Preview: @ Kansas State
https://texastech.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-preview-at-kansas-state.aspx
LUBBOCK, Texas – The reigning Big 12 Co-Champions will both look to get back on track when No. 23 Texas Tech travels to play at Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas. The Red Raiders (10-5, 1-2 Big 12) have dropped their last two games with losses to No. 4 Baylor and at No. 17 West Virginia last week, while the Wildcats (7-8, 0-3 Big 12) have opened conference play with defeats to Oklahoma, TCU and Texas.
Texas Tech and Kansas State shared last year's conference championship with 14-4 records during the 2019 Big 12 fight. The game will be broadcasted on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Tech is coming off a 66-54 loss last Saturday to the Mountaineers in its second road game of the season and KSU took a 64-50 defeat in Austin. The Red Raiders had been on their second five-game winning streak of the year before falling in the pair of ranked vs. ranked matchups last week and will now look to avoid their second three-game losing streak of the season. Tech is currently scoring 73.7 points per game, shooting 43.6 percent and is limiting opponents to 39.6 percent shooting, while KSU is scoring 64.6 points per game and shooting 41.5 percent through 15 games. The Red Raider defense has limited seven opponents under 60 points this season, including holding Oklahoma State to 50 points in a 35-point win to open Big 12 play before taking a 57-52 loss to No. 4 Baylor which followed its win over the Red Raiders in Lubbock with a victory over No. 3 Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Texas Tech will return from its road trip to Manhattan by hosting Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are currently 8-1 at home this season and have gone 8-1 in Big 12 home games the past two seasons.
With a 73.4 winning percentage (182-66) as a NCAA coach, Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has the eighth best percentage among active coaches and is 86-36 at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are led in scoring by freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey (16.8 ppg.) who is fourth in the conference and graduate transfer Chris Clarke who is at 8.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game which both rank in the top-10. The Red Raiders are currently ranked No. 22 in the nation in the AP Top 25 with a new poll being released on Monday.
Texas Tech has been held under 60 points the past two games and in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2014-15 season when it had a stretch of four games. Following its 85-50 win over Oklahoma State where the Red Raiders shot 54.5 percent from the field, Tech was limited to 37.0 percent shooting against Baylor and then to a season-low 28.4 percent at West Virginia. In the two losses to WVU and Baylor, the Red Raiders were made single-digit free throws after having double digit free throws made in the first 13 games of the season.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and Kansas State were the 2019 Big 12 Co-Champions after splitting their regular-season matchups and both finishing at 14-4. The home teams won both games. KSU leads the all-time series by a 24-18 margin and is 16-4 against the Red Raiders on its home court. Beard is 4-2 against the Wildcats with Tech sweeping the regular-season series in the 2017-18 season. Tech earned a 63-57 win over KSU at home last season before falling 58-45 in Manhattan on Jan. 22, 2019 where it shot only 33.3 percent and dropped its third straight game. In the win at home last season, Davide Morettiled the Red Raiders with 19 points against the Wildcats after hitting three 3-pointers and going 7 of 11 from the field while Kyler Edwards had nine points.
GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Kansas State will be broadcasted on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Mark Neely and Lance Blanks and on the Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 in Lubbock with Geoff Haxton and Chris Level. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the ESPN app and can follow the game at @TexasTechMBB. ESPN+, which will be the digital home of Big 12 Now, is available via the ESPN App, ESPN.com or espnplus.com for just $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year) and can be canceled at any time. Subscribers can watch ESPN+ on the ESPN App via most major mobile and connected-TV platforms, including iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Android devices, Roku, Chromecast, FireTV, XBOX One, Playstation 4, Oculus Go and Samsung connected TVs. It is also available via ESPN.com on the web.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Texas Tech is 12th nationally and second in the Big 12 with 16.9 assists per game after assisting on 12 of 21 shots at WVU on Saturday. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 with 17.07 turnovers forced per game (28th nationally) and are also second in the conference in free throws made (235), free-throw percentage (75.1) and total assists (253) through 15 games. Tech is scoring 73.7 points per game which is fifth in the conference along with limiting opponents to 39.6 percent shooting. A 3.5 turnover margin has them third in the Big 12 and 31st nationally. Individually, Davide Moretti leads the conference and is eighth nationally at 92.2 percent from the free-throw line, while Chris Clarke is second in the conference with 5.9 assists per game and seventh with 8.5 rebounds per game. Clarke is 21st nationally with a 2.70 assist-to-turnover ratio which is second in the conference behind only Iowa State's Tyrese Haliburton who is at 3.0. Moretti is the NCAA active career leader with a 91.3 percentage from the line where he is 168 of 184 through 90 games in his career. He is currently 47 of 51 this season and 5 of 7 through three conference games. Ramsey is fourth in the conference in scoring and leads the Big 12 by shooting 46.8 percent on 3-pointers.
PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 90 games (68 wins) with the Red Raiders, dynamic freshmen and graduate transfers Chris Clarke and TJ Holyfield who bring experience to a team that lost four starters and the leading reserve off last year's historic team. Moretti is coming off scoring 16 points against West Virginia where he hit four 3-pointers for the second time this season. A junior from Italy, Moretti has made 131 3-pointers in his career which is only seven away from bringing him into the program's top-10 in the category and matching Toddrick Gotcher who had 138 for the Red Raiders. The all-time record for a career in Tech history is 262 by Cory Carr. Moretti is a career 39.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc and is currently 32 of 87 this season. He is averaging 13.0 points per game as a junior and has scored 761 points in his career. Moretti, who was an All-Big 12 Third Team selection as a sophomore, scored a career-high 23 points earlier this season against Creighton where he had three 3-pointers. His NCAA-leading free-throw percentage includes going 12 of 12 at the line in a win over Oklahoma State last season and a season-best 8 of 8 performance against Louisville at MSG where he finished with 18 points.
Clarke, who was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, is coming off a game against West Virginia where he had seven assists, six rebounds and six points and is now averaging 8.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 6.9 for the season. He made his fifth start of the season in the game against WVU. A grad transfer who played his first three seasons at Virginia Tech, Clarke leads the Red Raiders with two double-doubles this season with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa in Las Vegas and then 14 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Miss. He has six games with double-digit rebounding performances and had a season-high 11 assists in the win over Houston Baptist in a neutral-court matchup in Midland, Texas. A 6-foot-6 guard from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Clarke has scored 831 points, has 644 rebounds and 299 assists through 94 games played in his collegiate career. He scored a season-high 17 points against Creighton and had a season-best 12 rebounds in the win over Louisville where he also had six assists and seven points. Clarke is shooting 44.9 percent from the field and is nine assist away from matching his career-high which he established as a junior at Virginia Tech with 98 during the 2017-18 season. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23 after his performances against Southern Miss and UTRGV where he averaged a double-double for the week.
Jahmi'us Ramsey and Terrence Shannon, Jr. are emerging as one of the most electric freshmen duo in the conference where they are accounting for 31.4 percent of the team's scoring. Ramsey is scoring 16.8 points per game which is fourth in the Big 12 during his freshman season and is 29 of 62 (46.8 percent) on 3-pointers which leads the conference. He's scored in double figures in nine of 11 games played and is shooting 46.5 percent from the field. A guard from Arlington, Ramsey scored a career-high 27 points after hitting five 3-pointers against Long Island after scoring 25 against Houston Baptist with three 3-pointers. He would hit five 3-pointers for the second time this season last week against Baylor where he finished with a team-leading 20 points and also had a 20-point scoring performance against CSU Bakersfield. Ramsey, who is coming off scoring eight points against WVU, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 25 after his performance against LIU after also being named All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention. He missed four games due to a left hamstring injury that he suffered with 10 minutes remaining against Iowa where he exited with seven points. He returned to score 15 against UTRGV and dropped 20 against Oklahoma State in his Big 12 debut with four 3-pointers. Ramsey has made three or more 3-pointers in six of 11 games played this season.
Shannon, who missed was sidelined against WVU due to injury, is averaging 11.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Red Raiders through 14 where he had started each game. He led the Red Raiders with seven rebounds against Baylor after a game against Oklahoma State where he scored 13 points and had five rebounds. Shannon leads Tech 53 free throws made which ranks fourth in the conference and his 84.1 percentage is sixth. He scored a career-high 24 points at DePaul in the team's only true road game to this point after going 9 of 18 from the field and also hitting four free throws. Shannon was limited to four points against Baylor for his lowest scoring performance in a season where he has scored in double digits in eight games. A guard from Chicago, Shannon also added eight rebounds in his hometown return against DePaul to start a streak of four straight double-figure scoring performances. He finished the game on Saturday against Oklahoma State going 5 of 7 from the field and provided five rebounds. He had a season-high nine rebounds against Iowa in Las Vegas and was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line against Southern Miss where he scored 18 points. Shannon leads the Red Raiders with 53 free throws made and is shooting 84.1 on free-throws this season.
For a season, Texas Tech has only been led in scoring by two freshmen with Jordan Tolbert averaging 11.5 points per game in the 2011-12 season and Rick Bullock who had 13.8 ppg. in 1972-73.
Edwards recorded a career-high nine rebounds in the loss against West Virginia with five on the offensive end while also scoring nine points. A sophomore from Arlington, he is averaging 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game through 15 starts. A reserve in all 38 games as a freshman during the run to the NCAA National Championship Final, Edwards has now scored 366 points and has 155 rebounds in his career. He had a previous career-high of eight rebounds earlier this season against Creighton and scored a career-best 20 points against CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 29 where he hit three 3-pointers. Edwards has hit 18 3-pointers this season and 49 in his career, while he's currently second on the team with 49 assists this season after having 42 last year. He has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio and has scored in double-figures in eight of 15 games this season.
Holyfield comes into the game against KSU averaging 9.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Red Raiders. A grad transfer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, he started his career by playing three seasons at SFA and sitting out last season in Nacogdoches. He has now played and started in 116 games in his collegiate career where he has scored 1,217 points, secured 667 rebounds and has 147 block. He scored a season high 21 points earlier this season against Houston Baptist where he was 9 of 10 from the field a game after scoring 20 against Bethune-Cookman where he was 8 of 11. Holyfield earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors after those games and is on the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List. He's currently leading the Red Raiders by shooting 56.5 percent from the field, but was held scoreless at WVU after going 0-for-3 in 11 minutes played. Holyfield leads the Red Raiders with 14 blocked shots this season, has scored in double figures in five games and has five or more rebounds in 10 of 15 contests.
Avery Benson and Kevin McCullar have provided the Red Raiders a spark from the bench through 15 games of the season. Benson is averaging 2.8 points and 1.57 rebounds per game after scoring five at WVU after having a career-high 10 points in the win over then-No. 1 ranked Louisville where he hit the first shot of the game for the Red Raiders with a 3-pointer and also had a blocked shot at the halftime buzzer. Along with scoring five points with one 3-pointer against the Mountaineers, Benson pulled down four rebounds and matched a career-high with three steals on Saturday. A redshirt sophomore from Arkansas, Benson finished the game against the Cardinals shooting 3 of 3 from the field and is currently shooting 56.0 percent for the season. He played in 20 games last season during the historic run. McCullar scored six points at West Virginia on a career-high 11 shots and also had four rebounds. He had matched a career-high with 10 points in the win over UTRGV after he went 3 of 4 from the field and 4-for-5 at the free-throw line in 16 minutes of play. Last Saturday against OSU, McCullar scored seven points in eight minutes of play in his first Big 12 game. A redshirt freshman from San Antonio, McCullar is averaging 4.0 points per game and is also providing 2.0 rebounds. He also had 10 points in the win over Long Island and had a career-high five rebounds in the win over Louisville at Madison Square Garden.
Texas Tech is currently 8-2 with the starting rotation of Holyfield, Moretti, Edwards, Shannon and Ramsey. The starting five against WVU of Holyfield, Clarke, Moretti, Edwards and Ramsey was the first this season.
OPPONENT 16: Kansas State has opened conference play with losses to Oklahoma, TCU and Texas and is currently 6-3 on its home court this season. The Wildcats are scoring 64.6 points per game with a 41.5 shooting percentage. Xavier Sneed leads the team with 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while Cartier Diarra is adding 12.1 points per game and leads the Wildcats with 86 assists. In conference play, Sneed is averaging 15.3 points per game but was held to just five points in the loss at Texas on Saturday following going for 19 against TCU and 22 at Oklahoma. A senior from St. Louis, Sneed leads the team with 30 3-pointers this season. Diarra led KSU with 14 points and five assists against the Longhorns, while Montavious Murphy scored eight and had five rebounds. Against Texas, KSU was held to 37.0 percent shooting that included going 5 of 15 on 3-pointers. They are shooting 32.4 percent on 3-pointers this season and are at 65.7 percent at the free-throw line.
PROGRAM MARKS: Texas Tech is coming off its winningest season in program history after going 31-7 and 14-4 in Big 12 play last year. The Red Raiders won the Big 12 regular-season championship before advancing to the Final Four for the first time in program history. The program is now 1,435-1,118 all-time after its loss to West Virginia on Saturday.
TEXAS TECH 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 86-36 record coming into the game against Kansas State. 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, Jr. 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 14 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 182-66 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.
A NEW SHINE: Through 10 weeks, Texas Tech has already had four different players earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Week with Chris Clarke most recently after his performances against Southern Miss and UTRGV where he averaged a double-double. The weekly award has gone to TJ Holyfield (Nov. 11), Jahmi'us Ramsey (Nov. 25), Terrence Shannon, Jr. (Dec. 16) and Clarke (Dec. 23). The Red Raiders, who have 10 newcomers and three returners on the roster, are the only team in the conference to have three or more players receive a weekly award.
ATTENDANCE: Under coach Beard, Texas Tech has seen attendance soar over the past four years and is currently drawing 13,928 fans per game this season which is the most in Texas, the second best in the Big 12 and is 18th nationally. The Red Raiders have sold out three games at 15,098 capacity this season in games against Baylor, Eastern Illinois and Bethune-Cookman. In the state of Texas, Tech's attendance is followed by Texas which is drawing 9,264 to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin which ranks 42nd nationally, Baylor (7,231), Houston (6,623), Texas A&M (6,513), TCU (6,073) and UTEP (5,843). Prior to Beard's hiring, Texas Tech averaged 8,418 fans in the 2015-16 season. That figure grew to 9,027 in his first season, to 10,740 in the second year and was at 12,098 last season. The program record for season attendance is 13,743 in the 2001-02 campaign. Tech sold out four games last season and 11 times during the Beard era.
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, Jr. (Illinois). Ntambwe will redshirt this season after having his transfer waiver denied by the NCAA, while Smith has not played his season after suffering an injury during the preseason.
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.
DEPARTURES: Texas Tech was tasked with following 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.
OVERTIME GAMES: With back-to-back overtime losses against DePaul (65-60) and Creighton (83-76), Texas Tech is now 51-51 all-time in overtime contests and 4-5 under coach Beard. The Red Raiders were 1-1 in overtime last season with an 84-80 overtime win over Oklahoma in conference play before falling 85-77 in overtime to Virginia in the championship final. Tech has had back-to-back overtime games twice now under Beard after falling to West Virginia and Iowa State in the 2016-17 season on Feb. 18 and 20. The program has had four occasions of back-to-back overtime games with the only time that three straight games have gone to overtime coming in the 1984-85 season against Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico State.
RADIO SHOW: The Chris Beard Radio Show will return on Thursday at Rudy's with host Geoff Haxton. Remaining show dates for the season are Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6 and Feb. 13. Fans who are unable to attend can also listen and watch on the Texas Tech Sports Network and online at TexasTech.tv.
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 online and in stores. It is published by the TTU Press.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech returns from a two-game road trip by hosting Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18 at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are currently 8-1 at home this season while the Cyclones are 8-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play. ISU plays at Baylor on Wednesday in Waco before traveling to Lubbock. For the Red Raiders, a trip to Fort Worth follows the ISU game for a Tuesday, Jan. 21 matchup against TCU before hosting Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 25 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Tech will go into its final non-conference game of the season with a 54-game non-conference home winning streak which is second in the nation behind Butler which owns a 58-game streak.
https://texastech.com/news/2020/1/12/mens-basketball-preview-at-kansas-state.aspx
LUBBOCK, Texas – The reigning Big 12 Co-Champions will both look to get back on track when No. 23 Texas Tech travels to play at Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas. The Red Raiders (10-5, 1-2 Big 12) have dropped their last two games with losses to No. 4 Baylor and at No. 17 West Virginia last week, while the Wildcats (7-8, 0-3 Big 12) have opened conference play with defeats to Oklahoma, TCU and Texas.
Texas Tech and Kansas State shared last year's conference championship with 14-4 records during the 2019 Big 12 fight. The game will be broadcasted on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Tech is coming off a 66-54 loss last Saturday to the Mountaineers in its second road game of the season and KSU took a 64-50 defeat in Austin. The Red Raiders had been on their second five-game winning streak of the year before falling in the pair of ranked vs. ranked matchups last week and will now look to avoid their second three-game losing streak of the season. Tech is currently scoring 73.7 points per game, shooting 43.6 percent and is limiting opponents to 39.6 percent shooting, while KSU is scoring 64.6 points per game and shooting 41.5 percent through 15 games. The Red Raider defense has limited seven opponents under 60 points this season, including holding Oklahoma State to 50 points in a 35-point win to open Big 12 play before taking a 57-52 loss to No. 4 Baylor which followed its win over the Red Raiders in Lubbock with a victory over No. 3 Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Texas Tech will return from its road trip to Manhattan by hosting Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are currently 8-1 at home this season and have gone 8-1 in Big 12 home games the past two seasons.
With a 73.4 winning percentage (182-66) as a NCAA coach, Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has the eighth best percentage among active coaches and is 86-36 at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are led in scoring by freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey (16.8 ppg.) who is fourth in the conference and graduate transfer Chris Clarke who is at 8.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game which both rank in the top-10. The Red Raiders are currently ranked No. 22 in the nation in the AP Top 25 with a new poll being released on Monday.
Texas Tech has been held under 60 points the past two games and in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2014-15 season when it had a stretch of four games. Following its 85-50 win over Oklahoma State where the Red Raiders shot 54.5 percent from the field, Tech was limited to 37.0 percent shooting against Baylor and then to a season-low 28.4 percent at West Virginia. In the two losses to WVU and Baylor, the Red Raiders were made single-digit free throws after having double digit free throws made in the first 13 games of the season.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and Kansas State were the 2019 Big 12 Co-Champions after splitting their regular-season matchups and both finishing at 14-4. The home teams won both games. KSU leads the all-time series by a 24-18 margin and is 16-4 against the Red Raiders on its home court. Beard is 4-2 against the Wildcats with Tech sweeping the regular-season series in the 2017-18 season. Tech earned a 63-57 win over KSU at home last season before falling 58-45 in Manhattan on Jan. 22, 2019 where it shot only 33.3 percent and dropped its third straight game. In the win at home last season, Davide Morettiled the Red Raiders with 19 points against the Wildcats after hitting three 3-pointers and going 7 of 11 from the field while Kyler Edwards had nine points.
GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Kansas State will be broadcasted on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Mark Neely and Lance Blanks and on the Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 in Lubbock with Geoff Haxton and Chris Level. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the ESPN app and can follow the game at @TexasTechMBB. ESPN+, which will be the digital home of Big 12 Now, is available via the ESPN App, ESPN.com or espnplus.com for just $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year) and can be canceled at any time. Subscribers can watch ESPN+ on the ESPN App via most major mobile and connected-TV platforms, including iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Android devices, Roku, Chromecast, FireTV, XBOX One, Playstation 4, Oculus Go and Samsung connected TVs. It is also available via ESPN.com on the web.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Texas Tech is 12th nationally and second in the Big 12 with 16.9 assists per game after assisting on 12 of 21 shots at WVU on Saturday. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 with 17.07 turnovers forced per game (28th nationally) and are also second in the conference in free throws made (235), free-throw percentage (75.1) and total assists (253) through 15 games. Tech is scoring 73.7 points per game which is fifth in the conference along with limiting opponents to 39.6 percent shooting. A 3.5 turnover margin has them third in the Big 12 and 31st nationally. Individually, Davide Moretti leads the conference and is eighth nationally at 92.2 percent from the free-throw line, while Chris Clarke is second in the conference with 5.9 assists per game and seventh with 8.5 rebounds per game. Clarke is 21st nationally with a 2.70 assist-to-turnover ratio which is second in the conference behind only Iowa State's Tyrese Haliburton who is at 3.0. Moretti is the NCAA active career leader with a 91.3 percentage from the line where he is 168 of 184 through 90 games in his career. He is currently 47 of 51 this season and 5 of 7 through three conference games. Ramsey is fourth in the conference in scoring and leads the Big 12 by shooting 46.8 percent on 3-pointers.
PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 90 games (68 wins) with the Red Raiders, dynamic freshmen and graduate transfers Chris Clarke and TJ Holyfield who bring experience to a team that lost four starters and the leading reserve off last year's historic team. Moretti is coming off scoring 16 points against West Virginia where he hit four 3-pointers for the second time this season. A junior from Italy, Moretti has made 131 3-pointers in his career which is only seven away from bringing him into the program's top-10 in the category and matching Toddrick Gotcher who had 138 for the Red Raiders. The all-time record for a career in Tech history is 262 by Cory Carr. Moretti is a career 39.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc and is currently 32 of 87 this season. He is averaging 13.0 points per game as a junior and has scored 761 points in his career. Moretti, who was an All-Big 12 Third Team selection as a sophomore, scored a career-high 23 points earlier this season against Creighton where he had three 3-pointers. His NCAA-leading free-throw percentage includes going 12 of 12 at the line in a win over Oklahoma State last season and a season-best 8 of 8 performance against Louisville at MSG where he finished with 18 points.
Clarke, who was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, is coming off a game against West Virginia where he had seven assists, six rebounds and six points and is now averaging 8.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 6.9 for the season. He made his fifth start of the season in the game against WVU. A grad transfer who played his first three seasons at Virginia Tech, Clarke leads the Red Raiders with two double-doubles this season with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa in Las Vegas and then 14 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Miss. He has six games with double-digit rebounding performances and had a season-high 11 assists in the win over Houston Baptist in a neutral-court matchup in Midland, Texas. A 6-foot-6 guard from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Clarke has scored 831 points, has 644 rebounds and 299 assists through 94 games played in his collegiate career. He scored a season-high 17 points against Creighton and had a season-best 12 rebounds in the win over Louisville where he also had six assists and seven points. Clarke is shooting 44.9 percent from the field and is nine assist away from matching his career-high which he established as a junior at Virginia Tech with 98 during the 2017-18 season. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23 after his performances against Southern Miss and UTRGV where he averaged a double-double for the week.
Jahmi'us Ramsey and Terrence Shannon, Jr. are emerging as one of the most electric freshmen duo in the conference where they are accounting for 31.4 percent of the team's scoring. Ramsey is scoring 16.8 points per game which is fourth in the Big 12 during his freshman season and is 29 of 62 (46.8 percent) on 3-pointers which leads the conference. He's scored in double figures in nine of 11 games played and is shooting 46.5 percent from the field. A guard from Arlington, Ramsey scored a career-high 27 points after hitting five 3-pointers against Long Island after scoring 25 against Houston Baptist with three 3-pointers. He would hit five 3-pointers for the second time this season last week against Baylor where he finished with a team-leading 20 points and also had a 20-point scoring performance against CSU Bakersfield. Ramsey, who is coming off scoring eight points against WVU, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 25 after his performance against LIU after also being named All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention. He missed four games due to a left hamstring injury that he suffered with 10 minutes remaining against Iowa where he exited with seven points. He returned to score 15 against UTRGV and dropped 20 against Oklahoma State in his Big 12 debut with four 3-pointers. Ramsey has made three or more 3-pointers in six of 11 games played this season.
Shannon, who missed was sidelined against WVU due to injury, is averaging 11.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Red Raiders through 14 where he had started each game. He led the Red Raiders with seven rebounds against Baylor after a game against Oklahoma State where he scored 13 points and had five rebounds. Shannon leads Tech 53 free throws made which ranks fourth in the conference and his 84.1 percentage is sixth. He scored a career-high 24 points at DePaul in the team's only true road game to this point after going 9 of 18 from the field and also hitting four free throws. Shannon was limited to four points against Baylor for his lowest scoring performance in a season where he has scored in double digits in eight games. A guard from Chicago, Shannon also added eight rebounds in his hometown return against DePaul to start a streak of four straight double-figure scoring performances. He finished the game on Saturday against Oklahoma State going 5 of 7 from the field and provided five rebounds. He had a season-high nine rebounds against Iowa in Las Vegas and was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line against Southern Miss where he scored 18 points. Shannon leads the Red Raiders with 53 free throws made and is shooting 84.1 on free-throws this season.
For a season, Texas Tech has only been led in scoring by two freshmen with Jordan Tolbert averaging 11.5 points per game in the 2011-12 season and Rick Bullock who had 13.8 ppg. in 1972-73.
Edwards recorded a career-high nine rebounds in the loss against West Virginia with five on the offensive end while also scoring nine points. A sophomore from Arlington, he is averaging 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game through 15 starts. A reserve in all 38 games as a freshman during the run to the NCAA National Championship Final, Edwards has now scored 366 points and has 155 rebounds in his career. He had a previous career-high of eight rebounds earlier this season against Creighton and scored a career-best 20 points against CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 29 where he hit three 3-pointers. Edwards has hit 18 3-pointers this season and 49 in his career, while he's currently second on the team with 49 assists this season after having 42 last year. He has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio and has scored in double-figures in eight of 15 games this season.
Holyfield comes into the game against KSU averaging 9.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Red Raiders. A grad transfer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, he started his career by playing three seasons at SFA and sitting out last season in Nacogdoches. He has now played and started in 116 games in his collegiate career where he has scored 1,217 points, secured 667 rebounds and has 147 block. He scored a season high 21 points earlier this season against Houston Baptist where he was 9 of 10 from the field a game after scoring 20 against Bethune-Cookman where he was 8 of 11. Holyfield earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors after those games and is on the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List. He's currently leading the Red Raiders by shooting 56.5 percent from the field, but was held scoreless at WVU after going 0-for-3 in 11 minutes played. Holyfield leads the Red Raiders with 14 blocked shots this season, has scored in double figures in five games and has five or more rebounds in 10 of 15 contests.
Avery Benson and Kevin McCullar have provided the Red Raiders a spark from the bench through 15 games of the season. Benson is averaging 2.8 points and 1.57 rebounds per game after scoring five at WVU after having a career-high 10 points in the win over then-No. 1 ranked Louisville where he hit the first shot of the game for the Red Raiders with a 3-pointer and also had a blocked shot at the halftime buzzer. Along with scoring five points with one 3-pointer against the Mountaineers, Benson pulled down four rebounds and matched a career-high with three steals on Saturday. A redshirt sophomore from Arkansas, Benson finished the game against the Cardinals shooting 3 of 3 from the field and is currently shooting 56.0 percent for the season. He played in 20 games last season during the historic run. McCullar scored six points at West Virginia on a career-high 11 shots and also had four rebounds. He had matched a career-high with 10 points in the win over UTRGV after he went 3 of 4 from the field and 4-for-5 at the free-throw line in 16 minutes of play. Last Saturday against OSU, McCullar scored seven points in eight minutes of play in his first Big 12 game. A redshirt freshman from San Antonio, McCullar is averaging 4.0 points per game and is also providing 2.0 rebounds. He also had 10 points in the win over Long Island and had a career-high five rebounds in the win over Louisville at Madison Square Garden.
Texas Tech is currently 8-2 with the starting rotation of Holyfield, Moretti, Edwards, Shannon and Ramsey. The starting five against WVU of Holyfield, Clarke, Moretti, Edwards and Ramsey was the first this season.
OPPONENT 16: Kansas State has opened conference play with losses to Oklahoma, TCU and Texas and is currently 6-3 on its home court this season. The Wildcats are scoring 64.6 points per game with a 41.5 shooting percentage. Xavier Sneed leads the team with 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while Cartier Diarra is adding 12.1 points per game and leads the Wildcats with 86 assists. In conference play, Sneed is averaging 15.3 points per game but was held to just five points in the loss at Texas on Saturday following going for 19 against TCU and 22 at Oklahoma. A senior from St. Louis, Sneed leads the team with 30 3-pointers this season. Diarra led KSU with 14 points and five assists against the Longhorns, while Montavious Murphy scored eight and had five rebounds. Against Texas, KSU was held to 37.0 percent shooting that included going 5 of 15 on 3-pointers. They are shooting 32.4 percent on 3-pointers this season and are at 65.7 percent at the free-throw line.
PROGRAM MARKS: Texas Tech is coming off its winningest season in program history after going 31-7 and 14-4 in Big 12 play last year. The Red Raiders won the Big 12 regular-season championship before advancing to the Final Four for the first time in program history. The program is now 1,435-1,118 all-time after its loss to West Virginia on Saturday.
TEXAS TECH 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 86-36 record coming into the game against Kansas State. 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, Jr. 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 14 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 182-66 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.
A NEW SHINE: Through 10 weeks, Texas Tech has already had four different players earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Week with Chris Clarke most recently after his performances against Southern Miss and UTRGV where he averaged a double-double. The weekly award has gone to TJ Holyfield (Nov. 11), Jahmi'us Ramsey (Nov. 25), Terrence Shannon, Jr. (Dec. 16) and Clarke (Dec. 23). The Red Raiders, who have 10 newcomers and three returners on the roster, are the only team in the conference to have three or more players receive a weekly award.
ATTENDANCE: Under coach Beard, Texas Tech has seen attendance soar over the past four years and is currently drawing 13,928 fans per game this season which is the most in Texas, the second best in the Big 12 and is 18th nationally. The Red Raiders have sold out three games at 15,098 capacity this season in games against Baylor, Eastern Illinois and Bethune-Cookman. In the state of Texas, Tech's attendance is followed by Texas which is drawing 9,264 to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin which ranks 42nd nationally, Baylor (7,231), Houston (6,623), Texas A&M (6,513), TCU (6,073) and UTEP (5,843). Prior to Beard's hiring, Texas Tech averaged 8,418 fans in the 2015-16 season. That figure grew to 9,027 in his first season, to 10,740 in the second year and was at 12,098 last season. The program record for season attendance is 13,743 in the 2001-02 campaign. Tech sold out four games last season and 11 times during the Beard era.
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, Jr. (Illinois). Ntambwe will redshirt this season after having his transfer waiver denied by the NCAA, while Smith has not played his season after suffering an injury during the preseason.
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.
DEPARTURES: Texas Tech was tasked with following 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.
OVERTIME GAMES: With back-to-back overtime losses against DePaul (65-60) and Creighton (83-76), Texas Tech is now 51-51 all-time in overtime contests and 4-5 under coach Beard. The Red Raiders were 1-1 in overtime last season with an 84-80 overtime win over Oklahoma in conference play before falling 85-77 in overtime to Virginia in the championship final. Tech has had back-to-back overtime games twice now under Beard after falling to West Virginia and Iowa State in the 2016-17 season on Feb. 18 and 20. The program has had four occasions of back-to-back overtime games with the only time that three straight games have gone to overtime coming in the 1984-85 season against Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico State.
RADIO SHOW: The Chris Beard Radio Show will return on Thursday at Rudy's with host Geoff Haxton. Remaining show dates for the season are Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6 and Feb. 13. Fans who are unable to attend can also listen and watch on the Texas Tech Sports Network and online at TexasTech.tv.
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 online and in stores. It is published by the TTU Press.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech returns from a two-game road trip by hosting Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18 at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are currently 8-1 at home this season while the Cyclones are 8-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play. ISU plays at Baylor on Wednesday in Waco before traveling to Lubbock. For the Red Raiders, a trip to Fort Worth follows the ISU game for a Tuesday, Jan. 21 matchup against TCU before hosting Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 25 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Tech will go into its final non-conference game of the season with a 54-game non-conference home winning streak which is second in the nation behind Butler which owns a 58-game streak.
