United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, TX
Tip-off: Saturday, 4:15 pm ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

Texas Tech has proven a worthy challenger to KU's Big 12 throne, but can they seal the deal?

If things had gone a little bit differently, the Texas Tech Red Raiders could have moved pretty damn close to securing the Big 12 regular season title this past Saturday. A win at Baylor would have made them 11-3 in conference play, and a Kansas loss to West Virginia would have dropped the Jayhawks—the 13-time defending conference champion Jayhawks—to 9-5 in the Big 12. Unfortunately for Tech, reality did not follow their perfect script. Kansas won at home on the strength of a +33 disparity in free throw attempts, and the Raiders fell 59-57 in Waco. Kansas then destroyed Oklahoma by 30 points on Monday night, but none of these results would qualify as the worst thing to happen to Texas Tech's conference title hopes this past week—that would be G Keenan Evans' toe injury, which forced the Red Raiders' leading scorer to exit the Baylor game before halftime. He's been considered day-to-day in the days since, and was considered likely to give it a go on Wednesday night at Oklahoma State. But for a team with few other compelling options on offense, a less-than-50% Evans could make things considerably more difficult against a team as good as Kansas. The Raiders host the Jayhawks Saturday afternoon, and it figures to be one of the rowdiest games in the history of United Supermarkets Arena. It will be the second meeting between the two teams this year, as Texas Tech won in Lawrence by an 85-73 score on January 3.

G Devonte Graham is the unquestioned leader on the court for the Jayhawks this season, and the senior has elevated his play to go along with that status. He's shooting over seven threes per game and making nearly 42% of them, and he's second in the Big 12 in assists at 7.2 APG. In round one against Texas Tech last month he put Kansas' offense on his back, scoring 27 points and dishing out six assists while no other Jayhawk had more than 11 or two, respectively. Graham has scored at least 23 points in three of his last five games, and even added eight rebounds in the recent win over West Virginia. KU's second-leading scorer, G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk had been kind of cold this month with combined 14-for-44 shooting after last weekend, but he scored 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting against Oklahoma on Monday. In fact, four guards start for KU, as Malik Newman and LaGerald Vick join Graham and Mykhailiuk in the starting backcourt. Both are talented and capable of scoring in bunches—they combined for 37 against Oklahoma—but can also be inconsistent. C Udoka Azubuike is one of the best big men in the conference, but his dismal free-throw shooting and propensity for getting into foul trouble can leave Kansas vulnerable on the interior.

Even if Tech can't win the conference, Evans deserves to be considered alongside Graham and Trae Young for Conference and National Player of the Year honors. He entered Wednesday night's tilt with Oklahoma State as the Big 12's second-leading scorer, and had a higher shooting percentage (48.4%) than any of the league's other top ten guards in scoring. Last Tuesday's win over Oklahoma, his last full game before hurting his toe, showed the full breadth of his skills. He scored 26 points, but also played consistent with what makes Tech such a unique team: its stifling defense. Matched up with Young, he held his hyped-up counterpart to 4-of-16 shooting, including an 0-for-11 night from three-point range. Aside from Evans, the rest of the Red Raiders roster consists of perfectly matched role players. Freshman G Jarrett Culver is the next big thing in Lubbock and one of three Raiders to average double-digit scoring, although his 3-of-16 shooting against Baylor showed he's currently better suited to a secondary scoring role. G Zhaire Smith, also a freshman, helped buoy the offense with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in that game. Each standing 6-foot-5, Culver and Smith make for a formidable defensive backcourt indeed. So does G Justin Gray at 6-6, Tech's fourth starting guard. He had 13 points and eight rebounds against the Bears, each a season high. C Norense Odiase rounds out the starting five, and he's a good scorer in the post.