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Auburn Basketball: Tigers at Texas Tech Game Info and Preview

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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Auburn Tigers (3-2) at Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-1)

Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Start Time: 8PM Central
Location: Lubbock, TX
Arena: United Supermarkets Arena
TV Info: SEC Network
Announcers: Mike Morgan and Barry Booker
Live Stream: ESPN3.com, Watch ESPN
Odds (via VegasInsider.com): Texas Tech (-7.5)

The Auburn basketball team is on the road again tonight, this time in Lubbock to play the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first game of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. The game is another step towards building Auburn into a national program. For the fifth time in the first six games, a national television audience – including fans and potential recruits – will be able to watch the Tigers.

While the game and other quality non-conference contests like it are good for the future of the program, it’s also important to measuring this group’s strengths and weaknesses. This season is important, and for seniors like K.T. Harrell, this is their last shot at a winner.

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Harrel has been great in four of the first five games this season, scoring 20-points or more four times. The only blemish for the pre-season All-SEC selection was a two-point performance in the Tigers’ 53-35 loss to Tulsa in Las Vegas last week. That game was a prime example of how much the squad relies on Harrell.

It’s his team, after all.

“Part of it is, Mr. Obvious in the sense that this is his team by virtue of being a senior, by being from Montgomery, by being our hardest worker; it’s his team,” Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl said this week. “If he feels better because he heard his coach say that, that’s fine. He was feeling a lot of pressure, and I was trying to validate that pressure for him and let him know it’s okay to go ahead and take this thing over anytime you’re ready.”

Harrell did take over a week ago in the 71-69 win over Oregon State, and led the Tigers with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting. He’s currently third in the SEC in scoring with 17.2 points per game and ranks in the top ten in the league with a .444 field goal percentage.

Nov 24, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Auburn Tigers guard Malcolm Canada (00) defends Tulsa Golden Hurricane forward Brandon Swannegan (44) during an NCAA basketball game at MGM Grand. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

“My only frustration comes when I think about this being KT’s senior year and so desperately wanting him to have a different senior year than what he has had in the past,” Pearl said. “It’s still within our grasp, but the margin is really close.”

The margin is so close because the Tigers are smallish and shorthanded. Center Matthew Atewe has not played at all this season after suffering a leg injury in the scrimmage against West Alabama, and senior guard Antoine Mason hasn’t played since the season opener against Milwaukee – a game in which the nation’s top returning scorer had 19 points and played through an ankle injury that has kept him off the court since.

Mason is unlikely to play again tonight. He practiced a couple of times this week, but according to Pearl, has not looked good at all.

However, despite the shorthanded roster, there has been plenty to be excited about – both for this year and the future. Cinmeon Bowers is a prime example.

Bowers, a junior college transfer, had his double-double streak snapped against Oregon State, but was the first Auburn basketball player in 24 years to score in double figures and snag ten or more rebounds in four straight games. He, like Harrell, ranks among the SEC’s top ten scorers – making the Tigers one of only two teams with that distinction.

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    • K.C. Ross-Miller has filled in admirably for Mason as a starting guard, Jordon Granger has improved steadily since last season, and Malcolm Canada has already scored in double figures more this season (two of his last three games) than he did in 30 contests a year ago.

    Speaking of Ross-Miller and Canada, they will be back in their home state tonight for a tough contest against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

    Tech is 4-1 this season, Tubby Smith’s second on campus. Smith is one of the nation’s great college basketball coaches and like Pearl is intent on building a top-notch program at a sleeping giant. In 24 seasons as a head coach, Smith has a career record of 529-245, the 66th most victories all-time.

    Like Auburn, the Red Raiders have a solid group of newcomers and a senior leader.

    JUCO transfer Devaugntah Williams may be one of the best three-point shooters in the nation, and he leads the team with 13.4 points per game. Robert Turner, the leading returning scorer from last season’s 14-18 squad, currently ranks second with 11.6 points on average. Smith will start three talented freshmen as well, including mammoth 6-foot-9, 270-pound forward Norense Odiase.

    Texas Tech’s size and athleticism will certainly test the Tigers, and as a 7.5-point favorite, the Red Raiders are expected to win. However, for Auburn to make this season memorable for Harrell, Mason and Ross-Miller, it’s a game they need to win. Doing so would also be important for the future of the program.

    Projected Lineups:

    Auburn

    #5 Cinmeon Bowers, F, Jr., 6-foot-7, 278 pounds, 15.2 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 31.0 MPG
    #25 Jordon Granger, F, Jr., 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, 5.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 24.4 MPG
    #1 K.T. Harrell, G, Sr., 6-foot-4, 212 pounds, 17.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 29.8 MPG
    #13 Tahj Shamsid-Deen, G, So., 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, 8.2 PPG, 0.8 RPG, 27.4 MPG
    #12 K.C. Ross-Miller, G, Sr., 6-foot, 178 pounds, 8.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 22.8 MPG

    Texas Tech

    #0 Devaugntah Williams, G, Jr., 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, 13.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.6 APG
    #5 Justin Gray, G/F, Fr., 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, 5.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 0.4 APG
    #14 Robert Turner, G, Sr., 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, 11.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.3 APG
    #11 Zach Smith, F, Fr., 6-foot-8, 205 pounds, 6.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.6 APG
    #32 Norense Odiase, F, Fr., 6-foot-9, 270 pounds, 9.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 0.6 APG

    Next: Why Auburn DC is the Right Move for Will Muschamp

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