Grant McCasland said Friday he's feeling just fine, and expects the 23rd-ranked Texas Tech basketball team to be back in full force on Saturday.

The Red Raiders have dealt with illness throughout the team, and coaching staff, for the last week. Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt said the coach was bedridden for 2½ days before Tuesday's loss to No. 13 Baylor, though McCasland said it wasn't that bad. Everybody gets sick, he explained.

That includes his team, who has dealt with absences of key players like Lamar Washington against Cincinnati and starting center Warren Washington against the Baylor Bears. That led to a lot of rotation shifting, seeing KyeRon Lindsay and Eemeli Yalaho get extended playing time Tuesday.

McCasland doesn't expect the Red Raiders (16-6, 5-4) needing to change things up too much against UCF (13-8, 4-5), which makes its first trip to United Supermarkets Arena for a Big 12 contest at 3 p.m.

"We did have guys playing that weren't well," McCasland said. "To me, a lot of different things you can say about our players, maybe we have some deficiencies, but soft is not one of them. We've got tough guys. Our guys compete and they show up.

"I do see this, us not being 100%, I see it behind us and I see us moving forward significantly better than what we've seen."

Three straight losses have pushed Texas Tech from the front of the Big 12 standings and into the logjam in the middle. Nine games remain for the Red Raiders to get back on track starting with the Knights.

"Handling adversity in the Big 12 is what you get to do, if you handle it the right way," McCasland said. "I honestly do believe our best days are ahead of us. This basketball team has always improved and we're excited to play on Saturday."

Trends to watch

UCF wins games behind its defense. The Knights have the second-best scoring defense in Big 12 play, holding opponents to 66.1 points per contest. On the flip side, it has the worst offense in the league, averaging 62.9 points.

Texas Tech will see another 7-footer in the paint in the form of UCF big man Ibrahima Diallo. He only takes about four shots per game, but has 41 blocks and averages 6.2 rebounds per game.

The Knights have the worst assist-to-turnover margin in the conference, posting more giveaways (275) than helpers (256) this season. The defense, however, forces about 15 turnovers per game.

Texas Tech's Pop Isaacs leads the Big 12 in scoring in league games (19.4 points/game). However, he has combined for nine turnovers in the last two contests after totaling nine in the previous four games.

Darrion Williams is coming off a career-high 17 points against Baylor. He was 6-of-9 from the field against the Bears and has sported a headband in the last two contests (not relevant, but a fun fact).

Key statistic

UCF and Texas Tech had opposite schedules through their first nine conference games. The Knights played five home games while the Red Raiders played four. In UCF's four road contests, the Knights averaged 57 points per game compared to 67.6 in its home contests. Opponents are averaging 71.25 points in United Supermarkets Arena in Big 12 play and 78.4 points/game when the Red Raiders pay them a visit.

Score prediction: Texas Tech 83, UCF 74

Bottom line: A four-game losing streak in the middle of conference play would be a tough hole to dig out of. Texas Tech needs to take care of teams like UCF to supplement its NCAA Tournament chances.

Big 12 Men's Basketball

UCF at No. 23 Texas Tech

When: Saturday, 3 p.m.

Where: United Supermarkets Arena

TV: ESPN

Records: Texas Tech 16-6, 5-4; UCF 13-8, 4-5

Notable: This will be the first of two meetings between the Red Raiders and Knights this month. Texas Tech will head to Orlando for the return game Feb. 24.

Big 12 Basketball Standings

Team Overall Conference

Houston 20-3 7-3

Baylor 17-5 6-3

Iowa State 17-5 6-3

Kansas 18-5 6-4

TCU 16-6 5-4

Texas Tech 16-6 5-4

Oklahoma 17-6 5-5

Kansas State 15-8 5-5

Cincinnati 15-7 4-5

BYU 16-6 4-5

UCF 13-8 4-5

Texas 15-8 4-5

West Virginia 8-14 3-6

Oklahoma State 10-13 2-8

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Can Texas Tech basketball stop the streak against UCF?