Texas TechTexas Tech vs. Kansas StateKansas State Pick Center

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ML SPREAD TOTAL
Texas TechTexas Tech 45
+130
+2.5
(-108)
O 120.5
(-107)
Kansas StateKansas State 58
-140
-2.5
(-102)
U 120.5
(-103)
NCAABNCAAB
FINAL (1/22/2019)
Jan 21, 2019No. 14 Texas Tech plays at Kansas State on Tuesday night, with the teams on opposite recent paths.The Red Raiders (15-3, 4-2 Big 12) hope to end a two-game skid that brought them back to the conference pack. The Wildcats look to continue their four-game winning streak that has them back where they were expected to be coming into the season.Tech dropped six spots in the AP poll after two losses last week.The Red Raiders, after starting the season 15-1, with the only loss coming against Duke, lost at home to Iowa State (68-64) on Wednesday and at Baylor (73-62) on Saturday. The result was the Red Raiders dropped into a temporary share of the top spot in the conference with Iowa State, Kansas and a Kansas State squad they defeated 63-57 to open the season.The Wildcats (14-4, 4-2 Big 12), meanwhile, seem to have found their stride with the return of Dean Wade three games ago. He had missed six games because of a foot injury.Kansas State has not trailed since Barry Brown seized a victory at Iowa State with a layup with four seconds remaining. The Wildcats then defeated then-No. 20 Oklahoma on the road and TCU at home in wire-to-wire fashion.While Wade, a 6-foot-10 forward, has averaged 12.7 points in his three games back, his presence on the inside has helped the Wildcats' defense even more.Kansas State held the Horned Frogs to a season-low 55 points, 25 points below their season average. The Wildcats held Iowa State to 57 -- 24 points below the Cyclones' season average, followed by holding OU to 61 points, 13 below its average."They're built on defense," TCU coach Jamie Dixon said on Saturday. "That's what their thing is." Kansas State coach Bruce Weber is pleased that his defense is starting to click."We have older guys and they take a lot of pride in defense," he said. "They found out (last year) if we guarded people it gave us a chance to win in the (NCAA) Tournament. They buy into it."Our coaches do a good job. They prepare. Hopefully it will be the foundation. We always say, 'What your foundation is early is going to be your foundation late,' and that's got to be it." Texas Tech focuses on defense as well.The Red Raiders have scored in the 60s in all six of their Big 12 games. But the Red Raiders' defense slipped in the past two games.After allowing an average of 59.3 points through four conference games, the Red Raiders allowed 68 and 73 in their last two. They allowed Baylor to hit 11 3-pointers in Saturday's loss. Turnovers (17) also cost them in that game."We had too many turnovers," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said after that game."It was like we were just going down the court and handing the ball over to Baylor. ... You just can't hand the ball to the other team 17 times and expect to win on the road against a really good coach and a really good team." The Red Raiders are the only Big 12 team to allow fewer points per game (55.8) than K-State (59.2).Jarrett Culver leads Tech in scoring (18.8 points per game) and rebounding (7.1). He is joined in double-figures by Matt Mooney (10.7) and Davide Moretti (10.0).K-State is led by Brown (15.4), Wade (13.3), Kamau Stokes (10.5) and Xavier Sneed (10.4).--Field Level Media

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