Texas Tech Red Raiders at Creighton Blue Jays Betting Preview

The Creighton Blue Jays will seek their first meaningful win of the season as they take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Monday afternoon. The contest will serve as the starting gun of the historic Maui Invitational tournament.

The Blue Jays and Red Raiders both enter the game with undefeated records, but neither team has played an opponent within the current KenPom top 140. Creighton enters the game as just a 1-point favorite, with the total currently around 133.5 points.

Creighton trying to nest atop the Big East

Greg McDermott’s team enters the season with sky-high expectations and a fairly young roster. While the Blue Jays may be young, they don’t lack in terms of experience. Popular breakout candidate Trey Alexander may have come off of the bench last season but still played nearly 27 minutes per game.

Fellow sophomores Ryan Nembhard and Arthur Kaluma also turned in freshmen campaigns in which they received a ton of experience and were productive in doing so.

Kaluma is currently the second-leading scorer and the second-leading rebounder on the team, while Nembhard leads the team with nearly seven assists per game.

Junior post player Ryan Kalkbrenner is leading the team in both points and rebounds at 16.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. The seven-foot St. Louis native was the Big East Defensive player of the year last season, as well as a conference All-Tournament team performer.

He has not been the shot-blocker so far this year that he was last season, but that may still come with time.

Texas Tech looking to raid the Islands

Texas Tech coach Mark Adams is not only breaking in four new starters but also three starters that are new to the program. De’Vion Harmon, Popp Isaacs, and Jaylon Tyson are all players that transferred into the program during the offseason.

Harmon is the likely leader of the pack, along with veteran Kevin Obanor. The Red Raiders are Harmon’s third program after stops at Oklahoma and Oregon.

He is currently shooting the ball at a career-best field goal percentage, as well as averaging career-highs in assists and steals. Obanor is a versatile forward that currently leads the team in scoring while being incredibly efficient in the process.

The Red Raiders will be without former Utah Valley star Fardaws Aimaq as the big man suffered a broken foot just prior to the beginning of the season.

Sophomore post player Daniel Batcho has filled in admirably up to this point averaging nine points and seven rebounds. In his last outing against Louisiana Tech, he logged an incredible six blocked shots.

Texas Tech vs. Creighton Prediction

While the style of play is very similar, Creighton is a more well-rounded group at this point in the season, ranking inside the top 25 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.

The Blue Jays have a ton of perimeter talent, and while the Red Raiders are an extremely talented defensive team, it is unlikely that their offense will be better than mediocre against this Creighton defense.

Look for a close game that hits the under while the Blue Jays win the game by fewer than five points.