Getty Texas Tech guard Kyler Edwards.
The No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team will host the Northwestern State Demons at United Supermarkets Arena in each team’s season opener on Wednesday.
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The game (7 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch Northwestern State vs Texas Tech on ESPN+ right here:
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Northwestern State vs Texas Tech Preview
The Red Raiders went 18-13 overall and 9-9 in Big 12 play before the COVID-19 pandemic cut their 2019-20 campaign short. They then lost their two leading scorers, guards Jahm’ius Ramsey and Davide Moretti, to the professional ranks.
But ahead of his fifth season at the helm, head coach Chris Beard responded by landing a trio of desirable transfers: guard Mac McClung from the Georgetown Hoyas, big man Marcus Santos-Silva from the VCU Rams, and guard Jamarius Burton from the Wichita State Shockers.
McClung and Santos-Silva led their respective teams in scoring last season, at 15.7 and 12.8 points per game. Burton ranked third for the Shockers with 10.3 points per contest.
“The main goal here is not trying to make the [NCAA] tournament. It’s trying to win the tournament,” McClung said recently, according to the Bristol Herald Courier. “The players and the coaching staff all have that winning culture.”
Due to NCAA transfer rules, McClung didn’t learn he’d be eligible to play this season until Oct. 30.
“It was hard not to think about,” he said, per the Bristol Herald Courier. “I just tried to focus on bettering myself and my teammates. After a while, it was hard not knowing. When I did find out, it was just great.”
Tech’s Wednesday opponents boast a bevy of experience in the backcourt — all seven Northwestern State guards who played at least 100 minutes last season are returning.
That list includes their three leaders in assists per game from a season ago: Brian White (3.7), Trenton Massner (2.1), and C.J. Jones (2.1).
“Not only do we have (Jones and White), but we’ve got a senior in John Norvel that can play the point,” Demons head coach Mike McConathy said, according to the school’s athletics department website. “We’ve practiced Trenton Massner at the point because we had to slide over and play that position at McNeese because of injury. Massner and freshman Carvell Teasett allows us to go bigger at the point guard spot if we need to because of matchups.”
The Demons went 15-15 overall and 11-9 in the Southland Conference a season ago, their 21st campaign under McConathy.
Forward Chudier Bile, who last year led Northwestern State in scoring (14.3 points per game), rebounding (7.6), and shot blocking (1.5), graduated with a year of eligibility remaining and elected to transfer to Georgetown.
Returning guard Jairus Roberson ranked second in scoring at 11.9 points per game and hit a team-high 2.7 3-pointers per contest at a 37.6 percent clip.
“Roberson is exciting to watch and he’s very vocal in practice,” McConathy said, per the athletics department site. “We’ve got seven or eight guys we feel comfortable shooting the ball.”