Week in a Glance: Texas Tech-TCU postponed, Cyclones' visit a go - for now
To start, it is worth noting both men’s and women’s basketball teams beat ranked Texas squads.
Guard Mac McClung received Player of the Week honors from the Big 12, marked and highlighted by his performance at Texas with his game-winning shot to take down the No. 4 Horns.
Looking ahead to this week, the now-ranked 12th team in the country Texas Tech Red Raiders were set for a one-game road trip to the metroplex to face the TCU Horned Frogs (9-5, 2-4) Wednesday, but COVID-19 issues have forced the Horned Frogs to postpone the matchup along with their Saturday game against Texas.
TCU head coach Jamie Dixon tweeted late Monday he tested positive for the coronavirus following team-wide testing and immediately began to isolate.
Going into that matchup, the Red Raiders were ranked No. 37 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 39 percent from the field. TCU was ranked No. 213, allowing the teams they have faced so far to shoot just above 43 percent on a night.
At the moment, Mac McClung leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game and is ranked third in the Big 12 behind TCU’s RJ Nembhard and Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham. Interestingly, Nembhard also ranks fifth in the conference in assists per game, dishing out 4.1 a game.
Horned Frog big man Kevin Samuel has been a major problem down low and statistically has proven that. The six-foot eleven center is averaging 9.3 rebounds so far this year – second in the Big 12 – which sits one seat behind West Virginia’s Derek Culver.
A game that is not postponed - for now - coming up on Saturday at 3 p.m. is the Iowa State (2-7, 0-5) game back in Lubbock. Last meeting, the Red Raiders struck gold and weathered the Cyclones 91-64, the Red Raiders’ second-highest scoring game this year.
It's worth mentioning the Cyclones have put a pause on things, though. As mentioned, the game is still on for Saturday but Iowa State has postponed three consecutive games already dating back to Jan. 13. A breakout in the Kansas State program paused that contest followed by an Iowa State travelling member testing positive the night before taking on Kansas this past Saturday.
And on Monday, the Cyclones postponed their game against Texas scheduled for Wednesday. So, it's safe to say, the game in Lubbock on Saturday is not necessarily set in stone at this moment.
Iowa State’s Solomon Young is pacing the Cyclones shooting 57 percent from the field this year, fifth in the conference. Marcus Santos-Silva ranks second in the Big 12 shooting 60.7 percent underneath the shadow of TCU’s Samuel.
As a team, the Cyclones shoot slightly better the Red Raiders from deep, comparing a 33 percent splash rate to Tech’s 32.6 percent from deep. From the field, Iowa State has shot the ball better this year – 46.6 percent to Tech’s 43.8 percent. However, it is the Red Raiders that have done well on the scoreboard overall, averaging 74.7 points per game to the Cyclones’ 68.4.
The Tech-Iowa State game is slated to be shown on ESPN or ESPNU.