LUBBOCK, Texas-The long well-travelled month of December will come to an end for the CSUB Roadrunners (6-6) Tuesday night as they play their final road game of 2011 in Lubbock, Texas against the Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-5) out of the Big 12 Conference in what will be the first meeting between the two programs.
While the schools will be meeting for the first time, head coach Rod Barnes and Texas Tech first-year head coach Billy Gillespie are no strangers to each other having faced one another several times while Barnes was the head coach at Ole Miss and Gillespie led the Kentucky Wildcats. When Barnes was hired by Bakersfield back in March, Gillespie, then an ESPN College Basketball analyst praised the hire, calling Barnes one of the toughest coaches he's ever faced both on the recruiting trail and on the opposing bench.
The 'Runners and Red Raiders both enter with .500 records on the season and having taken a few days off for the Christmas holiday. While their winning percentage is the same, the teams enter on two different ends of the win spectrum. CSUB is coming off their biggest win of the season, a 30-point drubbing of Pacific at home while Texas Tech enters coming off their worst loss of the season, losing 72-56 at Oral Roberts last Thursday night.
While the win at home for the Roadrunners last Thursday snapped a four-game losing streak, they are hoping to close December with an illusive road win, having gone 0-5 this month on the road, a swing that has thus far included five games in five different states. After winning three of their first four outside of Bakersfield, the Roadrunners are still searching for victory outside the state of California this season.
Texas Tech has proven to be a tall order at home this season posting a 4-0 mark at United Spirit Arena with wins over Troy, Stephen F. Austin, North Texas and Grambling State. The Red Raiders are not a flashy team, true to Billy Gillespie's grind-it-out style, the team is averaging 67.8 ppg but allowing just 66.9 ppg and has shown the ability to shoot well at home posting over 40% every game this season from beyond the arc while they ranked 23rd nationally in field-goal percentage at .493 this season.
While the Red Raiders are in a rebuilding of sorts under first-year head coach Billy Gillespie, their youth has not been a problem with freshman Jordan Tolbert leading the way with an impressive 14.7 ppg and four 20-point performances this season. Tolbert also leads the team in rebounds (6.5), field goal percentage (.624), field goal attempts (98) and makes (58). He's joined by junior guard Ty Nurse who's adding 11 ppg for Texas Tech while shooting 45% this season from the field.
The Roadrunners' 83-53 win over Pacific Thursday night was fueled by a career-high 22 points from junior guard Issiah Grayson who scored 19 in the first half and helped pace CSUB from three-point range where the Roadrunners hit an amazing 15 of 23 attempts on the night. Grayson enters Tuesday night's game as CSUB's leading scorer at 11.9 ppg while he is knocking down 51% from the field and 53% from three-point range. Grayson has also dished out 61 assists through 12 games this season, putting him on pace to break the Division I single-season assist record of 98 held by Donovan Bragg in the 2007-08 season. The all-time record of 198 was set by Wade Green in the 1989-90 season at the Division II level.
The Roadrunners continue to shoot the ball well this season as shown by their solid 56% outing from the field Thursday night.? As a team the 'Runners are shooting .458 from the field and .413 from three-point range. Holding their opponents average down, especially on the road has proved to be the most-recent challenge with teams collectively shooting .476 this season from the field.
Tuesday night game marks the final road game for CSUB for three weeks, as they will return home for a six-game home stand beginning Friday night against Pomona-Pitzer. The home stand continues Monday, Jan. 2 against New Mexico State, Thursday, Jan. 5 against UNLV at Rabobank Arena and Saturday Jan. 7 against Texas-Pan American.
Tuesday night's game in Lubbock will tip at 5 P.M. Bakersfield time with the 3-Way Chevrolet Shootaround Show beginning at 4:30 P.M. on KERN Newstalk 1180. The game is also available via video stream on ESPN3.com.
Source: http://www.bbstate.com/news/443723
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