PREVIEW: Creighton
LAS VEGAS – Texas Tech is set play Creighton at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday night in the consolation game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena.
The No. 12-ranked Red Raiders (5-1) are coming off their only loss of the season after falling 72-61 to Iowa on Thanksgiving night, while the Bluejays (4-2) dropped an 83-52 game to San Diego State (7-0) after trailing by 15 at halftime. Tech was led by Chris Clarke who recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but saw the Hawkeyes make 11 3-pointers and hold off the Red Raiders who closed to within two points with two minutes remaining. In the championship game of the Las Vegas Classic, SDSU and Iowa (5-1) will play before the TTU-Creighton matchup.
Through six games, Texas Tech is averaging 82.7 points per game and leads the Big 12 with a 20.5 scoring margin of victory. The Red Raiders are shooting 47.4 percent from the field, 75.2 percent at the free-throw line and are limiting opponents to 62.17 points per game and 38.0 percent shooting. On the glass, Tech leads the Big 12 with a plus-10.8 rebounding advantage and also tops the conference with 20.33 assists per game.
Creighton owns 2-1 all-time advantage over the Red Raiders with the last meeting coming on Jan. 8, 1975 and a resulting in a 51-45 win by the Bluejays. Tech's win over Creighton came on Jan. 4, 1973 in a 59-57 victory in Lubbock.
GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Creighton will be broadcasted on FS1 with Jeff Levering and Casey Jacobsen on the call and on the Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 in Lubbock with Geoff Haxton and Clark Lammert. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the FOX Sports Go app and can follow the game at @TexasTechMBB.
PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti and graduate transfers TJ Holyfield and Chris Clarke. A Virginia Beach, Virginia native, Clarke recorded the first double-double of the season for the Red Raiders against Iowa after scoring 11 points and securing 10 rebounds. His 11 points were a season-high and came on a 5-for-9 shooting performance. Clarke, who is fifth in the Big 12 in rebounding and third in assists, has two double-digit rebounding performances this season after also grabbing 12 against Tennessee State last Thursday at home. He is averaging 8.2 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 4.5 points coming into the game against Creighton. Holyfield scored 10 points and had five rebounds against Iowa and is now averaging 13.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this season. A transfer from SFA, Holyfield is shooting 65.3 percent from the field and is 13-for-18 from the free-throw line. Is shooting percentage ranks third in the Big 12 coming into Friday. He had a season-high 21 points against Houston Baptist and also scored 20 in the win over Bethune-Cookman. In the 21-point performance, Holyfield was 9-for-10 from the field after going 8-for-11 against BCU. His 10 points against Iowa gave him four double-digit scoring performances this season.
Moretti is averaging 12.8 points and 3.0 assists per game to begin his third season with the Red Raiders. A Bologna, Italy native, Moretti was limited to eight points on Thursday against Iowa after scoring in double digits in the first five games of the season. He has started 44 straight games for Tech after a sophomore season where he started all 38 and helped lead the team to the NCAA Championship Final. He scored a season-high 19 in the win over Tennessee State and also had 13 in wins over EIU and BCU. He is shooting 55.6 percent from the field, 51.9 percent on 3-pointers (14-for-27) and is 13-for-13 at the free-throw line after going 97-for-105 to lead the nation at 92.4 percent last season. Moretti has made a 3-pointer in five of six games this season, including two against the Hawkeyes. He had a season-high four 3-pointers in the win over TSU and had a career-high five 3-pointers last year against Mississippi Valley State. He has now scored 643 points in his career and has 113 made 3-pointers coming into Friday's game against the Bluejays.
Kyler Edwards comes into the game against the Bluejays averaging 10.0 points and leading the Red Raiders with 4.2 assists per game. A sophomore from Arlington, Edwards has scored 10 points in three straight games and is averaging 5.0 rebounds per game. He had four rebounds against Iowa to go along with three assists. Edwards is coming off a freshman season where he played a reserve role in all 38 games and has started all six this season. He is currently 18-for-19 from the free-throw line after going 3-for-4 on Thursday night. Terrence Shannon, Jr. is at 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game after scoring nine in the loss to Iowa. A freshman from Chicago, Shannon had a season-high nine rebounds against the Hawkeyes and was 7-for-8 at the free-throw line. He scored a season-best 13 points in wins over Tennessee State and Long Island leading into trip to Las Vegas and also scored in double figures with 11 points in the season opener against Eastern Illinois.
Jahmi'us Ramsey leads the Red Raiders with 17.3 points per game and is also at 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. A freshman from Arlington, Ramsey was limited to seven points in the loss to Iowa where he left the game in the second half with an injury. He is currently fourth in the Big 12 in scoring. His seven points were the first time this season he's been limited to single digits and came after a career-high 27 point outburst against Long Island where he went 5-for-6 on 3-pointers. Ramsey is shooting 48.8 percent from the field and is 13-for-30 on 3-pointers. He had a career-high nine rebounds against Bethune-Cookman and has now scored 104 points through the first six games of his college career. Kevin McCullar has played a reserve role in the first six games after a redshirt season last year. A freshman from San Antonio, McCullar is averaging 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game for the Red Raiders. He scored a career-high 10 points in the win over LIU on Sunday before recording four points and four rebounds against Iowa. McCullar is currently 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) from the field this season and has also contributed eight assists and eight steals. He has recorded a steal in all six games with a season-best two steals in wins over EIU and Houston Baptist.
POLLS: Texas Tech traveled to Las Vegas this week as the No. 12-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll after improving to 5-0 on the season with a pair of non-conference home wins last week at the United Supermarkets Arena. Tech is also at No. 10 in the NCAA March Madness Power 36 by Andy Katz and is No. 12 in the ESPN Power Rankings. The Red Raiders rolled to wins over Tennessee State and Long Island to extend a 51-game home non-conference winning streak and remain at No. 12 in the poll for the second straight week. Tech began the year at No. 13 in the preseason poll, jumped to No. 11 after the first week and then dropped back a spot last week. Most of the AP Top 25 remains the same this week, including Duke (6-0) at No. 1 followed by Louisville (6-0), Michigan State (3-1) and Kansas (3-1). The Red Raiders and Louisville are set to square off on Dec. 10 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Kentucky, which travels to Lubbock on Jan. 25 for the Big 12/SEC Challenge is currently ranked No. 9 with a 5-1 record. Along with Tech and Kansas, the Big 12 is represented by No. 19 Baylor (5-1) in the rankings.
SPANNING THE GLOBE: The Red Raiders are represented by eight players by five international players: Moretti (Italy), Nadolny (France), Ntambwe (Congo), Savrasov (Russia) and Tchewa (Cameroon). The program his two players from Arlington, Texas in Kyler Edwards and Jahmi'us Ramsey, Kevin McCullar is from San Antonio and four from out of state: Avery Benson (Arkansas), TJ Holyfield (New Mexico), Tyreek Smith (Louisiana) and Terrence Shannon (Illinois).
COACHING STAFF: The Red Raiders are led by head coach Chris Beard who is in his fourth season. Beard was named the Associated Press National Coach of the Year last season along with earning Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Beard has led the Red Raiders to an 81-32 record coming into the game against Creighton. Beard is joined on the coaching bench by assistant coaches Mark Adams, Brian Burg and Ulric Maligi, Tim MacAllister (Chief of Staff), Bob Donewald (Player Development), Sean Sutton (Executive Advisor), John Reilly (Strength & Conditioning), Mike Neal (Athletic Trainer) and graduate assistants Casey Perrin, Ronald Ross, Matt Temple, Elliott De Wit, Khristian Smith, Joey Kuhl, Rusty Grafel and Mike Fallone. Adams was named the TABC Assistant Coach of the Year last season for his role in helping Beard and the Red Raiders reach the national championship final. Burg was listed by The Athletic as one of the top rising assistants in the game as he enters his fourth season at Tech and fifth with Beard after also being at Little Rock with Beard and Adams. Maligi is in his first season at Texas Tech after working at Texas A&M last year. Neal is also new to the program, joining the Red Raiders after working at Little Rock where he was also a player before going into athletic training. Adams and Burg were previously on Beard's staff at Little Rock along with athletic trainer Mike Neal who is in his first season at Tech. MacAllister was named to the NABC 30 Under 30 list after last year and enters his second season with the Red Raiders. Along with being 19 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 177-62 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.
OPPONENT SEVEN: Creighton comes into Friday's game following a 31-point loss to San Diego State on Thursday where it was limited to 38.5 percent shooting including going 4-for-23 on 3-pointers. The Bluejays had traveled to Las Vegas on a three-game winning streak with victories over Louisiana Tech, Cal Poly and North Florida. The team is averaging 74.3 points per game this season and is shooting 46.4 percent from the field. Marcus Zegarowski leads the team with 16.2 points per game with 18 3-pointers, while Ty-Shon Alexander is averaging 15.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Damien Ballock is at 13.5 points and leads the Bluejays with 5.5 rebounds per game. Against San Diego State, Ballock led the team with 12 points while Shereef Mitchell had 10. Zegarowski, a sophomore from Massachusetts, was limited to seven points on 3-for-16 shooting (1-for-10 on 3-pointers) against SDSU.
RAMSEY EARNS BIG 12 HONOR: Texas Tech freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday after dropping a career-high 27 points on Long Island on Sunday where he had five 3-pointers and also contributed six rebounds. Ramsey, who leads the Big 12 with 19.4 points per game this season and was named All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention, also scored 13 points and seven rebounds last Thursday in the win over Tennessee State. An Arlington native, Ramsey has scored in double figures in all five games for the Red Raiders and comes into the week averaging 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Against LIU, Ramsey scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half where Tech turned a 42-41 halftime deficit into a 96-66 victory to improve to 2-0. He is the second Red Raiders to earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors this season, following TJ Holyfield who earned the recognition after the first week of the season. Ramsey averaged 20 points and 6.5 rebounds per game to earn this week's honor. Ramsey finished the game shooting 10-for-16 from the field, including going 5-for-6 on 3-pointers. Along with his impressive performances last week, Ramsey also has a 25-point game against Houston Baptist on his early-season resume after he opened the season with a 19-point output against Eastern Illinois. His 27 points were only four point shy of matching the Tech single-game freshman record of 31 points by Jason Sasser and Lance Hughes.
SIGNING CLASS: Beard announced the signings of Chibuzo Agbo, Nimari Burnett and Micah Peavy to their national letter of intent for the 2020-21 academic year on November 13. The trio of talented recruits is ranked No. 5 nationally by Rivals.com and join a program that has advanced to the 2018 Elite Eight and to the 2019 NCAA National Championship Final over the past two season. Agbo signs with Texas Tech as a 4-star prospect by Rivals and 247Sports after being named the 2019 Western League Player of the Year playing for Saint Augustine High School. He enters his senior season as the 2019-20 San Diego Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 20 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and shooting 42.0 percent on 3-pointers as a junior. He is currently ranked No.70 by 247Sports and No. 87 nationally by Rivals. Agbo chose Texas Tech over USC and was also recruited by Arizona, Cal, San Diego State and Marquette. Burnett is the highest rated recruit to sign in Texas Tech basketball history with a 5-star ranking by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports. A Chicago, Illinois native, Burnett is ranked No. 19 nationally in the 2020 signing class by ESPN, No. 22 by Rivals and No. 28 in the 247Sports rankings. Peavy helped lead Duncanville High School to a Class 6A State Championship last season as a junior where he averaged 16 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He signs with Texas Tech as a 4-star prospect by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports and is the No. 2-ranked prospect in Texas according to Mike Kunstadt's Texas Hoops. Peavy is the No. 32-ranked player in the nation by ESPN and No. 34 by Rivals.
STREAKING: Texas Tech has won 51 straight non-conference home games after its 96-66 win over LIU on Sunday. The team came into the season following a 67-64 win over Arkansas to complete a 9-0 mark in those games last year. TTU started the streak with a 100-69 win over St. Mary's on Dec. 30, 2013. Chris Beard is 32-0 in non-conference home games as the team's head coach.
DEPARTURES: Texas Tech will look to replace the winningest team in program history that is now without Jarrett Culver, Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens, Brandone Francis and Norense Odiase. Culver declared for the NBA Draft after his sophomore season and was selected No. 6 overall. After leading the Red Raiders with 18.5 points per and 6.4 rebounds per game and earning Big 12 Player of the Year and Consensus All-America honors, Culver is now on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mooney was the team's third leading scorer behind Culver and Moretti and is now with the Memphis Hustle in the G-League, while Owens established a new program single-season record with 92 blocked shots and is with Odiase on the Northern Arizona Suns (G-League). Francis was a member of the 2018 Elite Eight run and 2019 runner-up team and is on the Iowa Wolves roster. Along with players from last year's team, Max Lefevre is now with the Timberwolves working in video and athletic trainer Chris Williams joined the Timberwolves and Iowa Wolves athletic training staff.
WE PUBLISHED A BOOK: The story of the 2018-19 season has been chronicled in a commemorative book titled Raider Power: Texas Tech's Journey From Unranked to the Final Four. The Texas Tech Athletic Communications Office produced book is filled with images from our photographers and stories from throughout the season. The book is available now online and in stores. It is published by the TTU Press.
UP NEXT: Following Las Vegas, Texas Tech will play at DePaul on Dec. 4 in Chicago and against No. 2-ranked Louisville on Dec. 10 in New York before hosting Southern Mississippi on Dec. 16 in their next home game.
