Kansas Basketball vs Texas Tech: Get to Know the Red Raiders

The No. 14 ranked Kansas Jayhawks (16-5, 6-2) tip off against the No. 11 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-5, 6-2) inside United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas, at 8 p.m. CT Monday night for what should be a good matchup against two good Big 12 opponents.

The Jayhawks are coming off of a big home win against No. 13 BYU on Saturday – their fifth straight Big 12 win since Jan. 10. Meanwhile, Texas Tech returns home on the heels of an 88-80 loss at UCF this weekend.

Here are some things to know about the Red Raiders ahead of the game on Monday.

History

KU owns a 43-9 all-time record versus the Red Raiders dating back to their first matchup in 1959. Of the nine wins for Texas Tech, seven have come in Lubbock – including two of the past three.

Texas Tech has beaten the Jayhawks each of the past two seasons, which is the first time KU has lost back-t0-back meetings to the Red Raiders since the series began. Texas Tech beat Kansas handily the last time they were in Lubbock by a score of 79-50. The 29-point victory ties the biggest for the Red Raiders along with their 91-62 win in 2019.

Record

Texas Tech is currently 16-5 overall and 6-2 in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders own a trio of really good wins this year against No. 4 Duke (82-81), No. 13 BYU (84-71), and No. 10 Houston (90-86). All their losses have come against ranked teams, except for UCF.

Houston is the only other Big 12 team to top the Red Raiders so far this year.

Key players

Texas Tech’s leading playmaker this year is one of the best in the country in junior forward JT Toppin. He’s currently averaging a double-double with 22.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game – both of which lead the team. He’s a sure bet to earn All-American honors at season’s end.

Sophomore guard Christian Anderson is second on the team in scoring with an average of 19.6 points per game. He is also one of the best passers in the league and in the country, averaging 7.5 assists per game.

Redshirt-junior forward Lejuan Watts and senior guard Donovan Atwell both average a little over 12 points per game.

Coaching

The Red Raiders are led by head coach Grant McCasland who is now in his third season as the man in charge in Lubbock. He has a 67-25 record as head coach with Texas Tech, and his 51 wins over the first two seasons are the most of any head coach in program history.

He has guided the Red Raiders to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and will likely make it a third next month.