First under Chris Beard and now under second-year coach Mark Adams, Texas Tech has been a team that wins with stifling defense and just enough offense.

However, the Red Raiders have shown at times this season that they might have more firepower to be able to outscore teams when required.

That offense could be on display again Tuesday night in Lubbock, Texas, when the Red Raiders return from their Christmas break with a home game against struggling South Carolina State.

Texas Tech (9-2) got 22 points apiece from De’Vion Harmon and Kevin Obanor in a 111-67 rout of Houston Christian on Wednesday, marking the first time since 1996 that the Red Raiders notched consecutive 100-point games. They beat Jackson State 102-52 on Dec. 17.

“To heck with defense, we’re going to try to hit the century mark every time,” Adams cracked. “We’ve said all along that shooting could be a strength of this team. We pushed the ball and played with pace.

“We want to be aggressive on both ends, and our guys are starting to buy into that.”

Led by Obanor’s 15.9 points per game, the Red Raiders are averaging 79.1 points and canning 49.8 percent of their shots, which ranked 21st in Division I through the weekend. Texas Tech is fairly efficient across the board on offense, making 73.9 percent of shots at the foul line and sinking 35.2 percent of its 3-point attempts.

Those numbers could get another spike upward after playing the Bulldogs (2-12). Opponents are connecting on 50.5 percent of attempts from the field (third-worst figure in the nation) and 36.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc while scoring 86.7 points per game (second-worst average in the country).

The Bulldogs are coming off last Tuesday’s 104-77 loss at Longwood in which South Carolina State’s Rakeim Gary and Cameron Jones scored 21 points each. South Carolina State allowed 66 second-half points and 29 fastbreak points to the Lancers, who had seven players score in double figures.

This will be the second meeting of the programs. Texas Tech won the first one 101-39 on Dec. 17, 2014.

–Field Level Media

Notre Dame will look to snap a three-game losing streak on Tuesday night when it hosts Jacksonville in its final nonconference game of the season at South Bend, Ind.

Notre Dame (7-5) won its lone previous matchup against Jacksonville (7-3) in 2018.

The Fighting Irish, who have dropped four of their past five overall, including falling into an 0-2 hole to start Atlantic Coast Conference play, need a win before jumping back into conference action with a difficult test on Friday against No. 14 Miami, which currently sits atop the ACC.

Notre Dame appeared ready to correct its course last week before blowing an 11-point lead and losing 73-72 to Florida State on Wednesday.

One of the Fighting Irish’s strengths this season has been their 3-point shooting, averaging 8.9 made triples per game thanks in large part to Dane Goodwin (46.2 percent from deep), Cormac Ryan (45.6 percent) and Nate Laszewski (42.9 percent).

Notre Dame was sharp once again from long distance, shooting 47.4 percent against the Seminoles. But it wasn’t enough as the Irish couldn’t make the necessary stops down the stretch.

“I feel for us because we really gave ourselves a chance to win,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “We had a chance. We couldn’t finish it.”

After a weeklong break, Jacksonville will look to extend a two-game winning streak following wins against Charleston Southern and Louisiana-Monroe.

The Dolphins play their second of two Power Five conference opponents this season. Jacksonville lost its season opener against then-No. 7 Duke. The Dolphins are also playing their final nonconference game before heading into Atlantic Sun Conference competition the rest of the season.

Jacksonville will need its perimeter defense to be as sharp as it was in the win over Louisiana-Monroe, which shot just 5 of 25 from 3-point range.

“Our defense is our staple, and we were able to guard well and settle into a lead,” Jacksonville coach Jordan Mincy said.

Guard Kevion Nolan (14.3 points per game) continues to pace Jacksonville. He finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals against Louisiana-Monroe.

–Field Level Media

Texas A&M is experiencing a shaky start to the season and looks to begin a turnaround when it hosts Northwestern State on Tuesday night at College Station, Texas.

The Aggies (6-5) have dropped their past two games and three of four as they enter the matchup with the Demons (8-4), who won at TCU earlier this season.

Texas A&M has been off since falling 67-62 to visiting Wofford on Dec. 20. That setback came three nights after an 83-79 loss against host Memphis.

After playing Northwestern State, the Aggies host Prairie View A&M in their final nonconference tune-up before they begin Southeastern Conference play at Florida on Jan. 4.

Wade Taylor IV leads Texas A&M with a 15.9 scoring average, and he scored 20 points and matched his career high of five 3-pointers in the loss to Wofford.

Taylor, who has scored at least 20 points four times this season, feels the Aggies have work to do to get better.

“We have a lot of bumps and errors to correct, but it’s early and we have time to correct them before SEC play,” Taylor said.

Tyrece Radford is the only other Texas A&M player scoring in double digits. He is averaging 10.8 points. but shooting just 31.5 percent from the field.

Northwestern State has dropped two straight games but put up a strong effort against No. 12 Baylor last Tuesday before taking a 58-48 road loss.

The Demons held the Bears to their lowest point total of the season, and the improved showing came three nights after Northwestern State was mauled 110-73 by host Rice.

“We’re a program that likes to dictate and control the tempo of the game,” Demons coach Corey Gipson said. “We started to play a little helter-skelter style of play. When you get away from yourself, things can happen to you like (what) happened at Rice.

“One thing about this group, we have such a mature group that — after engaging and talking through it — they understand who we are, and they’re mature enough to flip the switch and get things back in order.”

DeMarcus Sharp leads the Demons with a 16.3 scoring average. Ja’Monta Black averages 14.4 points and Isaac Haney chips in 12.4 per game. Black has made a team-high 38 3-pointers.

Texas A&M leads the series 10-2 and has won the past 10 matchups.

–Field Level Media

No. 13 Virginia has had plenty of time to ponder its two-game losing streak as the Cavaliers prepare to host Albany on Wednesday night in Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers (8-2) reached No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 before suffering losses against ranked opponents Houston and Miami by a combined 10 points.

Virginia has been idle since the 66-64 road loss on Dec. 20 to the then-No. 22 Hurricanes, who rose to No. 14 in the latest poll released Monday.

That was the same night Albany (5-9) played its most recent game, an 83-78 triumph on the road against Northern Illinois. The Great Danes have alternated wins and losses in their last four contests.

Back in action after the Christmas holiday, coach Tony Bennett’s squad hopes to regain the form that saw the Cavaliers shoot 39.6 percent from 3-point range during their 8-0 start. They were 6 of 22 from behind the arc in a 69-61 loss to then-No. 5 Houston (now No. 3) on Dec. 17 and just 6 of 23 at Miami.

“We’ve got work to do,” Bennett said. “… We’ve dipped a little bit, and we’ve got to find a way to be as good as we can be, whatever that is.”

Fifth-year senior Kihei Clark leads the Cavaliers with 11.5 points and 5.1 assists per game. Jayden Gardner averages 11.4 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds. Three other players average between 9.1 and 9.8 points per game.

Armaan Franklin leads UVA with 17 made 3-pointers, but he was 0-for-3 from long range and 0-for-7 from the field in the loss to the Hurricanes.

This marks the final non-conference game for Virginia (1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) before it dives back into league play on Saturday at Georgia Tech.

The Cavaliers won the only previous meeting with Albany on March 16, 2007, in the NCAA Tournament. UVA routed the Great Danes 84-57 in a first-round game in Columbus, Ohio.

Unlike Virginia, Albany is coming off its best performance of the season from long distance. The Great Danes drained a season-high 12 3-pointers in the win at Northern Illinois, paced by Gerald Drumgoole’s 5-of-8 effort from deep. He finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

“What I’m most proud of is our ability to rebound the ball,” second-year Albany coach Dwayne Killings said after his team won the battle of the boards against NIU, 38-30. “I think that when we’ve done that, we’ve proven to be a pretty good basketball team.”

Drumgoole leads the Great Danes in scoring (14.3) and ranks second in rebounding (5.2), while Jonathan Beagle is No. 2 in scoring (11.4) and paces the squad on the boards (6.7).

Albany will open its America East Conference schedule at home against New Hampshire on Saturday. The Great Danes, who made three straight NCAA tourneys from 2013-15, were picked to finish sixth in the AEC preseason poll.

Albany is 2-7 on the road this season and Virginia is 5-1 at home.

–Field Level Media

Kentucky coach John Calipari is bringing a lengthy to-do list as the No. 19 Wildcats begin Southeastern Conference play at Missouri on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (8-3) have lost to Michigan State, Gonzaga and UCLA. They most recently defeated Florida A&M 88-68 last Wednesday, but they led by just seven points with 5:35 left and Calipari was vexed by his team’s defense.

“We’ve got work to do now. We do,” Calipari said after the game. “We didn’t defend today like we’ve been defending. It’s crazy. I mean, the one thing that we could rely on is that we would really, really guard. Well, they beat us on the bounce, they beat us shooting threes, they beat us offensive rebounding.”

Now Kentucky must travel to Columbia, Mo., to face the tough Tigers (11-1, 0-0 SEC) as Missouri comes off a 93-71 neutral-court upset of then-No. 16 Illinois on Thursday.

“We didn’t play well. I’m dead serious,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “I don’t think we played well. And I’ll continue to challenge my guys. I want to execute on the things we need to execute for 40 minutes. … We’re obviously excited about the direction we’re going, but there are small things that you may not see with the naked eye that I see that we did not execute in a great way. And I’m gonna continue to challenge our guys.”

The Wildcats are anchored by center Oscar Tshiebwe, who is averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds per game. Guard Cason Wallace is averaging 11.8 points and 4.4 assists and is 22 of 44 from 3-point range.

“We’ve got to keep working with him as he plays point,” Calipari said. “Decision-making, seeing the court better. What he did today is he made shots so you couldn’t go under on the pick-and-roll. He dings a ball in.”

Sahvir Wheeler (8.8 points, 6.6 assists per game) gives Kentucky a natural point guard for the lead role, and Antonio Reeves (12.8 ppg) is a 43.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc.

“Combinations matter with this group,” Calipari said. “We’re going to have to have some good combinations. We’re still a work in progress, and I would tell everybody, just be patient … it takes time to get it all together, and I’m not panicked.”

But Calipari is concerned about his team’s free-throw shooting.

“We should be one of the best free-throw shooting teams,” he said. “That is mental toughness. In the Power Five (and) Gonzaga games, we’re shooting 58 percent from the foul line. Fifty-eight percent. You can’t win games shooting 58 percent.”

Missouri has a guard-driven team led by D’Moi Hodge, who averages 16.7 points a game and is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range. The Tigers don’t have a true center, so the task of guarding Tshiebwe will largely fall to forward Kobe Brown, who had 31 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals against Illinois.

“I’m proud of Kobe being able to have a breakout game, which was coming for him,” Gates said. “I just saw a level of focus that he had.”

The Tigers will need to get sturdy games from forwards Noah Carter (10.8 ppg) and Ronnie DeGray III, who has worked his way into the rotation.

Missouri’s only loss this season was 95-67 to then-No. 6 Kansas on Dec. 10.

–Field Level Media

Connecticut has been one of the most surprising stories of the college basketball season.

The No. 2-ranked Huskies (13-0, 2-0 Big East) will look for their 14th consecutive victory when they host surging Villanova (7-5, 1-0) on Wednesday evening in Hartford, Conn.

UConn, which began the season unranked, hasn’t played since an 84-73 win over Georgetown on Dec. 20.

The Huskies’ 13th straight win that day didn’t come easily as they trailed by seven points with about 11 minutes remaining. But they tightened defensively and received a major boost from their bench.

Tristen Newton led the way with 17 points, Jordan Hawkins added 15, and Adama Sanogo and reserve Joey Calcaterra had 14 apiece.

“I just thought I had to provide a spark,” Calcaterra said. “Things were a little slow, and I wanted to get in there and provide some energy. That was what I was focused on.”

UConn coach Dan Hurley was adamant about the how vital the production from the bench was against the Hoyas.

“I thought we couldn’t have played worse on the backboard, couldn’t have done a worse job with the defensive end of the court,” Hurley said. “We had to reach down deep, and we dealt with the second-half deficit. We proved we’re the frontrunners and still won with double figures in a conference game at home.

“You look at that and they’re 5-7 coming into the game and it tells you how tough the league and college basketball is,” he said about Georgetown. “Their starting five is really talented.”

The Huskies are reveling in their highest ranking in 14 years.

After a rocky start under first-year coach Kyle Neptune, Villanova has refocused and surged to five consecutive victories.

The Wildcats opened the season 2-5 without Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, who retired after leading them to two national championships and 520 victories in 21 seasons.

After the first seven games this season, highly touted freshman Cam Whitmore returned from surgery on his right thumb. And the other younger players have also continued to flourish.

Especially Jordan Longino.

In a 78-63 win over St. John’s last Wednesday, Longino hit all five of his shots from the field and scored 13 points.

“There were times in the preseason when Jordan was healthy when he looked like he could be one of our best players,” Neptune said. “But then he was hobbled by injuries. He’s gotten some time off recently. We’ve got to continue to manage him. When he’s right, he’s one of the more talented players on our team and in this league.”

The balanced Wildcats were led by Eric Dixon’s 18 points, Brandon Slater’s 16 and Caleb Daniels’ 13 in addition to Longino’s effort.

Whitmore contributed eight points and 10 rebounds and continued to prove why he was expected to be one of the most captivating freshmen in the country.

The young players have been key to this winning streak since the Wildcats will be without Justin Moore (Achilles) for an indefinite period.

Villanova took two of the three meetings with UConn last season.

–Field Level Media

Tennessee finished its pre-conference schedule the way its coach hoped it would.

Ole Miss finished its pre-conference schedule the way its coach hoped it wouldn’t.

The No. 7 Volunteers (10-2) bounced back from a loss at then-No. 9 Arizona to dominate visiting Austin Peay 86-44 last Wednesday. It was the Vols’ final nonconference game before they open SEC play against the Rebels (8-4) on Wednesday night in Oxford, Miss.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said the victory, which came by the second-largest margin of the season, might have been the Vols’ “most complete” performance of the year. They shot 56.3 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

“That will win you a lot of games,” Barnes said.

Vols Preseason All-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi was shooting just 27.8 percent on 3-pointers for the season after making a combined 2 of 16 in the previous two games, but he made all five of his attempts against Austin Peay.

“If you’re a shooter, confidence is one of the things you can’t lose,” Vescovi said. “I think confidence-wise, I’ve been good. I’ve never lost confidence shooting-wise. I’ve just gotten into a slump. Being able to see the shots go in has been kind of refreshing.”

Additionally, Tennessee allowed its third-fewest points of the season as it held Austin Peay to 25.5 percent shooting from the floor, 19.2 percent on 3-pointers while forcing 15 turnovers. The Vols had a rebounding edge of 47-26, including 17-11 on the offensive side.

Barnes got the improved front-court play he has been seeking. Now he hopes it carries into SEC play.

“I still think that’s a question mark if we can still be consistent,” he said. “They’re working hard at it.”

Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis was concerned about his team’s preparedness for SEC play after a 66-65 home loss to North Alabama on Dec. 20. It was the Lions’ first-ever victory against an SEC team after 19 losses.

“Right now, we’re not in a great place,” Davis said. “We’re trying to find our way. So I’m not very pleased with the progress. We’ll have moments. We’ve got good guys, real good people in the locker room, but we’re not consistent enough in practice, not consistent enough in games. We can play in spots.”

The Rebels have lost four of their past six games, including two of three at home, leaving Davis feeling the team isn’t where he expected it to be as conference play begins.

“We’ve got a lot of progress we need to make,” he said. “Being able to really get better has been tough for us. We’re struggling with that. The main thing is we need nine or 10 guys to emerge above, and we haven’t developed a nine- or 10-man rotation that we can trust.

“You’ve got to be able to know bad times with teams can create some great opportunities and can create greatness. That’s what we’ve got to be able to do. Playing a Top 10 Tennessee team at home is a great opportunity.”

–Field Level Media

The top five remained unchanged in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll, released Monday.

No. 1 Purdue (12-0) received 40 of the 60 first-place votes and No. 2 UConn (13-0) got the other 20.

They are followed by Houston (12-1), Kansas (11-1) and Arizona (12-1).

The rest of the Top 10 teams each moved up one spot: Texas (10-1), Tennessee (10-2), Alabama (10-2), Arkansas (11-1) and Gonzaga (10-3).

No. 13 Virginia (8-2) tumbled seven spots after a 66-64 loss at Miami (12-1), which jumped eight places to No. 14.

New Mexico (12-0) and Xavier (10-3) — tied at No. 22 — joined the poll along with No. 24 West Virginia (10-2).

No. 25 North Carolina (9-4), the preseason No. 1 team, returned to the rankings after a three-week absence.

–Field Level Media