Texas Tech Red Raiders (1-0) vs San Jose State Spartans (2-0)
Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 2:00 pm
In recent years, Tim Miles' San Jose State team has done well in nonconference play but has played a lot of home games against inferior opponents. We saw the Spartans finally schedule a tough opponent in the South on the road in Arkansas and that game was an absolute blowout, 99-58. While Texas Tech may not be as talented as that Arkansas team from last year, Lubbock is never an easy place to play and Grant McCasland's team is coming off an impressive showing to start the season. In fact, McCasland's North Texas team in 2022-23 played SJSU and dominated the Spartans by 15 points, covering the spread at a neutral site. SJSU was a great rebounding team last year but McCasland teams are usually very responsible on the glass. SJSU conceded 72 points to a NCCAA team in Bethesda, which is really concerning. I think TT's defense is smothering as ever and the Red Raiders should have a big day offensively against a very questionable SJSU defense. The Spartans are plainly not as talented as they were a year before and I think this true road game in Lubbock is not ideal at all. The one glaring issue TT has on offense is its lack of a trusted ball handler in pressure moments, as the turnovers can pile up at times, but luckily for the Red Raiders, the Spartans were one of the worst teams in D1 hoops in turnover % on defense in 2022-23. This is a really beneficial matchup for Texas Tech so I will lay the lumber at home.