking the Red Raiders. Originally, it looked like the game against Texas Tech would be the Cardinals first ranked matchup of the year, but some early season developments have certainly changed that standard. They were ranked 11th in the AP Poll after the opening week of the college basketball season.
They started the campaign 5-0 but they are reeling as of late, dropping three straight games and falling out of the rankings in the process. Their five wins of the season have been against teams with a combined 17 wins so far this year. They were also all against low mid-major programs. They proceeded to lose both games in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, falling to NCAA Tournament hopefuls in Iowa and Creighton. Last Wednesday, Tech went on the road and lost in overtime to DePaul, one of the few remaining undefeated teams in the country.
However, the Red Raiders have been without their top scorer in the last two losses, and there’s no guarantee if he’ll be good to go on Tuesday night. We’re talking about the highest-rated recruit in school history, as freshman Jahmius Ramsey has been all the talk on campus since he’s enrolled in Lubbock. An immediate starter at TTU, Ramsey has been phenomenal in the six games he’s played, averaging 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.5 steals. The Red Raiders are a completely different team with Ramsey, so his status will be crucial for their chances in this game.
As I said, this is a very different team from a year ago, as Tech only welcomed back 23.8 percent of its scoring from last season’s team. They’re still a really solid basketball team, and they’re going to compete at the top of the Big 12. They combine a mixture of youth and experience to form a team with the type of gritty toughness that we’ve become accustomed to seeing head coach Chris Beard’s teams play with.
Beard has become one of the top coaches on the collegiate circuit, and he’s truly built something special at Texas Tech in a relatively short time frame. Heading into his fourth season as head coach in Lubbock, Beard has led the Red Raiders to an Elite Eight and a National Championship appearance in consecutive seasons.
Despite losing Jarrett Culver to the NBA and losing veterans like Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens, Beard has once again put together a competitive team that can once again make a deep tourney run. Alongside Ramsey, the Red Raiders have four players who are scoring in double-figures so far this season, including Davide Moretti, Terrence Shannon Jr., Kyler Edwards, and T.J. Holyfield. They also have some quality bench players in Chris Clarke, Kevin McCullar, and Clarence Nadolny.
Cardinals fans may recognize Clarke, as he was a three-year player who transferred from Virginia Tech and sat out last season. Moretti was a solid player for last year’s Texas Tech squad, so college basketball fans should know of him.
Kyler Edwards was a solid bench player as a freshman for TTU last year as well. Holyfield is a graduate transfer from Stephen F. Austin. Shannon Jr. was a four-star top 100 commit for Beard’s program, and he has lived up to his billing thus far. McCullar and Nadolny were both three-star prospects who rounded out a solid recruiting class for Beard, one that ranked 16th in the nation.
The Red Raiders usually play about ten players per game, but it really depends on the game flow. However, that should give you a decent idea of just how far Chris Beard is willing to go with his bench unit. According to KenPom, Texas Tech is the 29th best team in the nation. He ranks them as the 61st best team in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency, as well as being the 13th best in adjusted defensive efficiency.
The Cardinals recently climbed up to the top spot in the KenPom rankings, and they have the fourth-best adjusted offensive efficiency and third-best adjusted defensive efficiency in the nation. Texas Tech should prove to be one of the top opponents that Louisville will face all season long, and they are one of those teams that will be even better near March. Louisville should be confident in themselves after the Michigan and Pittsburgh games, as their defense matches up well with a struggling Tech offense.
This is a massive opportunity for Louisville to continue to build a resume for March, and it’s an opportunity to do so in front of a nationwide audience. The lights shine the brightest at Madison Square Garden, and we’ve seen the Cards succeed at MSG in the past. They have a 17-9 record at the Garden since they joined the Big East in 2005, and they won three Big East titles there before leaving for the ACC. There are not many better places to play basketball, and it’s for a great cause in the Jimmy V Classic. With that in mind, let’s take a look at everything you need to know ahead of the game.
Who: No.1 Louisville Cardinals vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Where: Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York)
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 10th
Previous Meeting and Series: The University of Louisville and Texas Tech University have never played each other in a basketball game.
How To Watch: ESPN. (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, and Holly Rowe)
How To Listen: ESPN Radio. (Marc Kestecher and Bob Valvano)
Projected Starters:
Louisville:
G, Darius Perry, #2, Jr.
6-2, 195 Pounds
6.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists
G, Ryan McMahon, #30, Sr.
6-0, 180 Pounds
10.2 points, 1.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists
F, Jordan Nwora, #33, Jr.
6-7, 225 Pounds
21.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists
F, Dwayne Sutton, #24, Sr.
6-5, 215 Pounds
9.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists
C, Steven Enoch, #23, Sr.
6-10, 260 Pounds
10.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists
Texas Tech
G, Davide Moretti, #25, Jr.
6-2, 175 Pounds
13.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists
G, Jahmius Ramsey, #3, Fr. (Day-to-Day)
6-4, 195 Pounds
17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists
G, Kyler Edwards, #0, So.
6-3, 200 Pounds
10.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists
F, Terrence Shannon Jr., #1, Fr.
6-6, 210 Pounds
11.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists
F, T.J. Holyfield, #22, Sr.
6-8, 227 Pounds
10.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists