Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Prepares For Centenary
January 09, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2000
RED RAIDERS HOST CENTENARY IN FINAL NON-CONFERENCE TILT
Texas Tech faces its final non-conference action of the season Mon., Jan. 10, against Centenary College. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (CT) at the United Spirit Arena.
TECH CONTINUES BIG 12 ACTION SATURDAY
The Red Raiders host Big 12 rival Texas A&M Sat., Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. The game is slated to be televised live on Fox Sports Southwest.
LISTENING IN
The All Sports Radio Network will air all Red Raider games, beginning approximately 25 minutes prior to tip-off. The network carries nine affiliates across West Texas, including flagship station KKAM 1340 in Lubbock. Broadcasting veteran Jack Dale (play-by-play), in his 47th season, calls the action.
TEXAS TECH HEAD COACH JAMES DICKEY
Texas Tech Head Coach James Dickey is in his ninth season as the Red Raider mentor with a 153-91 overall record. Dickey has guided the Red Raiders to two NCAA Tournaments, including 1996's Sweet Sixteen appearance. Tech also has made a trip to the NIT under Dickey. He is third all-time at the University with 153 wins, trailing Gerald Myers (326 wins / 1971-91) and Polk Robison (254 wins / 1942-46, 47-61). The Red Raiders won the SWC regular-season title in 1995 and tied for the honor the following season. He became only the second coach in Texas Tech history to take a team through an undefeated conference season, when the Red Raiders finished 14-0 in the SWC in 1996. He also holds the distinction of the being the only coach in school history to record a 30-win season (1995-96). He is a two-time Southwest Conference Coach of the Year.
PROBABLE STARTERS
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS
| Ht | Wt | Cl | Homtown | PPG | RPG | |||
| G | 03 | Rayford Young | 5-11 | 180 | Sr. | Pampa, Texas | 17.5 | 4.5 |
| G | 05 | James Ware | 6-5 | 210 | Sr. | Minneapolis, Minn. | 11.2 | 2.4 |
| C | 55 | Andy Ellis | 6-11 | 225 | So. | Lamesa, Texas | 17.8 | 8.9 |
| F | 33 | Brodney Kennard | 6-8 | 210 | Sr. | Fort Worth, Texas | 6.2 | 7.5 |
| F | 14 | Mario Layne | 6-7 | 195 | Sr. | St. Michael, Barbados | 15.2 | 5.3 |
CENTENARY
| Ht | Wt | Cl | Homtown | PPG | RPG | |||
| G | 32 | Ronnie McCollum | 6-4 | 185 | Jr. | Fayette, Ala. | 24.0 | 3.3 |
| G | 11 | Warren Harris | 6-0 | 160 | So. | Priestwood, Texas | 4.1 | 2.3 |
| G | 14 | Thomas Foster | 6-0 | 180 | Sr. | Natchitoches, La. | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| F | 03 | Ed Dotson | 6-7 | 200 | So. | Detroit, Mich. | 14.5 | 6.0 |
| F | 34 | Srdjan Lalic | 6-8 | 240 | Sr. | Belgrade, Yugoslavia | 1.4 | 3.2 |
DICKEY SECURES 150TH WIN
James Dickey secured his 150th victory as head coach at Texas Tech when the Red Raiders knocked off Stephen F. Austin 80-56 in Nacogdoches Wed., Dec. 8. His overall record is 153-91.
CENTENARY HEAD COACH KEVIN JOHNSON
Kevin Johnson is in his first season at Centenary and has a 5-8 overall mark. Johnson is a 1988 graduate of Texas-Pan American.
SCOUTING CENTENARY
Ronnie McCollum leads a 5-8 Gents team with 24 points per game. McCollum is shooting 40.1 percent per game and 38.3 percent from the three-point arc. Ed Dotson is the only other CC player in double figures with 14.5 points per game. Centenary is coming off of a 63-60 win at Texas A&M last Wednesday. McCollum provided the heorics in that game with an off-balance three at the buzzer. Centenary, which has played only two home games this season, is an independent in NCAA Division I. The Gents have wins over Wiley College, Southern, Arkansas-Little Rock, Southwest Texas and Texas A&M. Centenary is averaging 63.2 points per game, but yields 69.5 points to the opposition. The Gents narrowly trail on the boards by 1.1 rebounds per game.
LIKE OPPONENTS
The Red Raiders and Gents have two common opponents on their respective slates this season. Both team have beaten Southwest Texas, while Centenary knocked off Texas A&M (63-60), Tech's next opponent, last week.
TEXAS TECH VS. CENTENARY
Texas Tech and Centenary have played five games in the series, but haven't met since the 1968 season. The Red Raiders won 38-28 Dec. 18, 1939, to begin the series and won the last game 90-64 Dec. 21, 1968.
| GAME | H/A | DATE | |
| TTU 38, CC 28 | A | 12/18/39 | |
| TTU 39, CC 28 | A | 12/19/39 | |
| TTU 93, CC 75 | A | 12/11/54 | |
| TTU 83, CC 79 | A | 12/14/67 | |
| TTU 90, CC 64 | H | 12/21/68 |
TECH IN THE UNITED SPIRIT ARENA
Since dropping the inaugural game in the United Spirit Arena to Indiana on Nov. 19, Texas Tech has won five straight at home. The last time Tech won five-consecutive games at home came during the 1997-98 season.
ON THE GLASS
The Red Raiders have out-rebounded their opponents in five of the last eight games, after being out-boarded in the first tree games. Tech trails opponents by 1.1 rebounds per game. The Red Raiders are 5-0 when out-hustling opponents on the boards.
SHOT TALK
After shooting 45.1 percent from the floor last season, Texas Tech has stepped its offense up a notch and is hitting 47.9 percent this season. Tech's biggest nigt this season came at Texas A&M-CC when the Red Raiders shot 62.4 percent. Tech's lowest percentage (32.4) came in the season opener against Indiana. Since that loss, Texas Tech has hit 49.9 percent from the field.
GOTTA GET TO THE LINE
Texas Tech leads the Big 12 Conference from the foul line at 74.8 percent. Last season, Tech finished fourth with a 68.9 percentage. Rayford Young leads the Big 12 individually at 87.5 percent. The Red Raiders have knocked down 181-of-242 from the charity stripe.
NINETIES THE SECOND-BEST DECADE IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Texas Tech won 160 of 292 games (54.8 percent) played during the 90s. The winningest decade came during the 70s when the Red Raiders won 174 games. Here's a rundow of the top five decades for wins: 1970s (174), 1990s (160), 1980s (153), 1950s (146), 1940s (143).
RED RAIDERS BY THE NUMBERS
Rayford Young - Young is currently 16th on the all-time scoring chart at Texas Tech with 1,210 career points ? began the season at 24th on the list ? ranks seventh all-time with 331 career assists and needs five to break the top five ? fourth all-time with 139 steals ? ranks eighth with 130 made three-pointers and sixth with 335 three-point attempts ? second on the team with 17.5 points per game ? shooting 87.5 percent from the foul line on the season and 84.1 during career ? has started every game this season.
Brodney Kennard - Kennard is seventh all-time with 65 career blocks, including 28 already this season ? if he keeps his current pace (2.5 bpg), he will finish third all-time at Tech ? has four double-figure rebounding games this season with 11 against Indiana, 10 against North Texas, 11 at New Mexico State and 10 at OSU ? has led the team in rebounding in six of 11 games ? averaging 7.5 rebounds per game after picking up only 4.3 a year ago ? tied his career-high of 12 points at UTEP ? career-high five blocks at Stephen F. Austin ? posted four blocks against Southwest Texas ? has started every game this season.
Andy Ellis - Ellis posted his sixth career double-double against Prairie View A&M with an impressive 25 points and 20 rebounds ... posted back-to -back-to-back double-doubles against Southwest Texas, Oral Roberts and Prairie View A&M ? leads the team with 17.8 points per game and 8.9 rebounds ? hitting 52.9 percent from the field and 75 percent from the foul line ? has started every game this season.
James Ware - Averaging 11.2 points per game and 2.4 assists ? scored a career-high 23 points and recorded his first collegiate dunk at Texas A&M-CC earlier this season ? knocked down 4-of-5 from three range and hit 8-of-11 overall from the field in that game ? has started every game this season.
Mario Layne - Exploded for a career-high 32 points against Prairie View A&M on 12-of-20 shooting ? also had five boards and three assists in that game ? best performance from three-land, knocking down 3-of-4 against the Panthers ? has started every game this season.
ELLIS CONTIUES STRONG PLAY
After leaving the OSU game midway through the first half with a tailbone bruise, Ellis returned to the game in the second half and played through the pain to finish with nine points and eight rebounds. Over the last four games, the 6-foot-11 center is averaging 19.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. In the previous seven games, Ellis averaged 16.7 pints and seven rebounds per game.
STARTING FIVE
Texas Tech has used the same starting five in each of the 11 games this season. Rayford Young leads the team with 62 career starts, including 24 straight.
IRONMEN
Four of Texas Tech's five starters are seeing action in 30 or minutes per game. Rayford Young (35.5), Andy Ellis (33.9), James Ware (32.6) and Brodney Kennard (30.6) are all averaging over 30 minutes per game. The four have combined for 1,460 (66.4 percent) of Tech's 2,200 minutes this season. Tech's fifth starter, Mario Layne, is clocking in at 29.6 minutes per game.
TECH STARTERS CARRY THE LOAD
Tech's starting five is averaging 67.8 points per game (or 88.5 percent of the scoring) per game and has scored 746 of the team's 843 points. The b ench is conrtibuting 8.8 points per game.
TECH LEADS BIG 12 IN BLOCKS
Behind Brodney Kennard's team-leading 28 blocks and Mario Layne's 14 rejections, the Red Raiders have 62 rejections this season and lead the Big 12 with 5.6 blocks per game. Kennard is third in the Big 12 with 2.5 blocks per game and Layne is ninth with 1.3 per game.
OVER/UNDER
Despite shooting over 50 percent from the field in six of 11 games this season, Tech is averaging just 47.9 percent on the year.
NOTING THE OSU GAME
The Red Raiders were held to their second-lowest shooting percentage of the season at 35.6 percent. Tech shot 32.4 percent against Indiana.
Tech scored its lowest point total in a half with 18 in the opeing frame. The Red Raiders held OSU to 22 points in the first half, the second-lowest total for a Tech opponent this season.
The loss snapped Tech's three-game winning streak and also snapped a three-game winning streak in Big 12 Conference openers.
Andy Ellis' run of double-double games came to an end at three games. Ellis had nine points and eight rebounds, and played injured much of the second half.
Tech held OSU's high-powered offense, which entered the game averaging just over 80 points per game, to 55 points. Big 12 leading scorer Desmond Mason was held to three points.
OSU's Doug Gottlieb, the nation's leader in assists, managed three on the day.
OSU took the lead for good in the first half on an 8-0 run in the 2:35 following Ellis' injury. OSU took advantage of Ellis' absence with six of the eight points in the post.
TECH TOPS LAST YEAR'S ROAD WIN TOTAL
Texas Tech's three road wins this season top last year's two wins the Red Raiders got all season away from home. The Red Raiders are 3-1 on the road this year.
NEW ADDITION
Texas Tech added some much needed depth at the post position with the addition of Josh Faltesek. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound freshman joined the team following fall finals. He attended a junior college in Amarillo during the fall semester, but did not compete with the basketball team there. Faltesek prepped at Amarillo High School.
TECH OPPONENTS RANKED AMONG NATION'S BEST
Five Red Raider opponents are ranked among the top 25 in the Jan. 3 ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press polls. Kansas (10/9), Oklahoma State (11/12), Indiana (12/11), Texas (15/16) and Oklahoma (22/19) are all rankes. Rankings are listed (ESPN-USA Today/AP).
TEXAS TECH VS. THE BIG 12
Texas Tech has faced the member institutions of the Big 12 on 403 occasions. Tech played its 400th game against a current Big 12 opponent with a 90-84 home win over Kansas Feb. 13, 1999. Here are Texas Tech's series record with each of the Big 12 schools:
| TEAM | RECORD | |
| Baylor | 61-36 | |
| Colorado | 4-12 | |
| Iowa State | 1-5 | |
| Kansas | 1-9 | |
| Kansas State | 4-8 | |
| Missouri | 3-3 | |
| Nebraska | 6-8 | |
| Oklahoma | 10-13 | |
| Oklahoma State | 6-14 | |
| Texas | 50-51 | |
| Texas A&M | 52-46 | |
| TOTALS | 198-205 (.493) |
M*A*S*H
Red Raider Cliff Owens has yet to suit up this season because of ankle surgery he underwent prior to the start of the season. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward is out indefinitely.
PACK'EM IN
Texas Tech's sellout crowd of 15,050 against Indiana at the inaugural game in the United Spirit Arena marked the largest home crowd in school history to witness a Red Raider basketball game.
RED RAIDERS 47th IN SAGARIN RATINGS
Texas Tech is currently 51st in the latest Sagarin Ratings, released Sun., Jan. 9. Others in the Big 12 include Kansas (6), Oklahoma State (11), Texas (13), Oklahoma (16), Iowa State (30), Colorado (49), Missouri (72), Kansas State (126), Nebraska (146), Baylor (148) and Texas A&M (217).
BIG 12 FIRST IN SAGARINS
The Big 12 Conference is first in the latest Sagarin ratings. The Big 12 leads the Big Ten, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Pac-10 conferences.
PRIME TIME
Texas Tech christened the United Spirit Arena in front a live national audience on ESPN Fri., Nov. 19, when the Red Raiders host Big Ten power Indiana in the season opener for both teams. The Red Raiders also play the following games on television:
| Date | Opponent | Network | |
| J8 | at Oklahoma St. | ESPN+ | |
| J15 | Texas A&M | FOX | |
| J22 | Texas | FOX | |
| J29 | Oklahoma | ESPN+ | |
| F5 | at Kansas | ESPN+ | |
| F19 | at Texas A&M | ESPN+ | |
| F23 | at Oklahoma | ESPN+ | |
| F26 | Kansas State | ESPN+ | |
| M4 | at Colorado | ESPN+ |
TECH CELEBRATES 75TH SEASON
The 1999-2000 season is the 75th in the history of the Red Raiders men's basketball program. The school began the program prior to the 1925-26 season. Tech's first game was a 37-25 loss to Daniel Baker on Jan. 25, 1926. The first win was a 35-21 victory at Sul Ross State on Feb. 4 of the same season. Now in their 75th season, the Red Raiders hold an overall record of 1,093-805 (.576).
BACK TO 1900
Despite playing in the new millennium, Texas Tech is not quite on course to play its 2,000th game in the program's history. The Red Raiders' home game against Texas A&M will mark the 1900th game in the 75-year history of the program.
RED RAIDERS INK THREE PLAYERS
Texas Tech signed three players to national letters of intent during the early signing period - Marcus Shropshire (Grand Prairie, Texas / South Grand Prairie H.S), Jamal Brown (Dallas, Texas / Fort Scott C.C.) and Jermichael Miller (Houston, Texas / Wheatley). Shropshire is considered the No. 1 senior guard prospect in the state and the No. 5 player overall.
RAIDERS FIND PRESEASON PERFECTION
The Red Raiders finished the preseason with a 2-0 record, marking the eighth time in head coach James Dickey's career that Texas Tech has finished the preseason unscathed. Dickey is 17-1 all-time in nine seasons in exhibition games, with the only loss coming last season. Tech knocked off the Arkansas Express 68-60 and defeated Global Sports 90-80.
HOME SCHEDULE
The Red Raiders play host to 17 home games, including the two exhibitions. In addition to Indiana, Tech hosts North Texas, Louisiana-Lafayette, Southwest Texas State, Oral Roberts, Prairie View A&M and Centenary in non-conference home games. In Big 12 action, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Missouri, Kansas State and Iowa State all visit the confines of the United Spirit Arena.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Red Raiders make 12 road trips this season, including eight in Big 12 Conference play. Tech faces Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-El Paso, Stephen F. Austin and New Mexico State in non-conference action away from home. Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Baylor, Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Colorado dot the Big 12 road slate.
WORLD WIDE WEB
Information concerning Texas Tech basketball and the University's 17 intercollegiate sports can be accessed through www.texastech.com. Red Raiders fans also can listen to the live broadcasts of Texas Tech basketball through the website.
