Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Open Season Against Wildcats
November 17, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2003
Lubbock, TX - The 2003-2004 season begins Tuesday night as Texas Tech hosts Davidson College in the Preseason NIT opener at the United Spirit Arena. Tip-off for the nationally televised game on ESPN is set for 8:00 p.m.
The Preseason NIT was begun in 1985. This tournament is the premiere preseason tournament in college basketball. The tournament is comprised of 16 teams with NCAA legislation allowing for only one team from a conference to participate in a given year. Legislation also states that a team may only participate once every four years. The format of the tournament is set up similar to the postseason tournament. The first two rounds are held at campus sites and the semifinals and the finals are held at Madison Square Garden.
Dave Strader will provide the play-by-play for ESPN. Fran Fraschilla will deliver the expert color analysis.
John Harris will call the courtside action along with Michael Lewis as analyst on KKAM (1340 AM), the flagship station for the Red Raiders.
The Wildcats from Davidson, NC and the Raiders have met only once through the years. On December 27, 1982, the teams met at the Crush Classic in Rosemont, Illinois with Davidson edging Texas Tech 54-51.
Bob McKillop (Hofstra, 1972) begins his 15th season with at Davidson. His overall record of 222-181 places him atop the Wildcat list for victories, having surpassed Lefty Driesell three years ago.
Last season, Davidson earned a share of the Southern Conference North Division crown for the second consecutive season, marking the 15th league crown overall and the fifth since the 1996 season.
The Raiders are appearing in their first Preseason NIT after finishing last season with a 22-13 record and claiming a victory over Minnesota in the consolation game of the NIT in Madison Square Garden.
Bob Knight (Ohio State, 1962) begins his third season at the helm of the Raider program and has notched back-to-back 20+ wins in his first two seasons in Lubbock. In 37 seasons of coaching, he has taken his teams to post-season play 34 times.
Coach Knight numbers fourth among all coaches on the all-time career wins list with 809 victories. Also, he is the youngest of the four coaches (Dean Smith-879, Adolph Rupp-876, Jim Phelan-830, and Bob Knight-809) to ever reach that remarkable plateau.
Tickets are available by calling the Texas Tech Ticket Office at 742-TECH or 1-888-GO-BIG-12.
