Texas Tech Red Raiders and Akron Zips meet in the opening round of NCAA Tournament
Akron Zips (29-5, 20-1 MAC) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (22-10, 12-7 Big 12)
Tampa, Florida; Friday, 12:40 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Raiders -7.5; over/under is 156.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 20 Texas Tech plays in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Akron.
The Red Raiders have gone 12-7 against Big 12 teams, with a 10-3 record in non-conference play. Texas Tech is seventh in the Big 12 scoring 80.4 points while shooting 46.7% from the field.
The Zips are 20-1 in MAC play. Akron leads the MAC with 18.4 assists. Tavari Johnson paces the Zips with 5.0.
Texas Tech averages 11.5 made 3-pointers per game, 2.1 more made shots than the 9.4 per game Akron allows. Akron averages 10.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 4.3 more made shots on average than the 6.6 per game Texas Tech gives up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Donovan Atwell averages 3.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Red Raiders, scoring 13.5 points while shooting 45.3% from beyond the arc. JT Toppin is averaging 21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks over the past 10 games.
Johnson is averaging 20.1 points and five assists for the Zips. Amani Lyles is averaging 14.7 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Raiders: 6-4, averaging 74.9 points, 32.2 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 4.5 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.7 points per game.
Zips: 10-0, averaging 85.6 points, 35.5 rebounds, 16.3 assists, 7.3 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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