Scouting report: Cincinnati Bearcats make first Big 12 road trip to Lubbock for Texas Tech
The Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball program has never been to Lubbock and UC's only hardwood experience with Texas Tech came nearly 63 years ago in the NCAA tournament in Lawrence, Kansas.
Saturday night in the hometown of the late Buddy Holly, the Bearcats will try to not fade away as many opponents have at United Supermarkets Arena. Under new coach Grant McCasland, the Red Raiders are 11-0 at home.
The Bearcats are coming off a highly winnable game at West Virginia where they couldn't finish off a 10-point lead with 6:29 to play. Likewise, 15th-ranked Texas Tech dropped a road game at TCU 85-78.
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"We haven't shot the ball well the last couple of weeks," UC coach Wes Miller said. "You've got to step up and shoot the ball with confidence. They (WVU) were packing it in. You don't get both ways as a coach. You don't get to tell your guys step into shots with confidence then get mad when they shoot one you don't love."
Texas Tech has four wins against teams that were ranked at the time of the game starting with Texas A&M Oct. 29, Texas Jan. 6 (in Austin), BYU Jan, 20 and Jan. 27 at Oklahoma. Their ranked losses were at then-No. 5 Houston Jan. 17, 77-54 and No. 25 TCU 85-78.
Red Raiders rely on spurts
In their home win vs. BYU, they trailed the Cougars by 16 at halftime, then outscored them by 23 in the second half to win 85-78, a game similar to UC's come-from-behind effort vs. UCF last Saturday.
McCasland's success has not been a complete surprise. Previously at North Texas, he won the CBI, knocked off Purdue in the 2021 NCAA tournament and won last year's NIT. He replaced Mark Adams, who was 16-16 (5-13 Big 12) at Tech last season.
3 keys to a UC road win in Lubbock
1. Hop on Pop
Richard "Pop" Isaacs is a former ESPN four-star recruit who can get hot and carry the Red Raiders. Though hitting just 33% from behind the arc, he nailed a season-high six 3-pointers against BYU scoring a season-high 32 points. Texas Tech flipped the script at halftime of that one and defeated the Cougars after being down 16 at the break. Isaacs has hit in double figures in all but three games. At TCU he played all 40 minutes while scoring 25 points.
2. Convert on free throws
Texas Tech is among the NCAA leaders in fouls per game typically averaging around 13. Should the Red Raiders get slap-happy, it would behoove the Bearcats to deliver on their free throws at a better rate than their season average of just over 68%. Conversely, if UC's doing the fouling, Texas Tech hits over 78% from the charity stripe. Foul trouble on the road is never advisable. In Morgantown Wednesday, the Mountaineers shot 20 more foul shots than the Bearcats.
3. Protect the perimeter
Though they don't shoot them like BYU, Texas Tech hits 3-pointers at a 38% clip and can score in bunches as evidenced by their 16-point turnaround against the Cougars and their defeat of Kansas State after being down 11 at halftime. Three times they have made 14 treys, in a win over Texas A&M and losses to Villanova and TCU. They made 13 in an overtime defeat against Butler. Wes Miller could go small in his starting lineup to combat the four-guard look Texas Tech has displayed thus far.
UC outshot their first two Big 12 opponents (BYU, Texas) from behind the arc but have come up short in that category in the last six games.
Cincinnati vs. Texas Tech
Tip: 6 p.m. Eastern Saturday, United Supermarkets Arena (15,098)
TV/Radio: ESPN+/700WLW
Series: UC leads 1-0 (78-55 March 17, 1961)
Texas Tech Red Raiders scouting report
Record: 16-4 (5-2 Big 12)
Coach: Grant McCasland (first season,16-4)
Offense: 77.2 ppg
Defense: 68.1 ppg
Projected lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Pop Isaacs (G, 6'2",17. 4 ppg)
Joe Toussaint (G, 6', 13.0 ppg)
Warren Washington (F, 7', 10.5 ppg)
Darrion Williams (G, 6'6", 9.0 ppg)
Kerwin Walton (G, 6'5", 7.8 ppg)
Cincinnati Bearcats scouting report
Record: 14-7 (3-5 Big 12)
Coach: Wes Miller (third season, 55-35, overall 240-170)
Offense: 77.0 ppg
Defense: 66.6 ppg
Projected lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Viktor Lakhin (F, 6'11", 12.1 ppg)
Day Day Thomas (G, 6', 10.9 ppg)
John Newman III (F, 6'5", 10.0 ppg)
Simas Lukošius (G, 6'8", 9,2 ppg)
Aziz Bandaogo (C, 7', 7.4 ppg)
Players to watch
The Red Raiders are led by sophomore Pop Isaacs who was part of the Big 12 All-Freshman team a year ago. His high game of the season was 32 points vs. BYU. Isaacs is playing despite having a civil suit brought against him for sexual abuse to a minor as part of Texas Tech's November Bahamas trip in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Texas Tech has allowed Isaacs to continue playing during the legal process. Isaacs played the entire game Tuesday vs. TCU. In both games he's played 40 minutes or more this season, Texas Tech has lost.
Dan Skillings Jr. delivered 15 points for UC at West Virginia but was just 6-for-19 shooting. He is the second-leading scorer at 12 points per game. With the loss Wednesday, the Bearcats are 10-3 when the sophomore hits for double figures.
Rankings
NCAA NET: Texas Tech is No. 29, UC is No. 33.
KenPom.com: Texas Tech is No. 27, UC No. 34.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How UC Bearcats basketball can pull off Big 12 road win at Texas Tech
