Texas Longhorns at Texas Tech Red Raiders Betting Preview

Monday will feature an intrastate battle of top-25 Big 12 teams as the No. 23 Texas Longhorns (16-5, 5-3 in Big 12) take on the No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-5, 5-3 in Big 12). The Red Raiders will host this one at United Supermarkets Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 9:00 pm ET.

Texas comes into this one on a three-game winning streak after beating No. 22 Tennessee 52-51 at home on Saturday.

In the win, guard Courtney Ramey led all scorers with 18 points. He was actually the only Longhorn to score in double digits as Timmy Allen, and Andrew Jones were the next leading scorers with nine apiece.

After losing on the road to No. 10 Kansas (94-91) last Monday, the Red Raiders bounced back with a home win over Mississippi State, 76-50, on Saturday.

Adonis Arms had a game-high 16 points, while Kevin Obanor (13), Mylik Wilson (12), and Bryson Williams (10) all had double-digit efforts as well.

Texas Tech is the favorite in this one playing at home. They are -220 to win while the Longhorns’ moneyline sits at +180. The spread features Texas +5 (-110), and the over/under for total points is 123 (-110).

More Odds

Texas Tech currently has the third-best odds of winning the Big 12 at +500. Right behind them is Texas, who is currently +650 to win the conference.

In terms of the National Championship, Texas Tech has the better odds of winning at +3200. Texas is currently +4500 to win it all.

By The Numbers

Texas Tech has the better of the two offenses. They rank 61st in scoring, averaging 74.8 points per game (81 at home). The Longhorns rank 213th averaging 68.7 points (65.4 on the road).

Defensively, Texas has the advantage. In fact, they rank first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 54.5 points per game to opponents (64.7 on the road). The Red Raiders rank 13th, allowing 60.3 points per game (57.1 at home).

Chris Beard Hopes For Win In Return To Texas Tech

For the first time since leaving the Red Raiders to take over the Longhorns’ program, head coach Chris Beard will return to Lubbock. While he is certain to hear a chorus of boos, the Longhorns’ head coach will try to utilize the top-ranked defense in the nation to take down Texas Tech.

Offensively, the team is led by senior forward Timmy Allen. In 21 games, he has averaged 11.8 points on 53.1% shooting. He is also adding 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

The Longhorns have two others that are averaging double digits in Marcus Carr and Andrew Jones. Carr is averaging 10.6 points and 3.3 assists, while Jones is averaging 10.1 points and three rebounds.
Other contributors include Courtney Ramey (9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds) and Tre Mitchell (8.9 points, 4.2 rebounds).

Red Raiders Look To Stay Perfect At Home

While Texas Tech has struggled a bit on the road to the tune of a 1-4 record, they have been dominant at home. In fact, at the United Supermarkets Arena this season, they are a perfect 13-0. Welcoming their intrastate and conference rivals, they would like to keep their home record perfect Tuesday night.

Showing the depth of head coach Mark Adams’ team, they have five players averaging double digits. Senior forward Bryson Williams leads the scoring with 13.5 points on 54.4% shooting.

The rest of the top five include Terrence Shannon Jr (12 points, 2.7 rebounds), Kevin McCullar (10.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists), Kevin Obanor (10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds), and Davion Warren (10.3 points, 2.9 rebounds).

Take Texas Tech To Win And Cover

Both of these teams have outstanding defenses, but it is only Texas Tech that can even come close to getting the job done on the offensive side.

Texas has struggled at times to put points on the board, relying heavily on their top-ranked defense to pick up wins. On the road against a Red Raiders’ team motivated by their previous coach’s return, this could get interesting early on.

Expect Texas Tech to jump out quickly in this one. While Texas may level out with their stifling defense, expect the Red Raiders’ to use their home court advantage to ultimately seal the deal.

Take Texas Tech to both win and cover the modest five-point spread.