Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech to Face UCLA in Tucson
March 16, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2005
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech Red Raiders travel to Tucson, Arizona for Thursday night's game against the UCLA Bruins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Texas Tech is seeded sixth in the Albuquerque regional. It matches the Red Raiders' highest seeding under Coach Bob Knight and marks their third NCAA appearance in four seasons. It also notes Bob Knight's 27th NCAA Tournament appearance, which equals the top mark held by Dean Smith.
The game will be televised on CBS-Regional with an 8:55 PM tip-off . Kevin Harlan will call the play-by-play. Dan Bonner will provide the color analysis.
John Harris will call the courtside action for Texas Tech and Chris Cassidy will provide the analysis on KKAM (1340 AM), the flagship station for the Red Raiders.
The Raiders finished the non-conference season with eight wins and three losses and had ten wins and six losses in conference play for 18 wins and 9 losses heading into the conference tournament. With wins against Iowa State and Oklahoma and a loss to Oklahoma State in the championship game, the Raiders reached the 20-win mark for the fourth straight season under Coach Knight.
Bob Knight is 3-3 versus UCLA teams. The last meeting was in Albuquerque in the 1992 Regional final. Indiana won 106-79. The teams also met in the 1976 NCAA semifinals (Indiana won) and again in the 1973 NCAA semifinals (UCLA won). UCLA won the 1985 NIT championship and the 1991-1992 Tip-Off Classic in Springfield. Indiana won the 1975-1976 opener in St. Louis.
UCLA has won the last five meetings with Texas Tech. The last time the teams met, Gerald Myers was the Red Raiders coach. The Raiders opened their 1988-1989 season on the road against the Bruins. The Raiders lost the opener 84-62 and were 13-15 for the season. The teams also met four times under Gene Gibson. In the 1961-1962 season, the Bruins downed the Raiders 89-60 on January 26 at UCLA. The teams played the following day with UCLA winning 87-58. In the 1962-1963 season, the teams meet in Lubbock with UCLA winning on January 25 (83-63) and on January 26 (103-80)
Ronald Ross continues to move up in the 1000 Point Club. He now has 1,106 career points and ranks 22nd on the all-time scoring list and is just behind Harold Denney's 1,108 points from 1963-1965. Ronald was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team and has 76 steals on the season and 194 career thefts. He is the only Red Raider listed in the "Top 10 Single-Season Highs" for steals in three different seasons. The former walk-on has played in 129 Red Raider games, surpassing Andre Emmett's former mark of 128 career games.
Devonne Giles has 54 blocks this season and had 51 blocks last season. He holds down the fifth and sixth spots for most blocks in a single season during his two-year career as a Red Raider.
Jarrius Jackson is the only Red Raider to have started all 30 games this season.
This is UCLA's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2002. The 11th seeded Bruins were 18-10 for the season and were third in PAC 10 play with an 11-7 conference record. They are averaging 74.0 points per game for the season and scored 74.5 ppg in conference play. Their defense has allowed 71.4 ppg for the season and 72.4 ppg in conference play.
UCLA has three players averaging double scoring figures for the season. Dijon Thompson leads the squad with 18.3 points per game. Jordan Farmar averages 13.6 points per game and Arron Affalo averages 11.0 points per game.
The Red Raiders have four players who are averaging in double-figures for the season. Ronald Ross leads the squad with 17.0 points per game. Jarrius Jackson follows with 15.3 points per game. Martin Zeno averages 13.2 points per game. Devonne Giles is next with 11.2 points per game. The Raiders are averaging 77.7 points per game for the season and scored 73.8 ppg in conference play. Their defense has allowed 69.6 ppg for the season and 74.4 ppg in conference games.
With 852 career victories over 39 seasons, Coach Bob Knight will be on the sidelines for his 1,185th game with Thursday night's game against UCLA. He is only the third coach to amass 850 wins in his career. The late Adolph Rupp won 876 games and Dean Smith leads everyone with 879 career wins.
