PREVIEW: UT Rio Grand Valley
https://texastech.com/news/2019/12/18/mens-basketball-preview-ut-rio-grande-valley.aspx
LUBBOCK, Texas – Christmas comes early for Texas Tech fans on Saturday when the No. 24-ranked Red Raiders host UT Rio Grande Valley at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (7-3) have won two straight after a 71-65 win over Southern Miss on Monday following knocking off No. 1 Louisville last week, while the Vaqueros (4-7) have dropped two in a row after falling 92-82 at Omaha on Sunday after a 31-point defeat at Creighton last Friday.
Texas Tech has won 12 straight games at the USA and is 5-0 at home this season with a 22.2 scoring margin of victory in those games by scoring 80.6 points per game, shooting 45.7 percent from the field and limiting opponents to only 38.9 percent shooting. The Red Raiders, who have played the last four games without leading scorer Jahmi'us Ramsey and are two games away from beginning the 18-round Big 12 Conference fight, ended last year on a seven-game home winning streak on the way to earning the Big 12 regular-season championship and has rolled to home-court victories over Eastern Illinois, Bethune-Cookman, Tennessee State, Long Island and Southern Miss to start this year.
The Red Raiders, who are playing six freshmen and eight underclassmen this season, are led by Chris Beard who is 83-34 in his fourth season. He was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year along with earning Big 12 Coach of the Year the past two seasons. In the eighth season as a head coach in the NCAA, Beard has a 73.7 winning percentage which ranks eighth nationally among active coaches. He is 55-5 in Lubbock as the program's head coach.
STREAKING: Texas Tech has won 52 straight non-conference home games after its win over Southern Miss. The team came into the season following a 67-64 win over Arkansas to complete a 9-0 mark in those games last year. TTU started the streak with a 100-69 win over St. Mary's on Dec. 30, 2013. Chris Beard is 32-0 in non-conference home games as the team's head coach. Butler leads the nation with a 56-game non-conference home winning streak after knocking off Florida last Saturday and will host Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, Dec. 28 in its next home non-conference game at the Hinkle Fieldhouse. Duke had the previous active record at 150 games before falling to SFA on Nov. 27 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and UTRGV will be broadcasted on FSSW+ with John Harris and Chris Level on the call and on the Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 in Lubbock with Geoff Haxton and Clark Lammert. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the FOX Sports Go app and can follow the game at @TexasTechMBB. Texas Tech is 4-0 in games on FSSW+ this season.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech is 6-0 all-time against the Vaqueros after earning a 71-46 win last season on Dec. 28, 2018 and is 47-22 against current Western Athletic Conference opponents.
LAST TIME OUT: Terrence Shannon, Jr.scored 18 points and the Red Raiders went 24 of 27 at the free-throw line to earn a 71-65 win over Southern Mississippi on Monday to improve to 5-0 at home this season and extend the non-conference home winning streak to 52. It was the first single-digit win of the season for the Red Raiders. Tech trailed by seven at halftime in the win over the Golden Eagles before shooting 53.8 percent in the second half and going 15 of 17 at the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes. Chris Clarke recorded his second double-double of the season in the win with 14 points and 11 rebounds and also added a team-high six assists. Moretti knocked down three 3-pointers in the second half and was 6 of 6 at the free-throw line in the game while Shannon was 8 of 9 at the line and also had five rebounds. The Red Raiders are now 2-2 when trailing at halftime.
POLL REPORT: Texas Tech returned to the national rankings at No. 24 in the AP Top 25 on Monday after its win over Louisville last week. After dropping two games in Las Vegas, Texas Tech fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 after being ranked No. 12 the previous week. The Red Raiders were ranked as high as No. 11 three weeks ago and No. 13 in the preseason poll. Tech is currently at No. 40 in the NCAA NET Rankings which made their debut this week and are No. 25 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
STAT RANKINGS: Through games played on Dec. 17, Texas Tech is currently 11th in the nation with 17.5 assists per game and 16th by shooting 77.8 percent at the free-throw line after going 24 of 27 against Southern Miss. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 with 175 total assists, 29.1 defensive rebounds per game and 172 free throws made. The team is scoring 77.3 points per game through 10 games which is third in the Big 12 and is 51st nationally by forcing 16.7 turnovers per game. Tech's 1.24 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third in the conference and 39th in the country. Individually, Davide Morettileads the nation at 97.4 percent at the free-throw line while Terrence Shannon, Jr.is third in the conference with 84.3 percent. Shannon is third in the Big 12 by making 43 free throws this season and Chris Clarke is currently 29th nationally with 5.9 assists per game and fourth in the conference with 9.0 rebounds per game. Clarke is 32nd nationally with his turnover-to-assist ratio at 2.68.
PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 85 games (65 wins) with the Red Raiders and graduate transfers Chris Clarke and TJ Holyfield who bring experience to a team that has seven freshmen on the roster. Clarke leads the Red Raiders this season with 9.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game after he recorded his second double-double of the year on Monday with 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists against Southern Miss. A Virginia Tech transfer and the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, Clarke has double-digit rebounding performances in five games this season with a season-best 12 against No. 1 Louisville and Tennessee State. His career-high is 16 rebounds in a game for VT against UAB and he had a career-best 11 assists in a win over Houston Baptist earlier this season. Clarke is averaging 11.3 rebounds per game over the past three games and is now averaging 6.9 points per game after having his third double-figure scoring performance. He had a season-best 17 points in the overtime loss to Creighton in Las Vegas and has currently scored 797 points and has 607 rebounds in his career through 89 games played when combining stats from Virginia Tech and Texas Tech. He has made four starts this season and has had three or more assists in all 10 games. Clarke has 269 assists in his career for an average of 3.0 per game.
Moretti is coming off scoring 17 points with three 3-pointers in the win over Southern Miss and is the NCAA active leader at the free-throw line at 92.4 percent (159 of 172). A guard from Italy who was an All-Big 12 Third Team selection last season and is on the Bob Cousy Award Watch List this year, Moretti is currently averaging 14.5 points per game and leads the Red Raiders with 23 made 3-pointers and is 38 of 39 at the free-throw line. In his 17-point performance against the Golden Eagles, he was 6-for-6 at the line after going 8 of 8 against No. 1 Louisville where he finished with 18 points. Moretti scored a career-high 23 points in an overtime loss to Creighton in Las Vegas and has scored in double figures in nine of 10 games this season. Through 85 games in his career, Moretti has scored 711 points and has made 122 3-pointers for the Red Raiders. He comes into the game against UTRGV shooting 43.8 percent from the field (215 of 491), 40.3 percent (122 of 303) on 3-pointers along with a program-best and NCAA leading 92.4 on free throws in his career.
Holyfield has started 111 games in his career when combining three previous years at SFA and 10 starts this season with the Red Raiders. An Albuquerque, New Mexico native, Holyfield is averaging 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for Tech after scoring nine points and pulling down five rebounds in the win over Southern Miss. He scored a season-high 21 points in a win over Houston Baptist after going for 20 a game before against Bethune-Cookman. In 111 career games, Holyfield has scored 1,179 points and has 638 rebounds. He has scored in double figures in four games this season and has a season-best seven rebounds in a win over Long Island. Holyfield has had five or more rebounds in six games this season and has a career-high 16 rebounds while he was at SFA in a game against Northwestern State on March, 2, 2017. Holyfield, who is on the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List, went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line on Monday night against the Golden Eagles and is now 21-for-28 at the line this season. He leads the Red Raiders at 58.7 percent shooting from the field, including going 9-for-10 against HBU and 8-for-11 against BCU to highlight the early part of the season. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after the performance against HBU and leads Tech with nine blocks this season after having two against Southern Miss.
Terrence Shannon, Jr. is coming off a game against Southern Miss where he led the Red Raiders with 18 points and is averaging 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game during the last three games. A freshman from Chicago, Shannon scored a career-high 24 points in his hometown against DePaul before going for 13 points in the win over No. 1 Louisville last Tuesday in New York. He is averaging 12.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game through 10 starts to begin the season and has scored in double figures in six games. Shannon was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday after his 13-point performance against Louisville and followed the announcement by going off for 18 against Southern Miss where he was 8-for-9 at the free-throw line. He leads the Red Raiders with 43 made free throws this season and had a season-best nine rebounds against Iowa. Shannon has five or more rebounds in four games this season and has four games with seven or more free throws made. He has led the Red Raiders in scoring in two games this season after his performance on Monday.
Kyler Edwards has scored nine points in the past two games and comes into the contest against UTRGV averaging 10.4 points, 3.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game to begin his sophomore season. A guard from Arlington, Texas, Edwards has started all 10 games this season and has a scored a season-high 15 points against Houston Baptist and also had 14 against Creighton. He has played in 48 games in his Texas Tech career after making 38 appearances as a reserve last season during the run to the NCAA National Championship Final during his freshman season. He has scored 312 career points and has 77 assists. He has already assisted on 35 baskets this season after having 42 last season, including matching a career-best with six against Long Island after also having six last year at Oklahoma. He has scored in double figures in six games this season and had a career-high eight rebounds against Creighton to go along with his 14 points in the overtime loss in Las Vegas. Edwards is 18-for-21 at the free-throw line (85.7 percent) and is third on the team with 12 3-pointers made. He scored a career-high 19 points last season in a non-conference home win over Northern Colorado when he went 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers.
Jahmi'us Ramsey has not played in the past four games after suffering a left hamstring injury against Iowa on Nov. 28 in Las Vegas. He is listed as day-to-day. Ramsey leads the Red Raiders with 17.3 points per game and is also adding 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 assists to begin his freshman season. A 6-foot-4 guard from Arlington, Texas, Ramsey helped lead Duncanville High School to the Class 6A State Championship by averaging 21 points per game in his senior season and has continued to dominate as he steps up to the collegiate level. Prior to Las Vegas, Ramsey scored a season-high 27 points and had six rebounds in a win over Long Island that earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors. He has scored in double figures in five of six games played, including scoring 25 against Houston Baptist where he was 10-for-13 from the field with three 3-pointers. In his 27-point outpouring, Ramsey was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc against LIU. He is also proving to be strong rebounder from the guard position, pulling down a season-high nine in the win over Bethune-Cookman and having four or more rebounds in all six games he's played in.
Avery Benson had a career performance where he had 10 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots against Louisville. A redshirt sophomore from Arkansas, Benson was 3-for-3 from the field against the Cardinals in 22 minutes of play. He hit the first shot of the game for the Red Raiders with a 3-pointer and also had a big block at the buzzer to take the game into halftime with three-point lead. Benson has now played in 30 games during his career and is currently averaging 3.7 points per game this season after having three points against Southern Miss. His previous career-high in scoring was with six points against DePaul and Bethune-Cookman earlier this season. Along with Benson, the Red Raiders continue to get contributions from freshmen Kevin McCullar, Andrei Savrasov, Clarence Nadolny and Russel Tchewa. Following a redshirt season last year, McCullar and Savrasov are playing important roles off the bench this year with McCullar averaging 4.0 points per game and Savrasov at 1.4 rebounds and 1.4 points per game. McCullar scored a career-high 10 points earlier this season against Long Island after having seven against Tennessee State. Savrasov scored his season-best with six points against Creighton after hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the second half to help force overtime and had three points against Louisville. Nadolny and Tchewa have each played in all nine games this season with Nadolny scoring a season-high nine points in the win over HBU, while Tchewa scored six against Eastern Illinois and LIU. A 7-foot center from Cameroon, Tchewa had one block and two rebounds against Louisville.
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 83-34 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 17 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 177-64 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.
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 11: UTRGV travels to Lubbock with 4-7 record after dropping back-to-back games against Creighton and Omaha during a two-game trip to Nebraska. The Vaqueros are led by head coach Lew Hill who is a former Oklahoma assistant coach. Jordan Jackson, a senior from Houston, leads the team at 14.9 points per game and has also contributed 22 assists and 15 steals through 11 games. Lesley Varner II is scoring 12.9 points per game and leads the team at 6.9 rebounds, while Javon Levi has scored 12.0 points per game after dropping 21 at Omaha. Varner led the Vaqueros with 29 points at Omaha after going 10 of 10 at the free-throw line and Jackson led the team with 13 points against Creighton.
The Vaqueros are averaging 71.5 points per game and are shooting 42.8 percent from the field. The team is 0-6 away from home this season.
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.
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.
PROMOS: Santa will be making an appearance in the southeast concourse where fans can take their picture with him and Season Ticket Holders will received Red Raider Basketball Christmas Card at the STH redemption table.
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: The Red Raiders will return from the Christmas break to host Cal State Bakersfield at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29 before opening Big 12 play against Oklahoma State on Saturday, Jan. 4 and Baylor on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at the United Supermarkets Arena to finish off a five-game home stand.
https://texastech.com/news/2019/12/18/mens-basketball-preview-ut-rio-grande-valley.aspx
LUBBOCK, Texas – Christmas comes early for Texas Tech fans on Saturday when the No. 24-ranked Red Raiders host UT Rio Grande Valley at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (7-3) have won two straight after a 71-65 win over Southern Miss on Monday following knocking off No. 1 Louisville last week, while the Vaqueros (4-7) have dropped two in a row after falling 92-82 at Omaha on Sunday after a 31-point defeat at Creighton last Friday.
Texas Tech has won 12 straight games at the USA and is 5-0 at home this season with a 22.2 scoring margin of victory in those games by scoring 80.6 points per game, shooting 45.7 percent from the field and limiting opponents to only 38.9 percent shooting. The Red Raiders, who have played the last four games without leading scorer Jahmi'us Ramsey and are two games away from beginning the 18-round Big 12 Conference fight, ended last year on a seven-game home winning streak on the way to earning the Big 12 regular-season championship and has rolled to home-court victories over Eastern Illinois, Bethune-Cookman, Tennessee State, Long Island and Southern Miss to start this year.
The Red Raiders, who are playing six freshmen and eight underclassmen this season, are led by Chris Beard who is 83-34 in his fourth season. He was named the 2019 Associated Press National Coach of the Year along with earning Big 12 Coach of the Year the past two seasons. In the eighth season as a head coach in the NCAA, Beard has a 73.7 winning percentage which ranks eighth nationally among active coaches. He is 55-5 in Lubbock as the program's head coach.
STREAKING: Texas Tech has won 52 straight non-conference home games after its win over Southern Miss. The team came into the season following a 67-64 win over Arkansas to complete a 9-0 mark in those games last year. TTU started the streak with a 100-69 win over St. Mary's on Dec. 30, 2013. Chris Beard is 32-0 in non-conference home games as the team's head coach. Butler leads the nation with a 56-game non-conference home winning streak after knocking off Florida last Saturday and will host Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, Dec. 28 in its next home non-conference game at the Hinkle Fieldhouse. Duke had the previous active record at 150 games before falling to SFA on Nov. 27 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and UTRGV will be broadcasted on FSSW+ with John Harris and Chris Level on the call and on the Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 in Lubbock with Geoff Haxton and Clark Lammert. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the FOX Sports Go app and can follow the game at @TexasTechMBB. Texas Tech is 4-0 in games on FSSW+ this season.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech is 6-0 all-time against the Vaqueros after earning a 71-46 win last season on Dec. 28, 2018 and is 47-22 against current Western Athletic Conference opponents.
LAST TIME OUT: Terrence Shannon, Jr.scored 18 points and the Red Raiders went 24 of 27 at the free-throw line to earn a 71-65 win over Southern Mississippi on Monday to improve to 5-0 at home this season and extend the non-conference home winning streak to 52. It was the first single-digit win of the season for the Red Raiders. Tech trailed by seven at halftime in the win over the Golden Eagles before shooting 53.8 percent in the second half and going 15 of 17 at the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes. Chris Clarke recorded his second double-double of the season in the win with 14 points and 11 rebounds and also added a team-high six assists. Moretti knocked down three 3-pointers in the second half and was 6 of 6 at the free-throw line in the game while Shannon was 8 of 9 at the line and also had five rebounds. The Red Raiders are now 2-2 when trailing at halftime.
POLL REPORT: Texas Tech returned to the national rankings at No. 24 in the AP Top 25 on Monday after its win over Louisville last week. After dropping two games in Las Vegas, Texas Tech fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 after being ranked No. 12 the previous week. The Red Raiders were ranked as high as No. 11 three weeks ago and No. 13 in the preseason poll. Tech is currently at No. 40 in the NCAA NET Rankings which made their debut this week and are No. 25 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
STAT RANKINGS: Through games played on Dec. 17, Texas Tech is currently 11th in the nation with 17.5 assists per game and 16th by shooting 77.8 percent at the free-throw line after going 24 of 27 against Southern Miss. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 with 175 total assists, 29.1 defensive rebounds per game and 172 free throws made. The team is scoring 77.3 points per game through 10 games which is third in the Big 12 and is 51st nationally by forcing 16.7 turnovers per game. Tech's 1.24 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third in the conference and 39th in the country. Individually, Davide Morettileads the nation at 97.4 percent at the free-throw line while Terrence Shannon, Jr.is third in the conference with 84.3 percent. Shannon is third in the Big 12 by making 43 free throws this season and Chris Clarke is currently 29th nationally with 5.9 assists per game and fourth in the conference with 9.0 rebounds per game. Clarke is 32nd nationally with his turnover-to-assist ratio at 2.68.
PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 85 games (65 wins) with the Red Raiders and graduate transfers Chris Clarke and TJ Holyfield who bring experience to a team that has seven freshmen on the roster. Clarke leads the Red Raiders this season with 9.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game after he recorded his second double-double of the year on Monday with 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists against Southern Miss. A Virginia Tech transfer and the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, Clarke has double-digit rebounding performances in five games this season with a season-best 12 against No. 1 Louisville and Tennessee State. His career-high is 16 rebounds in a game for VT against UAB and he had a career-best 11 assists in a win over Houston Baptist earlier this season. Clarke is averaging 11.3 rebounds per game over the past three games and is now averaging 6.9 points per game after having his third double-figure scoring performance. He had a season-best 17 points in the overtime loss to Creighton in Las Vegas and has currently scored 797 points and has 607 rebounds in his career through 89 games played when combining stats from Virginia Tech and Texas Tech. He has made four starts this season and has had three or more assists in all 10 games. Clarke has 269 assists in his career for an average of 3.0 per game.
Moretti is coming off scoring 17 points with three 3-pointers in the win over Southern Miss and is the NCAA active leader at the free-throw line at 92.4 percent (159 of 172). A guard from Italy who was an All-Big 12 Third Team selection last season and is on the Bob Cousy Award Watch List this year, Moretti is currently averaging 14.5 points per game and leads the Red Raiders with 23 made 3-pointers and is 38 of 39 at the free-throw line. In his 17-point performance against the Golden Eagles, he was 6-for-6 at the line after going 8 of 8 against No. 1 Louisville where he finished with 18 points. Moretti scored a career-high 23 points in an overtime loss to Creighton in Las Vegas and has scored in double figures in nine of 10 games this season. Through 85 games in his career, Moretti has scored 711 points and has made 122 3-pointers for the Red Raiders. He comes into the game against UTRGV shooting 43.8 percent from the field (215 of 491), 40.3 percent (122 of 303) on 3-pointers along with a program-best and NCAA leading 92.4 on free throws in his career.
Holyfield has started 111 games in his career when combining three previous years at SFA and 10 starts this season with the Red Raiders. An Albuquerque, New Mexico native, Holyfield is averaging 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for Tech after scoring nine points and pulling down five rebounds in the win over Southern Miss. He scored a season-high 21 points in a win over Houston Baptist after going for 20 a game before against Bethune-Cookman. In 111 career games, Holyfield has scored 1,179 points and has 638 rebounds. He has scored in double figures in four games this season and has a season-best seven rebounds in a win over Long Island. Holyfield has had five or more rebounds in six games this season and has a career-high 16 rebounds while he was at SFA in a game against Northwestern State on March, 2, 2017. Holyfield, who is on the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List, went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line on Monday night against the Golden Eagles and is now 21-for-28 at the line this season. He leads the Red Raiders at 58.7 percent shooting from the field, including going 9-for-10 against HBU and 8-for-11 against BCU to highlight the early part of the season. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after the performance against HBU and leads Tech with nine blocks this season after having two against Southern Miss.
Terrence Shannon, Jr. is coming off a game against Southern Miss where he led the Red Raiders with 18 points and is averaging 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game during the last three games. A freshman from Chicago, Shannon scored a career-high 24 points in his hometown against DePaul before going for 13 points in the win over No. 1 Louisville last Tuesday in New York. He is averaging 12.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game through 10 starts to begin the season and has scored in double figures in six games. Shannon was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday after his 13-point performance against Louisville and followed the announcement by going off for 18 against Southern Miss where he was 8-for-9 at the free-throw line. He leads the Red Raiders with 43 made free throws this season and had a season-best nine rebounds against Iowa. Shannon has five or more rebounds in four games this season and has four games with seven or more free throws made. He has led the Red Raiders in scoring in two games this season after his performance on Monday.
Kyler Edwards has scored nine points in the past two games and comes into the contest against UTRGV averaging 10.4 points, 3.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game to begin his sophomore season. A guard from Arlington, Texas, Edwards has started all 10 games this season and has a scored a season-high 15 points against Houston Baptist and also had 14 against Creighton. He has played in 48 games in his Texas Tech career after making 38 appearances as a reserve last season during the run to the NCAA National Championship Final during his freshman season. He has scored 312 career points and has 77 assists. He has already assisted on 35 baskets this season after having 42 last season, including matching a career-best with six against Long Island after also having six last year at Oklahoma. He has scored in double figures in six games this season and had a career-high eight rebounds against Creighton to go along with his 14 points in the overtime loss in Las Vegas. Edwards is 18-for-21 at the free-throw line (85.7 percent) and is third on the team with 12 3-pointers made. He scored a career-high 19 points last season in a non-conference home win over Northern Colorado when he went 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers.
Jahmi'us Ramsey has not played in the past four games after suffering a left hamstring injury against Iowa on Nov. 28 in Las Vegas. He is listed as day-to-day. Ramsey leads the Red Raiders with 17.3 points per game and is also adding 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 assists to begin his freshman season. A 6-foot-4 guard from Arlington, Texas, Ramsey helped lead Duncanville High School to the Class 6A State Championship by averaging 21 points per game in his senior season and has continued to dominate as he steps up to the collegiate level. Prior to Las Vegas, Ramsey scored a season-high 27 points and had six rebounds in a win over Long Island that earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors. He has scored in double figures in five of six games played, including scoring 25 against Houston Baptist where he was 10-for-13 from the field with three 3-pointers. In his 27-point outpouring, Ramsey was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc against LIU. He is also proving to be strong rebounder from the guard position, pulling down a season-high nine in the win over Bethune-Cookman and having four or more rebounds in all six games he's played in.
Avery Benson had a career performance where he had 10 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots against Louisville. A redshirt sophomore from Arkansas, Benson was 3-for-3 from the field against the Cardinals in 22 minutes of play. He hit the first shot of the game for the Red Raiders with a 3-pointer and also had a big block at the buzzer to take the game into halftime with three-point lead. Benson has now played in 30 games during his career and is currently averaging 3.7 points per game this season after having three points against Southern Miss. His previous career-high in scoring was with six points against DePaul and Bethune-Cookman earlier this season. Along with Benson, the Red Raiders continue to get contributions from freshmen Kevin McCullar, Andrei Savrasov, Clarence Nadolny and Russel Tchewa. Following a redshirt season last year, McCullar and Savrasov are playing important roles off the bench this year with McCullar averaging 4.0 points per game and Savrasov at 1.4 rebounds and 1.4 points per game. McCullar scored a career-high 10 points earlier this season against Long Island after having seven against Tennessee State. Savrasov scored his season-best with six points against Creighton after hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the second half to help force overtime and had three points against Louisville. Nadolny and Tchewa have each played in all nine games this season with Nadolny scoring a season-high nine points in the win over HBU, while Tchewa scored six against Eastern Illinois and LIU. A 7-foot center from Cameroon, Tchewa had one block and two rebounds against Louisville.
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 83-34 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 17 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 177-64 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.
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 11: UTRGV travels to Lubbock with 4-7 record after dropping back-to-back games against Creighton and Omaha during a two-game trip to Nebraska. The Vaqueros are led by head coach Lew Hill who is a former Oklahoma assistant coach. Jordan Jackson, a senior from Houston, leads the team at 14.9 points per game and has also contributed 22 assists and 15 steals through 11 games. Lesley Varner II is scoring 12.9 points per game and leads the team at 6.9 rebounds, while Javon Levi has scored 12.0 points per game after dropping 21 at Omaha. Varner led the Vaqueros with 29 points at Omaha after going 10 of 10 at the free-throw line and Jackson led the team with 13 points against Creighton.
The Vaqueros are averaging 71.5 points per game and are shooting 42.8 percent from the field. The team is 0-6 away from home this season.
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.
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.
PROMOS: Santa will be making an appearance in the southeast concourse where fans can take their picture with him and Season Ticket Holders will received Red Raider Basketball Christmas Card at the STH redemption table.
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: The Red Raiders will return from the Christmas break to host Cal State Bakersfield at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29 before opening Big 12 play against Oklahoma State on Saturday, Jan. 4 and Baylor on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at the United Supermarkets Arena to finish off a five-game home stand.
