The top team in the nation, the Louisville Cardinals, heads to Madison Square Garden to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders for the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night. Texas Tech has been ranked as high as 11th this season, but after dropping three straight when the schedule began to strengthen, they come into this game unranked.
Louisville remains a popular bet in Vegas, while Texas Tech has been in and out the past decade, but after their deep run in the NCAAs last season, it has risen again in popularity. The Raiders are coming off three straight losses, and their leading scorer, Jahmi’us Ramsey, is questionable for this contest. Louisville is undefeated and has held its last three opponents to a combined 143 points. The Cardinals are favored by seven points, with the over/under at 130.5.
Bipolar Raiders
Texas Tech started the season red hot, winning five straight to kick things off after losing to Virginia in the NCAA title game just six months ago. Unfortunately, the amount of turnover the Red Raiders had following last season caught up with them when their schedule got more difficult. After starting 5-0 and shooting up the rankings to 11th, the Red Raiders have gone 0-3 to Iowa, Creighton, and DePaul, and dropped out of the Top 25.
Texas Tech’s struggles not only began when their schedule toughened but when they lost leading scorer Ramsey, who tweaked his hamstring in the loss to Iowa and has yet to return. He is currently listed as day-to-day. Fortunately for the Red Raiders, the rest of their starting five all averages in double-digits, and they have four other players that average at least one steal per game.
Louisville And The Garden
It seems like a match made in heaven. Louisville, ranked No. 1, playing in the Jimmy V Classic in New York. This game kind of already has the feel of what could be a lopsided affair. Texas Tech’s leading scorer hindered, possibly out, against a defense that only allows 57.6 points per game, 14th in the nation. They’ve only allowed 47.7 over their last three games.
Offensively, the Cardinals are led by junior forward Jordan Nwora. Nwora averaged over 17 last season while shooting over 37 percent from deep, so it’s no surprise that in his second season as a starter, he’s improved to 21.6 points per game and is shooting 46 percent from three, and picking up 7.3 boards per game to go along with it. Unlike the everyone-contributes offense of Texas Tech, Nwora is the focal point of the Louisville offense. Not to say the Cardinals aren’t deep, just that Nwora has the ball in his hands a lot.
New York State of Mind
If Texas Tech shows up to play with a healthy Ramsey, this game could be a classic. Tech isn’t that far removed from the feeling of winning big on a massive stage. The Cardinals are 5-4 against the spread this season, while the Red Raiders are 4-4 against the spread. Unfortunately for Tech, hamstring injuries linger, and it needs all the firepower it can get to pull off the upset, or even keep within seven of Louisville. The Cardinals’ defense will prove to be too much for the Red Raiders to handle, as Louisville wins and covers the seven points at the Garden.
