Texas Tech Opens Up Tournament Against 11 Seed Utah State

Let the madness begin.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders drew a 6 seed for this year’s NCAA Tournament and will be facing off against the 11 seeded Utah State Aggies this Friday at 12:45 p.m. CT in Assembly Hall.

The Aggies are 20-8 on the season and ended their regular season ranked second in the Mountain West Conference. In their conference tournament, they advanced to the championship game before suffering an 11-point loss to San Diego State.

Analytical Rankings

Analytically, Utah State is the highest rated 11-seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Here is how they stack up compared to Texas Tech.

Offense

As a team, the Aggies offense has been fairly average this season. They average 73.3 points per game to go along with 16.3 assists per game. They also do not currently rank in the top 100 in offensive efficiency in the Kenpom or Haslametrics.

Defense

However, their defense is a completely different story. This season, Utah State’s defense ranks in the top 15 in defensive efficiency in both the Kenpom (8th) and Haslametrics (13th). As a defense, they have allowed only 62.3 points per game and have pulled in 40.8 rebounds per game (14th nationally).

Key Notes

The Aggies are led by the Mountain West defensive and overall player of the year, Neemias Queta. Queta is a seven-footer out of Barreiro, Portugal and he provides a significant impact on both sides of the ball. He averages a double-double with 15.1 points per game and 10 boards to go along with a whopping 3.2 blocks per game (3rd nationally).

Other impact players:

Justin Bean averages 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds as well as leading the team in free throw percentage (83.3%).

Marco Anthony puts up 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game.

Rollie Worster records 9.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and has a team-leading 3.6 assists per game.

Key Notes

• Texas Tech making this year’s tournament marks the first time in Red Raider basketball history that they have made three consecutive NCAA tournaments.
• This will be the first time that Chris Beard will coach in a game at the house that his former boss and mentor, Bobby Knight built (Assembly Hall).
• Utah State has won seven of its last eight games.
• Texas Tech has lost its last two games.

Up Next

The winner of this matchup will face off against the winner between Arkansas and Colgate in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament.