No. 11 BYU-No. 15 Texas Tech a clash of Big 12 powers
Every game on a conference schedule counts the same at its core. Once in a while, though, there is a little more pizzazz attached, and that will be the case Saturday night in Lubbock, Texas.
Two of the top teams in the powerful Big 12 Conference get together when No. 11 BYU tangles with No. 15 Texas Tech to begin a tricky stretch for both teams.
The Cougars (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) roll into West Texas with a 13-game winning streak and 12 wins in a row in league play while sitting in a three-way tie with Arizona and Houston for the Big 12 lead.
The Red Raiders (13-4, 3-1) aren't far off the pace, with their only conference setback coming at then-No. 7 Houston on Jan. 6. Texas Tech has been tough to beat at home under third-year coach Grant McCasland, going 9-0 this season.
Factor in two of the Big 12's top players on each side -- AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders for the Cougars, J.T. Toppin and Christian Anderson for the Red Raiders -- and there isn't much need to hype up the latest matchup of ranked Big 12 powers.
For BYU, this trip begins a stretch of games against three ranked foes in the next six games, with a road game at unranked Kansas mixed in. Texas Tech has matchups after Saturday at home against No. 4 Houston and at home vs. the Jayhawks in the next two weeks.
For now, the Cougars and Red Raiders will focus on each other and more specifically how to slow the opposing offense down.
BYU enters as the fourth-highest scoring team in the Big 12 (87.5 points per game), bolstered by Dybantsa's league-leading 23.1 points per game and 19.3 from Saunders. The Cougars had to grind out a 76-70 come-from-behind victory vs. TCU on Saturday, shooting a season-low 35.3% from the floor and missing 19 of 24 3-pointers -- but had scored 85 points or more in seven of the previous nine games.
"BYU has no problem scoring," McCasland said. "We have so much respect for their team. They've got a great scheme and play hard and are a very difficult team to defend."
Texas Tech counters with the one-two scoring punch of Toppin (21.3) and Anderson (19.7) and has thrived by peppering foes from behind the 3-point arc. The Red Raiders are shooting 37.8% from deep with the most makes (188) and attempts (497) in the conference. Anderson and Donovan Atwell both rank in the top six of the league in 3-point percentage and 3s made per game.
Toppin is the Big 12's top rebounder (11.1 per game) and on the offensive glass (4.7), while Anderson is the league's leader in assists (7.5 per game).
BYU coach Kevin Young lauded Texas Tech's dynamic duo and acknowledged the challenge.
"They're one of the teams that value shooting similar to us," Young said. "They space the loor out really well, so it will be a good test for our defense."
This is the first of the teams' two meetings after only one last season, a 72-67 Red Raiders road win in a tightly contested battle.