PREVIEW: Oklahoma State
https://texastech.com/news/2019/12/31/mens-basketball-preview-oklahoma-state.aspx
LUBBOCK, Texas – Let the fight begin.
No. 22-ranked Texas Tech will start the 18-round Big 12 battle at 11 a.m. on Saturday against Oklahoma State at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders (9 -3) are the reigning regular-season conference champions and enter Big 12 play on a four-game winning streak following a 73-58 win over Cal State Bakersfield last Sunday, while the Cowboys (9-3) have won two of their last five games after starting the season with a seven-game winning streak. OSU, which will host Tech on Saturday, Feb. 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma to complete the home-and-away series, is coming off an 82-31 win over Southeastern Louisiana last Sunday after dropping an 86-66 decision to Minnesota.
Texas Tech has won 14 straight games at home dating back to last season and is 57-5 under head coach Chris Beard in Lubbock. The Red Raiders went 14-4 in conference play to share the regular-season title with Kansas State, while OSU finished last season with a 5-13 record in Big 12 action. Tech was 2-0 against the Cowboys last season before its historic run in the NCAA tournament where it advanced to the NCAA National Championship Final for the first the first time in program history.
With a 73.9 winning percentage (181-64) as a NCAA coach, Beard has the eighth best winning percentage among active coaches and is 85-34 at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are led in scoring by freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey (17.4 ppg.) and graduate transfer Chris Clarke who is at 8.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. Tech is scoring 76.2 points per game, is shooting 44.9 percent and is averaging 17.3 assist per game. The team started the season on a five-game winning streak, owns a 12.9 scoring margin of victory and dropped two of their three losses in overtime decisions.Texas Tech has held its last two opponents to 58 points and five of 12 opponents under 60 points this season.
Beard, who was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year and the Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second straight season last year, will be featured on CBS Sports' Men of March at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday on CBS Sports Network. The 30-minute show is an in-depth profile on Beard and includes an interview with Jim Rome and footage from the team's foreign tour in the Bahamas, Beard's home and interviews with his family and members of the Texas Tech basketball program.
Texas Tech will return to action after hosting the Cowboys by playing No. 6/4 Baylor at 8 p.m. on Tuesday to complete a five-game home stand at the USA. The Bears (10-1) are currently on a nine-game winning streak and open conference play by hosting Texas (10-2) at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Ferrell Center in Waco.
GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State will be broadcasted on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg and Robbie Hummel on the call 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.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech is 14-10 against Oklahoma State at home but the Cowboys own a 44-22 all-time advantage in the series that began on Jan. 1, 1937. The Red Raiders swept the season-series last year with a 78-50 win on Feb. 13 in Stillwater, Oklahoma and then an 84-80 overtime victory on Feb. 27 in Lubbock. Tech is 6-4 against OSU in the last 10 meetings. Moretti led the Red Raiders with 20 points in the overtime victory in the last matchup after going 12-for-12 at the free-throw line and 2 of 2 from beyond the arc. Moretti had a career-high eight assists in the first win over OSU in Stillwater. Oklahoma State won the first ever meeting with a 38-19 win in Oklahoma City to start an eight-game winning streak to begin the series.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: The Red Raiders are in the top-3 of 11 categories in the conference and are now 13th nationally with 17.3 assists per game after having 16 in the win over CSU Bakersfield. Tech leads the Big 12 with 208 total assists and 208 free throws made and is second in the conference with a 76.2 free-throw shooting percentage. The team's free-throw percentage ranks 32nd nationally and the team is 36th in the NCAA with a 1.25 assist-to-turnover ratio that is fourth in the conference. Individually, Davide Moretti is now third in the nation with a 95.5 percentage from the free-throw line where he is 42 of 44 this season. A junior from Italy, Moretti remains the active career leader in the NCAA at 92.1 percent by going 163 of 177 through 87 games. Chris Clarke will enter conference play second in the Big 12 and 29th nationally with 5.8 assists per game and third in the Big 12 with 8.8 rebounds per game. Clarke is coming off a game where he flirted with a triple-double with nine assists, nine points and seven rebounds against CSU Bakersfield. He currently has 70 assists this season which is the second most in the conference and 39th throughout the country. Along with his free-throw prowess, Moretti is fifth in the Big 12 with 26 3-pointers after hitting two more in Sunday's win and Terrence Shannon, Jr. is third in the conference with 50 free throws made. A freshman from Chicago, Shannon is shooting 84.7 percent at the free-throw line which ranks fourth in the conference. Through 12 games and entering Big 12 play, Texas Tech is scoring 76.2 points per game, is shooting 44.9 percent from the field and is limiting teams to 40.0 percent. The Red Raiders have won 54 straight non-conference home games which ranks second in the NCAA behind only Butler which is at 58. Tech has won four straight with wins over Louisville, Southern Miss, UT Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield.
PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 87 games (67 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. Clarke, a transfer from Virginia Tech who was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23, has proven to be a dynamic player through the non-conference schedule by leading the Red Raiders with 8.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. A 6-foot-6 guard from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Clarke is coming off a game where he flirted with a triple-double against CSU Bakersfield where he had nine points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He record the only triple-double in VT history by going for 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a game against the Citadel and comes into his first Big 12 game as a Red Raiders having amassed 814 points, 623 rebounds and 280 assists in his career. He is averaging 7.2 points per game this season with a high of 17 coming against Creighton where he was 8 of 14 from the field and had seven rebounds. He has two double-doubles this season after going for 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa and 14 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Miss. Clarke has five games with double-digit rebounds including grabbing 12 rebounds against Louisville where he also had six assists. His season-high in assists is 11 against HBU and he has already had nine games with four or more assists this year.
Moretti is the NCAA active career leader at the free-throw line at 92.1 percent (163 of 177) and is shooting 95.5 percent this season (42 of 44). A junior from Italy, Moretti leads the Red Raiders with 26 made 3-pointers this season and has made 125 in his career. He scored a career-high 23 points earlier this season against Creighton where he made eight shots, including three from beyond the arc. He is currently averaging 13.2 points per game with nine double-digit scoring performances through 12 starts. Moretti has started 50 straight games for the Red Raiders after starting all 38 last season as a sophomore where he averaged 11.5 points per game and led the nation at 92.4 percent from the free-throw line. He is averaging 2.2 assists per game this season with a season-high six against HBU after having a career-high eight last season in Stillwater against Oklahoma State. He comes into Saturday's game having scored 724 career points for the Red Raiders. Holyfield transferred to Tech this season after beginning his career at SFA. He has started 113 games in his career and enters Saturday's game against OSU with 1,195 points, 654 rebounds and 144 blocked shots in his career. A 6-foot-8 forward from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Holyfield is averaging 9.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game through 12 starts for the Red Raiders this season after going for eight points and seven rebounds in the win over CSU Bakersfield last week. Identified on the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List, Holyfield scored a season-high 21 points in a win over Houston Baptist where he went 9-for-10 from the field after scoring 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting against Bethune-Cookman. The two-game stretch earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 11. He is currently shooting 57.3 percent from the field for the Red Raiders and leads the team with 11 blocked shots. Holyfield, who had a career-high 16 rebound performance while at SFA against Northwestern State in 2017, secured a season-high nine rebounds two games ago against UTRGV where he also had eight points and four assists.
Jahmi'us Ramsey leads the Red Raiders with 17.4 points per game after going for 20 points with four 3-pointers in the win over CSU Bakersfield last week. A freshman from Arlington, Ramsey missed four games due to an injured hamstring before returning against UTRGV and scoring 15 against the Vaqueros. He has scored in double figures in six of seven games played with the only single-digit result coming with seven points against Iowa where he left the game with 10 minutes remaining due to the injury. Ramsey, who was an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection before ever playing a collegiate game, scored a career-high 27 points in a win over Long Island where he went 10 of 16 from the field with five 3-pointers after scoring 25 points against Houston Baptist. He is currently second on the team with 19 3-pointers made after going 4-for-4 against CSU Bakersfield last Sunday. He is shooting 46.3 percent from beyond the arc and is 51 of 102 (50.0 percent) this season. Along with his scoring prowess, he is averaging 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, including securing a career-high nine rebounds against Bethune-Cookman and seven more against Tennessee State. Defensively, he is tied with Moretti for the team lead with 13 steals and also has five blocked shots.
Kyler Edwards is coming off a career-high 20-point performance against CSU Bakersfield where he went 5-for-12 from the field, including hitting three 3-pointers in a row to begin the second half. A sophomore from Arlington, Edwards is averaging 10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game this season. He has started all 12 games after playing a reserve role in all 38 games in his freshman season. Edwards is third on the team with 16 made 3-pointers this season and is currently shooting 26 of 34 (76.5 percent) at the free-throw line. He has recorded seven double-figure scoring games this season with his previous season-high coming with 15 points against Houston Baptist and a 14-point performance against Creighton where he had a career-best eight rebounds. A versatile guard, Edwards has 40 assists this season which includes matching a career-high with six in the game against Long Island where he also had 10 points. He currently has nine games with three or more assists this season. His previous career-high in scoring came last year as a freshman where he had 19 points by going 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers and his first season in Lubbock also included going for 12 points in the NCAA National Championship Final against Virginia.
Along with Ramsey, Terrence Shannon, Jr. has made an immediate impact for the Red Raiders in his freshman season. A 6-foot-6 guard from Chicago, Shannon is averaging 12.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game after going for nine points against CSU Bakersfield. The nine-point output broke a string of four straight games in double figures that began with a career-high 24 points in his hometown return against DePaul where he went 9 of 18 from the field and also added eight rebounds. Shannon, who has started all 12 games, had a career-high nine rebounds against Iowa and has five games with five or more rebounds this season. He leads the Red Raiders with 50 made free throws (84.7 percent) and has had three games with three assists. Shannon has scored in double figures in seven of 12 games, including going for a team-high 18 in the game against Southern Miss, 14 on UTRGV and 13 against Tennessee State, Long Island and Louisville. Currently shooting 42.9 percent from the field, he has five games where he has shot over 50 percent.
Avery Benson has provided the Red Raiders a spark from the bench through 12 games of the season where he is averaging 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He scored 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. A redshirt sophomore from Arkansas, Benson finished the game against the Cardinals shooting 3 of 3 from the field and is currently shooting 54.8 percent for the season. He played in 20 games last season during the historic run. Kevin McCullar 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. A redshirt freshman from San Antonio, McCullar is averaging 4.3 points per game and is also providing 2.2 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.
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 a 85-34 record coming into the game against Southern Mississippi. 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 15 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 181-64 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.
A NEW SHINE: Through eight 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. Newcomers are accounting for 64.4 percent of the team's scoring and 69.9 percent of rebounds this season.
POLLS: Texas Tech enters Big 12 play ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches polls after running off four straight wins that started against Louisville in New York before three home wins at the United Supermarkets Arena. The team is also at No. 38 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 30 in the NCAA Power 36 from Andy Katz. The Red Raiders were at No. 13 in the preseason rankings and rose as high as No. 11 before two Thanksgiving week losses in Las Vegas knocked them out of the rankings for two weeks. A win over then-top ranked Louisville brought Tech back to the rankings where they have now been for three straight weeks.
HOME DOMINANCE: The Red Raiders enter conference play having won 14 straight games on their home court after starting this season with a 7-0 record following running off seven in a row last year. Tech is 57-5 in Lubbock with Beard on the sidelines which includes a 22-5 conference record at the USA. The Red Raiders have gone 8-1 in Big 12 home games the past two seasons, including finishing last year on a six-game conference win streak at home to complete the run to the program's first regular-season Big 12 title. At home this season, Texas Tech is currently scoring 77.7 points per game, is shooting 46.0 percent from the field and is limiting the opposition to 58.3 ppg. and 39.0 percent shooting. The Red Raiders have rolled to home victories over Eastern Illinois, Bethune-Cookman, Tennessee State, Long Island, Southern Miss, UT Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield. The final non-conference home game will come on Jan. 25 against Kentucky for the Big 12/SEC Challenge on ESPN.
ATTENDANCE: Win and they will come. Under coach Beard, Texas Tech has seen attendance soar over the past four years and is currently drawing 13,704 fans per game this season which is the most in Texas, the third best in the Big 12 and is 19th nationally. The Red Raiders have sold out two games at 15,098 capacity this season (Eastern Illinois & Bethune-Cookman) in the non-conference schedule and is coming off the CSU Bakersfield game on Dec. 29 with an attendance of 14,055. In the state of Texas, Tech's attendance is followed by Texas which is drawing 9,443 to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin which ranks 40th nationally, Baylor (7,556), Texas A&M (6,589), Houston (6,564), TCU (6,110) 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 10 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.
OPPONENT 13: Oklahoma State arrives in Lubbock with a 9-3 record after a convincing win over Southeastern Louisiana last Sunday. The Cowboys, who began the season with a seven-game winning streak and an impressive road win at Houston, is scoring 72.0 points per game and is shooting 42.9 percent from the field. The team is limiting opponents to only 61.8 points per game and a 26.9 percentage on 3-pointers. Isaac Likekele leads the team with 13.1 points per game after returning from injury and scoring nine points in 19 minutes of play on Sunday against SELU. A sophomore from Arlington, Likekele also leads the Cowboys with 39 assists and 21 steals in eight games played this season and is at 5.0 rebounds per game. Lindy Waters III is scoring 12.9 points and contributing 4.9 rebounds per game to begin his senior season, while Thomas Dziagwa leads the team 30 3-pointers this season. A senior from Florida, Dziagwa is averaging 9.3 points per game and is shooting 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. On the boards, OSU is led by Cameron McGriff at 6.6 rebounds per game to go along with his 9.7 scoring output, while Avery Anderson III is at 18 assists and 13 steals for the season in a reserve role.
The Cowboys finished last season with a 12-20 overall record and ended their season with a 73-70 loss to TCU in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.
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 is in the process of developing a team that replaces 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.
FLIP THE CALENDAR: Texas Tech is 64-30 all-time in the first game of a new calendar year, including going 3-0 under Beard in those games. The Red Raiders began the 2019 calendar year with a 62-59 win at West Virginia.
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 make its debut at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020 at Rudy's and will once again be hosted by Geoff Haxton. Show dates for the season are Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6 and Feb. 13.
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.
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https://texastech.com/news/2019/12/31/mens-basketball-preview-oklahoma-state.aspx
LUBBOCK, Texas – Let the fight begin.
No. 22-ranked Texas Tech will start the 18-round Big 12 battle at 11 a.m. on Saturday against Oklahoma State at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders (9 -3) are the reigning regular-season conference champions and enter Big 12 play on a four-game winning streak following a 73-58 win over Cal State Bakersfield last Sunday, while the Cowboys (9-3) have won two of their last five games after starting the season with a seven-game winning streak. OSU, which will host Tech on Saturday, Feb. 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma to complete the home-and-away series, is coming off an 82-31 win over Southeastern Louisiana last Sunday after dropping an 86-66 decision to Minnesota.
Texas Tech has won 14 straight games at home dating back to last season and is 57-5 under head coach Chris Beard in Lubbock. The Red Raiders went 14-4 in conference play to share the regular-season title with Kansas State, while OSU finished last season with a 5-13 record in Big 12 action. Tech was 2-0 against the Cowboys last season before its historic run in the NCAA tournament where it advanced to the NCAA National Championship Final for the first the first time in program history.
With a 73.9 winning percentage (181-64) as a NCAA coach, Beard has the eighth best winning percentage among active coaches and is 85-34 at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are led in scoring by freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey (17.4 ppg.) and graduate transfer Chris Clarke who is at 8.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. Tech is scoring 76.2 points per game, is shooting 44.9 percent and is averaging 17.3 assist per game. The team started the season on a five-game winning streak, owns a 12.9 scoring margin of victory and dropped two of their three losses in overtime decisions.Texas Tech has held its last two opponents to 58 points and five of 12 opponents under 60 points this season.
Beard, who was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year and the Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second straight season last year, will be featured on CBS Sports' Men of March at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday on CBS Sports Network. The 30-minute show is an in-depth profile on Beard and includes an interview with Jim Rome and footage from the team's foreign tour in the Bahamas, Beard's home and interviews with his family and members of the Texas Tech basketball program.
Texas Tech will return to action after hosting the Cowboys by playing No. 6/4 Baylor at 8 p.m. on Tuesday to complete a five-game home stand at the USA. The Bears (10-1) are currently on a nine-game winning streak and open conference play by hosting Texas (10-2) at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Ferrell Center in Waco.
GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State will be broadcasted on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg and Robbie Hummel on the call 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.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech is 14-10 against Oklahoma State at home but the Cowboys own a 44-22 all-time advantage in the series that began on Jan. 1, 1937. The Red Raiders swept the season-series last year with a 78-50 win on Feb. 13 in Stillwater, Oklahoma and then an 84-80 overtime victory on Feb. 27 in Lubbock. Tech is 6-4 against OSU in the last 10 meetings. Moretti led the Red Raiders with 20 points in the overtime victory in the last matchup after going 12-for-12 at the free-throw line and 2 of 2 from beyond the arc. Moretti had a career-high eight assists in the first win over OSU in Stillwater. Oklahoma State won the first ever meeting with a 38-19 win in Oklahoma City to start an eight-game winning streak to begin the series.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: The Red Raiders are in the top-3 of 11 categories in the conference and are now 13th nationally with 17.3 assists per game after having 16 in the win over CSU Bakersfield. Tech leads the Big 12 with 208 total assists and 208 free throws made and is second in the conference with a 76.2 free-throw shooting percentage. The team's free-throw percentage ranks 32nd nationally and the team is 36th in the NCAA with a 1.25 assist-to-turnover ratio that is fourth in the conference. Individually, Davide Moretti is now third in the nation with a 95.5 percentage from the free-throw line where he is 42 of 44 this season. A junior from Italy, Moretti remains the active career leader in the NCAA at 92.1 percent by going 163 of 177 through 87 games. Chris Clarke will enter conference play second in the Big 12 and 29th nationally with 5.8 assists per game and third in the Big 12 with 8.8 rebounds per game. Clarke is coming off a game where he flirted with a triple-double with nine assists, nine points and seven rebounds against CSU Bakersfield. He currently has 70 assists this season which is the second most in the conference and 39th throughout the country. Along with his free-throw prowess, Moretti is fifth in the Big 12 with 26 3-pointers after hitting two more in Sunday's win and Terrence Shannon, Jr. is third in the conference with 50 free throws made. A freshman from Chicago, Shannon is shooting 84.7 percent at the free-throw line which ranks fourth in the conference. Through 12 games and entering Big 12 play, Texas Tech is scoring 76.2 points per game, is shooting 44.9 percent from the field and is limiting teams to 40.0 percent. The Red Raiders have won 54 straight non-conference home games which ranks second in the NCAA behind only Butler which is at 58. Tech has won four straight with wins over Louisville, Southern Miss, UT Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield.
PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 87 games (67 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. Clarke, a transfer from Virginia Tech who was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23, has proven to be a dynamic player through the non-conference schedule by leading the Red Raiders with 8.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. A 6-foot-6 guard from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Clarke is coming off a game where he flirted with a triple-double against CSU Bakersfield where he had nine points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He record the only triple-double in VT history by going for 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a game against the Citadel and comes into his first Big 12 game as a Red Raiders having amassed 814 points, 623 rebounds and 280 assists in his career. He is averaging 7.2 points per game this season with a high of 17 coming against Creighton where he was 8 of 14 from the field and had seven rebounds. He has two double-doubles this season after going for 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa and 14 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Miss. Clarke has five games with double-digit rebounds including grabbing 12 rebounds against Louisville where he also had six assists. His season-high in assists is 11 against HBU and he has already had nine games with four or more assists this year.
Moretti is the NCAA active career leader at the free-throw line at 92.1 percent (163 of 177) and is shooting 95.5 percent this season (42 of 44). A junior from Italy, Moretti leads the Red Raiders with 26 made 3-pointers this season and has made 125 in his career. He scored a career-high 23 points earlier this season against Creighton where he made eight shots, including three from beyond the arc. He is currently averaging 13.2 points per game with nine double-digit scoring performances through 12 starts. Moretti has started 50 straight games for the Red Raiders after starting all 38 last season as a sophomore where he averaged 11.5 points per game and led the nation at 92.4 percent from the free-throw line. He is averaging 2.2 assists per game this season with a season-high six against HBU after having a career-high eight last season in Stillwater against Oklahoma State. He comes into Saturday's game having scored 724 career points for the Red Raiders. Holyfield transferred to Tech this season after beginning his career at SFA. He has started 113 games in his career and enters Saturday's game against OSU with 1,195 points, 654 rebounds and 144 blocked shots in his career. A 6-foot-8 forward from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Holyfield is averaging 9.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game through 12 starts for the Red Raiders this season after going for eight points and seven rebounds in the win over CSU Bakersfield last week. Identified on the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List, Holyfield scored a season-high 21 points in a win over Houston Baptist where he went 9-for-10 from the field after scoring 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting against Bethune-Cookman. The two-game stretch earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 11. He is currently shooting 57.3 percent from the field for the Red Raiders and leads the team with 11 blocked shots. Holyfield, who had a career-high 16 rebound performance while at SFA against Northwestern State in 2017, secured a season-high nine rebounds two games ago against UTRGV where he also had eight points and four assists.
Jahmi'us Ramsey leads the Red Raiders with 17.4 points per game after going for 20 points with four 3-pointers in the win over CSU Bakersfield last week. A freshman from Arlington, Ramsey missed four games due to an injured hamstring before returning against UTRGV and scoring 15 against the Vaqueros. He has scored in double figures in six of seven games played with the only single-digit result coming with seven points against Iowa where he left the game with 10 minutes remaining due to the injury. Ramsey, who was an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection before ever playing a collegiate game, scored a career-high 27 points in a win over Long Island where he went 10 of 16 from the field with five 3-pointers after scoring 25 points against Houston Baptist. He is currently second on the team with 19 3-pointers made after going 4-for-4 against CSU Bakersfield last Sunday. He is shooting 46.3 percent from beyond the arc and is 51 of 102 (50.0 percent) this season. Along with his scoring prowess, he is averaging 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, including securing a career-high nine rebounds against Bethune-Cookman and seven more against Tennessee State. Defensively, he is tied with Moretti for the team lead with 13 steals and also has five blocked shots.
Kyler Edwards is coming off a career-high 20-point performance against CSU Bakersfield where he went 5-for-12 from the field, including hitting three 3-pointers in a row to begin the second half. A sophomore from Arlington, Edwards is averaging 10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game this season. He has started all 12 games after playing a reserve role in all 38 games in his freshman season. Edwards is third on the team with 16 made 3-pointers this season and is currently shooting 26 of 34 (76.5 percent) at the free-throw line. He has recorded seven double-figure scoring games this season with his previous season-high coming with 15 points against Houston Baptist and a 14-point performance against Creighton where he had a career-best eight rebounds. A versatile guard, Edwards has 40 assists this season which includes matching a career-high with six in the game against Long Island where he also had 10 points. He currently has nine games with three or more assists this season. His previous career-high in scoring came last year as a freshman where he had 19 points by going 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers and his first season in Lubbock also included going for 12 points in the NCAA National Championship Final against Virginia.
Along with Ramsey, Terrence Shannon, Jr. has made an immediate impact for the Red Raiders in his freshman season. A 6-foot-6 guard from Chicago, Shannon is averaging 12.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game after going for nine points against CSU Bakersfield. The nine-point output broke a string of four straight games in double figures that began with a career-high 24 points in his hometown return against DePaul where he went 9 of 18 from the field and also added eight rebounds. Shannon, who has started all 12 games, had a career-high nine rebounds against Iowa and has five games with five or more rebounds this season. He leads the Red Raiders with 50 made free throws (84.7 percent) and has had three games with three assists. Shannon has scored in double figures in seven of 12 games, including going for a team-high 18 in the game against Southern Miss, 14 on UTRGV and 13 against Tennessee State, Long Island and Louisville. Currently shooting 42.9 percent from the field, he has five games where he has shot over 50 percent.
Avery Benson has provided the Red Raiders a spark from the bench through 12 games of the season where he is averaging 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He scored 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. A redshirt sophomore from Arkansas, Benson finished the game against the Cardinals shooting 3 of 3 from the field and is currently shooting 54.8 percent for the season. He played in 20 games last season during the historic run. Kevin McCullar 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. A redshirt freshman from San Antonio, McCullar is averaging 4.3 points per game and is also providing 2.2 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.
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 a 85-34 record coming into the game against Southern Mississippi. 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 15 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 181-64 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.
A NEW SHINE: Through eight 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. Newcomers are accounting for 64.4 percent of the team's scoring and 69.9 percent of rebounds this season.
POLLS: Texas Tech enters Big 12 play ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches polls after running off four straight wins that started against Louisville in New York before three home wins at the United Supermarkets Arena. The team is also at No. 38 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 30 in the NCAA Power 36 from Andy Katz. The Red Raiders were at No. 13 in the preseason rankings and rose as high as No. 11 before two Thanksgiving week losses in Las Vegas knocked them out of the rankings for two weeks. A win over then-top ranked Louisville brought Tech back to the rankings where they have now been for three straight weeks.
HOME DOMINANCE: The Red Raiders enter conference play having won 14 straight games on their home court after starting this season with a 7-0 record following running off seven in a row last year. Tech is 57-5 in Lubbock with Beard on the sidelines which includes a 22-5 conference record at the USA. The Red Raiders have gone 8-1 in Big 12 home games the past two seasons, including finishing last year on a six-game conference win streak at home to complete the run to the program's first regular-season Big 12 title. At home this season, Texas Tech is currently scoring 77.7 points per game, is shooting 46.0 percent from the field and is limiting the opposition to 58.3 ppg. and 39.0 percent shooting. The Red Raiders have rolled to home victories over Eastern Illinois, Bethune-Cookman, Tennessee State, Long Island, Southern Miss, UT Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield. The final non-conference home game will come on Jan. 25 against Kentucky for the Big 12/SEC Challenge on ESPN.
ATTENDANCE: Win and they will come. Under coach Beard, Texas Tech has seen attendance soar over the past four years and is currently drawing 13,704 fans per game this season which is the most in Texas, the third best in the Big 12 and is 19th nationally. The Red Raiders have sold out two games at 15,098 capacity this season (Eastern Illinois & Bethune-Cookman) in the non-conference schedule and is coming off the CSU Bakersfield game on Dec. 29 with an attendance of 14,055. In the state of Texas, Tech's attendance is followed by Texas which is drawing 9,443 to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin which ranks 40th nationally, Baylor (7,556), Texas A&M (6,589), Houston (6,564), TCU (6,110) 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 10 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.
OPPONENT 13: Oklahoma State arrives in Lubbock with a 9-3 record after a convincing win over Southeastern Louisiana last Sunday. The Cowboys, who began the season with a seven-game winning streak and an impressive road win at Houston, is scoring 72.0 points per game and is shooting 42.9 percent from the field. The team is limiting opponents to only 61.8 points per game and a 26.9 percentage on 3-pointers. Isaac Likekele leads the team with 13.1 points per game after returning from injury and scoring nine points in 19 minutes of play on Sunday against SELU. A sophomore from Arlington, Likekele also leads the Cowboys with 39 assists and 21 steals in eight games played this season and is at 5.0 rebounds per game. Lindy Waters III is scoring 12.9 points and contributing 4.9 rebounds per game to begin his senior season, while Thomas Dziagwa leads the team 30 3-pointers this season. A senior from Florida, Dziagwa is averaging 9.3 points per game and is shooting 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. On the boards, OSU is led by Cameron McGriff at 6.6 rebounds per game to go along with his 9.7 scoring output, while Avery Anderson III is at 18 assists and 13 steals for the season in a reserve role.
The Cowboys finished last season with a 12-20 overall record and ended their season with a 73-70 loss to TCU in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.
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 is in the process of developing a team that replaces 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.
FLIP THE CALENDAR: Texas Tech is 64-30 all-time in the first game of a new calendar year, including going 3-0 under Beard in those games. The Red Raiders began the 2019 calendar year with a 62-59 win at West Virginia.
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 make its debut at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020 at Rudy's and will once again be hosted by Geoff Haxton. Show dates for the season are Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6 and Feb. 13.
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.
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