Texas Tech coach Mark Adams held a press conference with the media on Friday afternoon and talked about the Red Raiders upcoming matchup against Mississippi State.
With the Red Raiders having played on Monday night, they got a full four days off this week to rest up and get prepared for Saturday’s Big 12/SEC Challenge against the Bulldogs. The four days’ rest was the most time off the team has had since Big 12 play started back on January 5th.
“It was nice to get a few days off and give our guys a couple of days away from basketball,” Adams said. “I think we're rested for the most part, even though that Kansas game was very physical. Some of our guys are still nursing a few minor injuries, but I think for the most part we’ll be ready to go.
“We’re excited about playing Mississippi State. We have a lot of respect for their coach. He’s been in Final Fours, and he’s a heck of an X’s and O’s coach. He’ll be prepared for us.
“They’ve got some great athletes and play in a great conference. They mirror us, our records are very close to the same. It’ll be a great battle, and we’re looking forward to it.”
With March closing in fast and only 11 games remaining on the schedule, quality wins are needed now more than ever for teams looking to boost their tournament resume. You’d be hard pressed to find a more quality win for Mississippi State than coming into the United Supermarkets Arena and knocking off a Texas Tech team that has won 15 straight home games.
“I think we’re all just battling for position and trying to improve our resumes,” Adams noted. “I think this is a big game for both teams, and I think whoever can win this game will certainly help themselves in the seeding.
“It’ll be a great matchup. They’ve got some long athletic players like we do, and they have an exceptional guard (Iverson Molinar) that may be the best we’ve played all year.”
Molinar was named to the preseason All-SEC First Team back in October, and he’s lived up to the hype this season. He's second in the SEC and leads Mississippi State with 18.4 points per game. Molinar is shooting 49.8 percent from the field, the fourth highest in the SEC for a guard.
The Red Raiders will have to be up to the task of keeping Molinar in check. He’s scored 50 points in the Bulldogs last two games and much like Ochai Agbaji of Kansas, he’s fully capable of taking over a game with his offensive play.
“He’s extremely quick, and he’s got decent size,” Adams said. “Molinar is a guy who can shoot the three, and he’s just hard to guard when he comes off those ball screens. He can go either way, and he can split your defense. He’s just a nightmare for a team that plays man-to-man defense to stay in front of.”
Mississippi State will be looking for a bounce back win in Lubbock after suffering an overtime loss to Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs trailed, 37-24, at the half but would battle back to tie the game and force OT. Mississippi State was outscored, 10-2, in the overtime period and lost the game, 82-74. Molinar had 30 points in the loss to the Wildcats.
“You know one thing I learned about them is they’re a lot like us,” Adams noted. “They didn’t give up, and they came back in a hostile environment. Kentucky has an unbelievable home court advantage, and they were impressive.
“They were behind and came back and went toe-to-toe with a very good basketball team. We’re going to get a team in here that has a lot of character, is very competitive and well coached. This game has the opportunity to make us a lot better.”
One thing that’s been impressive about Texas Tech this season is how they’ve responded following a big win or a bad loss. The Red Raiders haven’t lost back-to-back games this year, and they carry that ‘on to the next one’ mentality. Coming off a disappointing loss to the Jayhawks, they’ll need keep that same mentality and be locked in for a tough matchup against a talented Bulldogs basketball team.
“We’ll see how they respond in the game against Mississippi State, but our team hates to lose,” Adams said. “We don’t like that losing feeling. Any time you lose you get exposed a little bit, and we learned some things about ourselves. Hopefully we’ll take what we’ve learned and apply that to our game against Mississippi State.”
