Texas Tech and visiting Lamar each close out their pre-Christmas schedule with a Saturday matinee in Lubbock, Texas, as both teams seek momentum for their respective conference seasons.
Lamar (6-5) is on a five-game winning streak, with four of those triumphs on the road, while Texas Tech (8-2) has been dominant at home this season, winning all seven games by an average 30 points.
Oral Roberts was Texas Tech’s latest victim on Monday in a bounce-back performance that yielded an 86-50 romp after the Red Raiders lost a neutral-site game to then-No. 22 Texas A&M on Dec. 8.
Texas Tech shot 53.1 percent from the floor against Oral Roberts for its most efficient offensive performance since mid-November. Stepping into the starting lineup for JT Toppin, who is injured, Federiko Federiko scored 23 points with 12 rebounds.
Toppin, the Red Raiders’ leading scorer (18.6 points) and rebounder (11.0), has missed the last three games with a lower leg injury and his status for Saturday is undetermined.
“Now that JT is out, somebody has to step up,” Federiko said. “I’m trying to take that role to step up until he gets well and back.”
Texas Tech figures to be tested by Lamar big man Andrew Holifield. During the Cardinals’ current four-game road winning streak, the Beaumont native is averaging 13.3 points and 7.8 rebounds an outing with 11 blocks.
As key as that matchup could be, both teams rely heavily on their backcourts.
Chance McMillian has been red-hot for Texas Tech with 65 points in the last three games and he enters Saturday as the Big 12’s 3-point shooting leader at 53.8 percent (28 of 52).
Lamar counters with dynamic guard Alexis Marmolejos, who has tallied double-digit scoring totals in every game but one this season to lead the team with 16.3 points a game. He has connected on 25 of 61 shots from deep (41.0 percent).
The Cardinals started the season 1-5 but haven’t lost since Nov. 24. In the four-game run on the road, Lamar has topped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Louisiana and Southern Miss.
“We really respect the way they are playing right now,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “Winning four straight road games shows they have a great plan and are playing really well. They’ve been improving their program every year. This team we’re playing is capable of beating any team on any night.”
–Field Level Media
