Players to watch in Kentucky vs. Texas Tech

Exhibition games in college basketball are becoming like the NFL Preseason. At least, that’s how it can feel with Kentucky Basketball.

The Wildcats have already played one exhibition game, and they still have two remaining before the regular season starts. Friday night is the second of the three exhibition games against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Even though this game doesn’t count toward the standings, it’s still an opportunity for the Cats against a Power Four team, a good Power Four team at that. Texas Tech is No. 19 in the AP Preseason Top 25, and they’re coming off a really solid season where they were ranked in the top 25 all season and finished third in the Big 12.

Had it not been for a season-ending injury to their star player, JT Toppin, they could have been a team that played in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Speaking of Toppin, he is not going to play Friday night against Kentucky. He is still recovering from a torn ACL sustained in February, and his absence looms large for the Red Raiders. Toppin was averaging close to 22 points per game and over 10 rebounds per game when he went down.

Elsewhere for the Red Raiders, Donovan Atwell was recently granted an injunction to make him eligible for this season. Atwell is a terrific shooter and active defensive player, shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from 3-point range while finishing second on the team in steals with 40.

There are two other players who are seeking eligibility for this season. Darrion Williams is back at Texas Tech after a season at North Carolina State. Williams played two seasons prior at Texas Tech, averaging 15.1 points per game in 2024-25 for a Red Raiders team that played in the Elite Eight.

Jamichael Stillwell is also seeking eligibility after transferring in from Central Florida this offseason. Stillwell has averaged double figures in scoring in both of his first two seasons in college basketball, including a double-double as a Freshman at Milwaukee.

With all of the roster turnover throughout college basketball, it’s hard to predict who is going to start in exhibition games and the first few games of the season. Projections for starting lineups are fine and prevalent this time of year, but they’re still just guesses.

For the sake of this Players to Watch, we’ll look at other key returners and transfers on the Red Raiders who we could see take the floor at Rupp Arena.

Players to Watch on Texas Tech

1. #2: Josiah Moseley — 6’8” Jr. Forward; ROUND ROCK, Texas

Moseley played his first season of college basketball at Villanova before transferring to Texas Tech prior to last season. He does most of his activity in the front court, with 45 of his 51 shot attempts coming inside the arc. Last season, Moseley averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

2. #13: Marial Akuentok — 6’11” So. Forward; EDMONTON, Alberta

Joining the program as a redshirt in the middle of the 2024-25 season, Akuentok averaged 1.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in his first full season with the Red Raiders.

3. #1: Damarion Dennis — 6’1’ Jr. Guard; DALLAS (Wyoming Transfer)

Dennis is a good scorer and efficient shooter. He averaged 11.2 points and shot 52 percent from the field at Wyoming last year, while also being a reliable 86.1 percent shooter at the free-throw line.

4. #3: Cruz Davis — 6’3” 5th-Year Guard; PLANO, Texas (Hofstra Transfer)

A beast of a scorer and shooter, Davis averaged 20.1 points per game and shot 44 percent from the field with 40 percent from 3-point range and 83 percent from the free-throw line. Davis also had 164 assists and 3.7 rebounds.

5. #4: Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn — 6’1’ Sr. Guard; LAFAYETTE, Ind. (UNLV Transfer)

Another beast of a scorer, Gibbs-Lawhorn averaged 20.7 points per game and shot 49.7 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from 3-point range. Gibbs-Lawhorn also had 89 assists and 52 steals with the Runnin’ Rebels.

Head Coach: Grant McCasland (4th Season, 74-31; 11th Season Overall, 229-108) — 50 years old

The leader of North Texas’ NIT Championship team in 2023 and Texas Tech’s Elite Eight team in 2025, which nearly knocked off eventual national champion Florida, Grant McCasland has established Texas Tech as one of the Big 12’s most consistently tough programs. In McCasland’s first three seasons, the Red Raiders finished no lower than tied for third in the Big 12.

Before taking over Texas Tech and rescuing them from a disastrous situation in 2023, following the troublesome ending to Chris Beard’s tenure as head coach, McCasland was the head coach at North Texas for six seasons. He led the Mean Green to the 2023 NIT Championship with one of the country’s best defenses and took them to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, where they knocked off No. 4 seed Purdue in the First Round.

In 2022 and 2023, McCasland’s teams led the nation in scoring defense the final two seasons he was in Denton after limiting opponents to just 55.7 points per game in both seasons.

Before becoming Texas Tech’s head coach, McCasland served as the program’s Director of Operations from 1999 to 2001.

Final Thoughts

Again, this game doesn’t count toward the standings, but it’s still a good test for the Wildcats playing against a really good Red Raiders team. Texas Tech made 384 3-pointers this past season to set a new program record and finish in the top five nationally. Their shooting could require Kentucky to match it by getting up a lot of 3-point shots themselves.

Mark Pope said he wants the Cats to get up 35 3-point shots per game. This may be the first time this season we see that number of 3-point shots from the Cats.