Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Battle Buffaloes in Big 12 Championship
March 07, 2010 | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-14/4-12) battle the Colorado Buffaloes (15-15/6-10) in the opening game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship on Wednesday at 11:30 AM at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
The No. 9 seed Red Raiders will face the No. 8 seed Buffaloes with the winner advancing to play No. 1 seed Kansas the following day at 11:30 AM.
In Lubbock, the opening game featuring Texas Tech and Colorado will be televised on KMYL-TV. Additionally, the game is available by subscription on ESPN Full-Court and on ESPN360.com.
The game will air on the Big 12 Network with Mitch Holthus delivering the play-by-play and Reid Gettys providing the game analysis.
Red Raider fans can also listen to Mark Finkner and Corky Oglesby on Double T 104.3.
The match-up with Colorado on Wednesday is the first time Texas Tech has completed conference play and then opened Big 12 Championship play against the same opponent since back-to-back games against Baylor in the 2002-2003 season.
The last meeting between the Red Raiders and the Buffaloes in the conference championship was on March 8, 2007. The Raiders won the First Round game, 81-71, with Martin Zeno leading all scorers with 28 points.
Texas Tech lost their final conference game to Colorado on Saturday in Boulder, 101-90.
Red Raider Nick Okorie led all players with 34 points. It is a career best for Nick, and the top scoring output by a Tech player this season.
In Boulder, the Buffaloes led by 18 points at the half, 53-35. It's the most points scored in the first half against a Red Raider team this season.
In the second half, Texas Tech fought back and reduced Colorado's margin to eight points with 2:10 left in the game, 92-84.
It was as close as Texas Tech would get.
Colorado extended their lead to 12 points on free throws before Texas Tech cut the lead to eight points, 98-90, with 29 seconds on the clock. The Buffaloes sank three more free throws before the game ended, 101-90.
The Buffaloes now have a 17-12 margin in the series. Colorado leads the series in Boulder, 11-3. Texas Tech has a 7-5 lead in Lubbock and a 2-1 edge at neutral courts.
Colorado completed non-conference play with 9 wins and 5 losses. The No. 8 seed Buffaloes are 6-10 in conference games.
For the season, Colorado is averaging 74.9 points per game and allowing their opponents to 73.9 points per game. In conference play, the Buffaloes have scored 73.4 points and their Big 12 opponents have scored 78.1 points per game.
Cory Higgins has started each game this season and the leads the squad with 19.0 points per game. Alec Burks has 29 starts and has averaged 16.8 points per contest. Marcus Relphorde has also started 29 games with 11.1 points per game.
Texas Tech has averaged 76.4 points per game this season. Their opponents have also scored 76.4 points per contest. During Big 12 play, the Red Raiders have scored 72.9 points per outing with opponents posting 81.5 points per game.
Mike Singletary and John Roberson have started each game for the Red Raiders this season. Mike tops the team with 14.9 points per game. John follows with 14.4 points per contest.
The Big 12 Conference has announced Texas Tech juniors Mike Singletary and John Roberson were selected by the league's head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players, to the Honorable Mention squad for 2009-2010 campaign.
It's the first time Mike has been voted to the squad while John was selected to the group as a freshman. Earlier this season, John became Texas Tech's career assist leader, and Mike became the 34th Red Raider to join the 1000-Point Club.
For a complete list of men's basketball awards announced today by the Big 12 Conference, go to: Big 12 Awards
All team practices for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship are open to the public and media. Teams seeded No. 5 through No. 12 will hold practices at Sprint Center on Tuesday, March 9.
The 40-minute practice at the Sprint Center in Kansas City for the No. 9 Red Raiders begins at Noon on Tuesday.
