PREVIEW: No. 2 Duke
https://texastech.com/news/2018/12/19/mens-basketball-preview-no-2-duke.aspx
NEW YORK – Texas Tech is set to take on No. 2-ranked Duke at 6 p.m. (CST) on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in the first-ever matchup between the two programs.
The No. 12/11-ranked Red Raiders (10-0) remain only one of nine teams in the country still unbeaten, while the Blue Devils (10-1) earned a win over Princeton on Tuesday night for their fifth straight win. Texas Tech is coming off a historic season where it advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history under head coach Chris Beard who is now 54-24 in three seasons leading the program and 150-54 overall in seven seasons as a head coach.
TTU NOTES: After playing 10 games, Texas Tech has earned 10 wins, leads the nation in field-goal defense and scoring defense and comes in at No. 4 in the NCAA NET Rankings, No. 12 in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll, No. 11 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the ESPN Power Rankings.
Texas Tech will look to knock off the second-ranked team in the nation for the second year in a row and for the fourth time in history. The Red Raiders earned a 72-71 win over West Virginia last season when the Mountaineers came to Lubbock with a No. 2 ranking on Jan. 13, 2018. The first program win over a No. 2-ranked opponent came against SMU with a 64-63 win on Jan. 26, 1985 in Lubbock before an 80-79 overtime win over Kansas on Feb. 14, 2005. The team is 1-0 against ranked opponents this season after earning a 70-52 win over Nebraska which was ranked No. 25 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. The Red Raiders are 20-10 as a ranked team playing against ranked opponents under Beard.
Texas Tech is unbeaten through 10 games for the second time in program history with the only other time coming with a 12-0 start to the 1929-30 season. The Red Raiders got to 10-0 with an impressive 82-48 win over Abilene Christian last Saturday in the final game ever at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. TTU's defense limited the Wildcats to 28.3 percent shooting in the game, while Jarrett Culver went off for a career-high 30 points after going 12-for-13 from the field. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 55.6 percent from the field with 10 players scoring in the game.
After two strong performances last week, the Red Raiders continue to lead the nation by limiting opponents to 32.2 percent shooting and have now matched Virginia by holding teams to 51.2 points per game for the national lead. TTU is second nationally with a 26.3 scoring margin advantage, fourth in 3-point defense (25.0 %), 11th with a 5.3 turnover margin advantage, 16th with 5.4 blocked shots per game and 25th with a 7.5 rebounding advantage. Offensively, the Red Raiders are scoring 77.5 points per game and are 18th nationally with a 49.9 shooting percentage and second in the Big 12 with only 115 turnovers through 10 games.
TTU has held four opponents under 30 percent shooting, including ACU which came into the game shooting 52.4 percent. Against the Red Raiders, ACU was held to only 28.3 percent from the field and was 5-for-21 on 3-pointers. Texas Tech held Northwestern State to 24.5 percent shooting last Wednesday in a game where the Red Raiders led 53-10 at halftime. Offensively, TTU has shot over 50 percent in four games including shooting 55.6 percent against ACU. The team's best shooting performance came against Northern Colorado when they went 37-for-61 (60.7 percent) from the field with 10 3-pointers.
In the polls, Texas Tech remained at No. 11 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll but dropped one spot to No. 12 in the AP Top-25. The Red Raiders, who were unranked in the preseason polls, appeared in 14 AP polls last season but would enter this season unranked through three weeks. The Red Raiders finished the 2017-18 season at No. 6 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and were in its Top-10 rankings seven times during the season. The No. 6 ranking to finish the season matched a program-best set on Feb. 12, 2018 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll and on Feb. 19, 2018 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Kansas (9-0) is the top-ranked team in the nation for the second straight week, followed by the Blue Devils, Tennessee (8-1), Michigan (11-0) and Virginia (9-0) in the polls. Texas Tech is one of nine teams who are still unbeaten with KU, Michigan, Virginia, No. 6 Nevada (11-0), No. 14 Buffalo (10-0), No. 21 Houston (10-0) and No. 24 Furman (12-0). St. John's (10-0) is the only undefeated team outside the polls in the seventh release of the season.
Quotes – Texas Tech coach Chris Beard
On playing against Duke on Thursday in Madison Square Garden:
"Eliminating distractions is everything. Not only in basketball, but also in life. You have to focus on what you're trying to get done and then have a plan to get it done. There are a lot of distractions this time of year with holidays and social media. I think one thing we do is embrace the reality. We don't shy away from this. It's a great opportunity on national television, historic Duke, sellout, Madison Square Garden, future NBA players. We don't shy away from that. I've never considered myself the smartest guy in the room so we won't play mind games. We'll put it all out there on the table. We closed the door on the Abilene Christian game that we played really well in and then introduced the next opponent. Part of introducing Duke is embracing the reality of what this is. This is a great opportunity for our program."
On what he expects from the Blue Devils:
"They are always one of the best defensive teams in college basketball and pride themselves on pressure defense. On offense they always play with spacing with their best players getting the shots. They always play fast. Victory favors the team that is the most aggressive and I think that is what Duke is by definition. They have an aggressive defense and an aggressive offense."
On his approach to the trip from Lubbock to New York leading into the game:
"I tell the guys all the time that it's not just about the destination, but it's also about the journey. This is a perfect example to practice what we preach. It's a business trip and we're going to play one of the best teams in college basketball but at the same time it's an opportunity to enjoy life and New York City."
PLAYER NOTES:Jarrett Culver is coming off a career-high 30 points against Abilene Christian and earned Big 12 Player of the Week for the performance. A sophomore from Lubbock, Culver was 12-for-13 from the field in the game and also added seven rebounds and four assists in his fifth game of the season with 20 or more points. The Big 12 honor was his first weekly award from the conference in his career and also reflected upon his 15 point, six rebound, six assist performance against Northwestern State last Wednesday. Culver's previous career-high was 26 points which he had earlier this season against Nebraska on a 9-for-18 shooting performance and last season as a freshman at West Virginia in conference play. Culver, who is shooting 58.1 percent from the field this season and leads the team with 14 3-pointers, has now scored 606 points, 234 rebounds and 112 assists in 47 games played at Texas Tech. He's scored in double figures in all 10 games this season, 30 in his career and has led the team in scoring in nine games this season and 10 in his career. Prior to the start of the season he was tabbed to the Jerry West Award Watch List and named a Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection.
After losing five senior off last season's NCAA Elite Eight team, Texas Tech found a way to remain a veteran team through recruiting by adding graduate transfers Matt Mooney(University of South Dakota) and Tariq Owens (St. John's) to go along with returners Norense Odiase and Brandone Francis to make up a senior class of four for the Red Raiders. An Odenton, Maryland native, Owens led the BIG EAST the past two seasons in blocked shots and currently leads the Big 12 with 2.7 blocks per game (27 total). He established a new Texas Tech single-game record with eight blocks in the win over Memphis on Dec. 1 in Miami after starting his Red Raider career with six blocks against Incarnate Word in the season opener. Owens is averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, including a season-high 18 points against Southern Cal and recording the team's only double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his eight-block performance against Memphis. Mooney is adding 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game after making the move from South Dakota to Texas Tech to finish his career. An Illinois native, Mooney started his career at Air Force before playing two seasons at South Dakota where he led his team in scoring both years. He is shooting 47.1 percent from the field this season and has scored in double figures in six games. Mooney, who leads the team with 22 steals, scored 14 points last Saturday against ACU and had a season-high 17 points back on Nov. 19 against USC. He's currently second on the team with 12 3-pointers and is shooting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Odiase is in his first season at Texas Tech and has played in 101 games. He currently has 449 career rebounds with 53 through 10 games this season. A Fort Worth native, Odiase is averaging 4.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 59.3 percent from the field. He had a career-high 13 rebounds in the win over Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 13 after a 10-rebounds performance against Mississippi Valley State. Francis has played a valuable reserve role to start his senior season with 22.3 minutes per game. A Dominican Republic native, he started his career at Florida before transferring to Lubbock. He's currently averaging 5.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Red Raiders. Francis had a season-high 13 points in the opener against UIW and would contribute 10 points and a career-high six assists in the neutral-court win over Memphis.
Along with Francis, sophomore Deshawn Corprew and freshman Kyler Edwards have led the bench this season. A Norfolk, Virginia native, Corprew is in his first season with the Red Raiders after helping South Plains College to a national championship last season. He's averaging 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game with a season-high 13 points coming against Northern Colorado. Corprew has scored in double-figures in four games and is coming off his second eight-rebound performance of the season. Edwards leads the TTU reserves with 7.9 points per game after scoring 10 against ACU with two 3-pointers. An Arlington native, Edwards is playing 20.3 minutes per game and has four double-digit scoring performances. He set a career-high with 19 points in the win over Northern Colorado where he went 7-for-7 with four 3-pointers and also had 10 points against UIW and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
DUKE NOTES: The No. 2-ranked Blue Devils are coming off a 101-50 win over Princeton on Tuesday at home to extend a five-game winning streak going into the matchup against the Red Raiders. Duke has now scored over 100 points three times this season and is averaging 93.6 points per game. R.J. Barrett leads the team by averaging 24.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Zion Williamson is at 20.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Barrett scored 27 points and had six rebounds and three assists against Princeton and Williamson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Cam Reddish is adding 14.0 points per game and Tre Jones leads the team with 62 assists through 11 games. Duke's only loss this season came against Gonzaga after it had started the season with five wins.
COVERING THE RED RAIDERS: Texas Tech and Duke will be televised on ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale and Holly Rowe on the call. On the radio, the game is being broadcasted on the Texas Tech Sports Network with Geoff Haxton and Chris Level. The Red Raiders are currently 2-0 in games on ESPN2 this season with wins over Southern Cal and Nebraska and are 10-0 in games broadcasted on TTSN.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech will return home after its game against Duke to host UTRGV on Friday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. in the United Supermarkets Arena before opening Big 12 play against West Virginia on Wednesday, Jan. 2 in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Red Raiders will go into the matchup against UTRGV with a 7-0 home record and on a 45-game non-conference home winning streak.
FOLLOW TEXAS TECH: Fans and media can stay connected by following the team @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram and at Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB.
TICKETS: The Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office is selling season tickets for as low as $135 online at www.TexasTech.com. Fans also can purchase season tickets in person at the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office located on the East Side of Jones AT&T Stadium or over the phone at (806) 742-8324 (TECH).
https://texastech.com/news/2018/12/19/mens-basketball-preview-no-2-duke.aspx
NEW YORK – Texas Tech is set to take on No. 2-ranked Duke at 6 p.m. (CST) on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in the first-ever matchup between the two programs.
The No. 12/11-ranked Red Raiders (10-0) remain only one of nine teams in the country still unbeaten, while the Blue Devils (10-1) earned a win over Princeton on Tuesday night for their fifth straight win. Texas Tech is coming off a historic season where it advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history under head coach Chris Beard who is now 54-24 in three seasons leading the program and 150-54 overall in seven seasons as a head coach.
TTU NOTES: After playing 10 games, Texas Tech has earned 10 wins, leads the nation in field-goal defense and scoring defense and comes in at No. 4 in the NCAA NET Rankings, No. 12 in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll, No. 11 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the ESPN Power Rankings.
Texas Tech will look to knock off the second-ranked team in the nation for the second year in a row and for the fourth time in history. The Red Raiders earned a 72-71 win over West Virginia last season when the Mountaineers came to Lubbock with a No. 2 ranking on Jan. 13, 2018. The first program win over a No. 2-ranked opponent came against SMU with a 64-63 win on Jan. 26, 1985 in Lubbock before an 80-79 overtime win over Kansas on Feb. 14, 2005. The team is 1-0 against ranked opponents this season after earning a 70-52 win over Nebraska which was ranked No. 25 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. The Red Raiders are 20-10 as a ranked team playing against ranked opponents under Beard.
Texas Tech is unbeaten through 10 games for the second time in program history with the only other time coming with a 12-0 start to the 1929-30 season. The Red Raiders got to 10-0 with an impressive 82-48 win over Abilene Christian last Saturday in the final game ever at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. TTU's defense limited the Wildcats to 28.3 percent shooting in the game, while Jarrett Culver went off for a career-high 30 points after going 12-for-13 from the field. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 55.6 percent from the field with 10 players scoring in the game.
After two strong performances last week, the Red Raiders continue to lead the nation by limiting opponents to 32.2 percent shooting and have now matched Virginia by holding teams to 51.2 points per game for the national lead. TTU is second nationally with a 26.3 scoring margin advantage, fourth in 3-point defense (25.0 %), 11th with a 5.3 turnover margin advantage, 16th with 5.4 blocked shots per game and 25th with a 7.5 rebounding advantage. Offensively, the Red Raiders are scoring 77.5 points per game and are 18th nationally with a 49.9 shooting percentage and second in the Big 12 with only 115 turnovers through 10 games.
TTU has held four opponents under 30 percent shooting, including ACU which came into the game shooting 52.4 percent. Against the Red Raiders, ACU was held to only 28.3 percent from the field and was 5-for-21 on 3-pointers. Texas Tech held Northwestern State to 24.5 percent shooting last Wednesday in a game where the Red Raiders led 53-10 at halftime. Offensively, TTU has shot over 50 percent in four games including shooting 55.6 percent against ACU. The team's best shooting performance came against Northern Colorado when they went 37-for-61 (60.7 percent) from the field with 10 3-pointers.
In the polls, Texas Tech remained at No. 11 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll but dropped one spot to No. 12 in the AP Top-25. The Red Raiders, who were unranked in the preseason polls, appeared in 14 AP polls last season but would enter this season unranked through three weeks. The Red Raiders finished the 2017-18 season at No. 6 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and were in its Top-10 rankings seven times during the season. The No. 6 ranking to finish the season matched a program-best set on Feb. 12, 2018 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll and on Feb. 19, 2018 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Kansas (9-0) is the top-ranked team in the nation for the second straight week, followed by the Blue Devils, Tennessee (8-1), Michigan (11-0) and Virginia (9-0) in the polls. Texas Tech is one of nine teams who are still unbeaten with KU, Michigan, Virginia, No. 6 Nevada (11-0), No. 14 Buffalo (10-0), No. 21 Houston (10-0) and No. 24 Furman (12-0). St. John's (10-0) is the only undefeated team outside the polls in the seventh release of the season.
Quotes – Texas Tech coach Chris Beard
On playing against Duke on Thursday in Madison Square Garden:
"Eliminating distractions is everything. Not only in basketball, but also in life. You have to focus on what you're trying to get done and then have a plan to get it done. There are a lot of distractions this time of year with holidays and social media. I think one thing we do is embrace the reality. We don't shy away from this. It's a great opportunity on national television, historic Duke, sellout, Madison Square Garden, future NBA players. We don't shy away from that. I've never considered myself the smartest guy in the room so we won't play mind games. We'll put it all out there on the table. We closed the door on the Abilene Christian game that we played really well in and then introduced the next opponent. Part of introducing Duke is embracing the reality of what this is. This is a great opportunity for our program."
On what he expects from the Blue Devils:
"They are always one of the best defensive teams in college basketball and pride themselves on pressure defense. On offense they always play with spacing with their best players getting the shots. They always play fast. Victory favors the team that is the most aggressive and I think that is what Duke is by definition. They have an aggressive defense and an aggressive offense."
On his approach to the trip from Lubbock to New York leading into the game:
"I tell the guys all the time that it's not just about the destination, but it's also about the journey. This is a perfect example to practice what we preach. It's a business trip and we're going to play one of the best teams in college basketball but at the same time it's an opportunity to enjoy life and New York City."
PLAYER NOTES:Jarrett Culver is coming off a career-high 30 points against Abilene Christian and earned Big 12 Player of the Week for the performance. A sophomore from Lubbock, Culver was 12-for-13 from the field in the game and also added seven rebounds and four assists in his fifth game of the season with 20 or more points. The Big 12 honor was his first weekly award from the conference in his career and also reflected upon his 15 point, six rebound, six assist performance against Northwestern State last Wednesday. Culver's previous career-high was 26 points which he had earlier this season against Nebraska on a 9-for-18 shooting performance and last season as a freshman at West Virginia in conference play. Culver, who is shooting 58.1 percent from the field this season and leads the team with 14 3-pointers, has now scored 606 points, 234 rebounds and 112 assists in 47 games played at Texas Tech. He's scored in double figures in all 10 games this season, 30 in his career and has led the team in scoring in nine games this season and 10 in his career. Prior to the start of the season he was tabbed to the Jerry West Award Watch List and named a Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection.
After losing five senior off last season's NCAA Elite Eight team, Texas Tech found a way to remain a veteran team through recruiting by adding graduate transfers Matt Mooney(University of South Dakota) and Tariq Owens (St. John's) to go along with returners Norense Odiase and Brandone Francis to make up a senior class of four for the Red Raiders. An Odenton, Maryland native, Owens led the BIG EAST the past two seasons in blocked shots and currently leads the Big 12 with 2.7 blocks per game (27 total). He established a new Texas Tech single-game record with eight blocks in the win over Memphis on Dec. 1 in Miami after starting his Red Raider career with six blocks against Incarnate Word in the season opener. Owens is averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, including a season-high 18 points against Southern Cal and recording the team's only double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his eight-block performance against Memphis. Mooney is adding 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game after making the move from South Dakota to Texas Tech to finish his career. An Illinois native, Mooney started his career at Air Force before playing two seasons at South Dakota where he led his team in scoring both years. He is shooting 47.1 percent from the field this season and has scored in double figures in six games. Mooney, who leads the team with 22 steals, scored 14 points last Saturday against ACU and had a season-high 17 points back on Nov. 19 against USC. He's currently second on the team with 12 3-pointers and is shooting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Odiase is in his first season at Texas Tech and has played in 101 games. He currently has 449 career rebounds with 53 through 10 games this season. A Fort Worth native, Odiase is averaging 4.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 59.3 percent from the field. He had a career-high 13 rebounds in the win over Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 13 after a 10-rebounds performance against Mississippi Valley State. Francis has played a valuable reserve role to start his senior season with 22.3 minutes per game. A Dominican Republic native, he started his career at Florida before transferring to Lubbock. He's currently averaging 5.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Red Raiders. Francis had a season-high 13 points in the opener against UIW and would contribute 10 points and a career-high six assists in the neutral-court win over Memphis.
Along with Francis, sophomore Deshawn Corprew and freshman Kyler Edwards have led the bench this season. A Norfolk, Virginia native, Corprew is in his first season with the Red Raiders after helping South Plains College to a national championship last season. He's averaging 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game with a season-high 13 points coming against Northern Colorado. Corprew has scored in double-figures in four games and is coming off his second eight-rebound performance of the season. Edwards leads the TTU reserves with 7.9 points per game after scoring 10 against ACU with two 3-pointers. An Arlington native, Edwards is playing 20.3 minutes per game and has four double-digit scoring performances. He set a career-high with 19 points in the win over Northern Colorado where he went 7-for-7 with four 3-pointers and also had 10 points against UIW and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
DUKE NOTES: The No. 2-ranked Blue Devils are coming off a 101-50 win over Princeton on Tuesday at home to extend a five-game winning streak going into the matchup against the Red Raiders. Duke has now scored over 100 points three times this season and is averaging 93.6 points per game. R.J. Barrett leads the team by averaging 24.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Zion Williamson is at 20.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Barrett scored 27 points and had six rebounds and three assists against Princeton and Williamson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Cam Reddish is adding 14.0 points per game and Tre Jones leads the team with 62 assists through 11 games. Duke's only loss this season came against Gonzaga after it had started the season with five wins.
COVERING THE RED RAIDERS: Texas Tech and Duke will be televised on ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale and Holly Rowe on the call. On the radio, the game is being broadcasted on the Texas Tech Sports Network with Geoff Haxton and Chris Level. The Red Raiders are currently 2-0 in games on ESPN2 this season with wins over Southern Cal and Nebraska and are 10-0 in games broadcasted on TTSN.
UP NEXT: Texas Tech will return home after its game against Duke to host UTRGV on Friday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. in the United Supermarkets Arena before opening Big 12 play against West Virginia on Wednesday, Jan. 2 in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Red Raiders will go into the matchup against UTRGV with a 7-0 home record and on a 45-game non-conference home winning streak.
FOLLOW TEXAS TECH: Fans and media can stay connected by following the team @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram and at Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB.
TICKETS: The Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office is selling season tickets for as low as $135 online at www.TexasTech.com. Fans also can purchase season tickets in person at the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office located on the East Side of Jones AT&T Stadium or over the phone at (806) 742-8324 (TECH).
