No. 1 Louisville basketball looks to put on show in the Big Apple

Forcing Texas Tech to beat you with their offense

Texas Tech is a dramatically different team with Jahmius Ramsey on the floor. He’s their best offensive player, so their approach to this game will definitely change depending on his health status. Without Ramsey, the Red Raiders are 0-2 and they are shooting 41.7 percent from the field alongside a brutal 29.2 percent mark from three. With Ramsey, they’re 5-1 and they shoot the ball a lot better, with a 47.4 percent clip from the field and 37.7 percent mark from beyond the arc. The Red Raiders score nearly 15 more points when Ramsey plays as well.

Otherwise, Louisville needs to force Texas Tech to beat them in the half-court with their offense, and they can’t allow the Red Raiders to turn defense into offense. Texas Tech is not a great three-point shooting team but they are capable of getting hot and they have a few guys who are solid shooters in Ramsey, Moretti, and Edwards. A lot of their other guys are capable of knocking down the three, but they’ve been struggling thus far this season.

Playing a clean game against a physical Red Raiders defense

There’s something that all college basketball fans know about Texas Tech. It’s that you can almost guarantee Chris Beard’s team is going to play hard on the defensive end of the floor. The Red Raiders are known for their defensive tenacity and they have been one of the best defensive teams in the nation since Beard’s arrival. They play a scrappy and physical brand of basketball. They’ll be consistently hunting to force Cardinals turnovers, and they’re hoping to turn those into points on the other end.

There were some moments during the game against Pittsburgh where Louisville was being lazy when passing the ball. Ryan McMahon and Darius Perry got caught for it a few times and the Panthers took it to their advantage. This cannot happen against the stout Texas Tech defense. Tech is going to play aggressive on the defensive end of the floor, and the Cards need to take advantage of this, attempting to draw fouls or taking any open looks they surrender. The offense needs to be patient and doesn’t need to force shots, as it will benefit from moving the ball around and finding the open look against TTU. If the Cards can put together a clean game offensively, they’ll have a good shot at coming home with another win.

Finding ways to get other players involved outside of Nwora

As the Cardinals start to face better competition, we are going to see opposing teams lock in and focus on stopping Jordan Nwora. With the junior garnering heavy attention from defenses, other players are going to need to step up and score for Louisville. You can assume Texas Tech will try to gameplan ways to make Nwora ineffective on the offensive end. With that said, Coach Mack needs to try to create some more scoring opportunities for some of the other guys.

Dwayne Sutton has not really looked to score all season, but he is capable of getting some buckets when the team needs him to. The Cards need to continue to set up Ryan McMahon with good looks from beyond the arc, and those usually will pay dividends. With the size advantage mentioned earlier, the Cards could also focus on getting the ball inside to the taller players in Steven Enoch and Malik Williams. Oh, and one last thing. If Texas Tech decides to let Davide Moretti guard Darius Perry, please let Perry take him off the dribble. I firmly believe that would pay off.

Predictions:

Tristan Beckmann: Louisville 73, Texas Tech 64.

• Samuell Williamson scores 15 points.
• Jordan Nwora leads the team in scoring.
• Cards hit 10 three-pointers.

Jacob Lane: Louisville 62, Texas Tech 54

• Dwayne Sutton totals 12 or more rebounds
• Steven Enoch leads the team in scoring
• Cards hold Texas Tech to 25 points or less at halftime