Undefeated #12 Texas Tech lost 6 of their top 8 scorers from the team that made it to the final night of the NCAA tournament last year, but they have explosive 4* freshman guard Jahmius Ramsey and the defensive genius of Chris Beard, so this may be more of a reload than a rebuild year for them.
Aside from Ramsey, TTU returns Davide Moretti and sophomore Kyler Edwards. TTU also plays grad transfer Chris Clarke, formerly of Virginia Tech. Clarke scored 12 points in Iowa's pasting by VT in 2017. Clarke is TTU's top rebounder and assist man.
TTU just beat Long Island University (pegged to be a top contender in their league) by 30, although LIU actually took a 42-41 lead into halftime. TTU then outscored LIU 55-24 in the 2nd half, so obviously Coach Beard can get his team to make the proper adjustments.
Iowa is also a step up in competition for TTU, and a real challenge in terms of size. TTU's top inside player is 6'8" TJ Holyfield, a grad transfer from Stephen F. Austin. Holyfield picked TTU over offers from Kansas and Illinois (Brad Underwood recruited him to SFA). TTU also has 7'0" 260 lb freshman Randal Tchewa who is somewhat raw and plays sparingly but obviously has great size.
If Iowa can get Holyfield or Tchewa in foul trouble, TTU may be forced to play a 4-guard or 5 guard lineup at times. Iowa dodged a bullet when the NCAA denied an eligibility waiver for 6'9" UNLV transfer Joel Ntambwe. Despite its lack of size inside, TTU is not a 3-point dominant team. TTU is leading the Big 12 in 3pt% but they also have taken the fewest 3 point attempts (73 over 4 games; by comparison, Iowa has taken 89).
Enough about offense... TTU made it to the final game last year because of their "no middle" defensive philosophy, which held teams like Duke to 0.85 points per possession. Here's a great video that shows how it works better than I could explain.
"No middle" means that TTU forces the ball baseline, and the top layer of its zone "sinks" to the level of the ball to allow for help defense on baseline drives. The way to "beat" this defense is (1) to try to force the ball middle on drives, possibly after switching to create a mismatch - this causes the defense to sort of collapse, or (2) reverse the ball from baseline to perimeter via "skip passes". TTU was also expert at drawing charges, and had great rim protection last year that they may not have this year.
Honestly, because Iowa is so unathletic and big, our offense is less dependent on dribble-drive motion than most. Expect Tech to double Garza down low on the block as they "sink to the level of the ball." If Garza can beat the double teams or reverse the ball using his height to our shooters, we might have a chance against this pack-line type defense if our shooters are on.
Aside from Ramsey, TTU returns Davide Moretti and sophomore Kyler Edwards. TTU also plays grad transfer Chris Clarke, formerly of Virginia Tech. Clarke scored 12 points in Iowa's pasting by VT in 2017. Clarke is TTU's top rebounder and assist man.
TTU just beat Long Island University (pegged to be a top contender in their league) by 30, although LIU actually took a 42-41 lead into halftime. TTU then outscored LIU 55-24 in the 2nd half, so obviously Coach Beard can get his team to make the proper adjustments.
Iowa is also a step up in competition for TTU, and a real challenge in terms of size. TTU's top inside player is 6'8" TJ Holyfield, a grad transfer from Stephen F. Austin. Holyfield picked TTU over offers from Kansas and Illinois (Brad Underwood recruited him to SFA). TTU also has 7'0" 260 lb freshman Randal Tchewa who is somewhat raw and plays sparingly but obviously has great size.
If Iowa can get Holyfield or Tchewa in foul trouble, TTU may be forced to play a 4-guard or 5 guard lineup at times. Iowa dodged a bullet when the NCAA denied an eligibility waiver for 6'9" UNLV transfer Joel Ntambwe. Despite its lack of size inside, TTU is not a 3-point dominant team. TTU is leading the Big 12 in 3pt% but they also have taken the fewest 3 point attempts (73 over 4 games; by comparison, Iowa has taken 89).
Enough about offense... TTU made it to the final game last year because of their "no middle" defensive philosophy, which held teams like Duke to 0.85 points per possession. Here's a great video that shows how it works better than I could explain.
"No middle" means that TTU forces the ball baseline, and the top layer of its zone "sinks" to the level of the ball to allow for help defense on baseline drives. The way to "beat" this defense is (1) to try to force the ball middle on drives, possibly after switching to create a mismatch - this causes the defense to sort of collapse, or (2) reverse the ball from baseline to perimeter via "skip passes". TTU was also expert at drawing charges, and had great rim protection last year that they may not have this year.
Honestly, because Iowa is so unathletic and big, our offense is less dependent on dribble-drive motion than most. Expect Tech to double Garza down low on the block as they "sink to the level of the ball." If Garza can beat the double teams or reverse the ball using his height to our shooters, we might have a chance against this pack-line type defense if our shooters are on.
