11/23/2021 Today the Texas Tech Red Raiders men’s basketball team will take on the University of Nebraska at Omaha. You see Omaha and it makes you think… Is their baseball team good? Who knows. Is their basketball team good? Well, not really. They are 1-3 on the year and looking for their first road win. Let’s take a quick look into this Omaha team, and what the Red Raiders are looking to improve upon before Big XII play begins.
If there is one thing that coach Adams needs to focus on, it is that this Omaha team can shoot the three ball. If we can take that away from them, this should be a nice, feel-good win for Texas Tech. Kyle Luedtke is their lead player, averaging 11.3 points per game to go along with 5 rebounds (both team highs). We last played and beat them 91-63 in 2012 (only matchup).
The Red Raiders look to continue their momentum in non-conference play, coming off a nice win in SPI against Incarnate Word, 84-62. Nice stat to note here is that in each of the 4 games this season, the Red Raiders have scored 80 points or more.
As far as big minute, impact players, the team is now 100% healthy. Coming off 27 minutes where he scored 16 pts, TJ Shannon is looking to continue to get into game shape/form. He is a ++ in defensive prowess for the Red Raiders, so it’s nice to see him back and setting the tone on a defense that is still improving. Another defensive + that is back for coach Adams is team uniform model, Clarence Nadolny. If you remember last year, he was an energizer bunny for us on defense, so look for coach to increase his minutes over the remaining non-conference schedule.
From a bird’s eye view, it looks like the Red Raiders and Coach Mark Adams are on the right track for a fun season. There is room for improvement, but we’re taking the steps in these early games to fulfill our full potential. We have 2 more of these tune up games, if you will, to prepare for a better Providence team, and then Tennessee in the Jimmy V Classic out in MSG in the coming weeks. Let’s start by winning tonight!
Wreck ‘Em!
Nick Thomson