PREVIEW: at Texas Longhorns

LUBBOCK, Texas – The 18-round Big 12 Conference fight continues for No. 8 Texas Tech this weekend in Austin when it plays Texas at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center.

The Red Raiders (14-1, 3-0 Big 12) are coming off a 66-59 win over No. 23 Oklahoma, while the Longhorns (10-5, 2-1 Big 12) dropped a 61-58 decision to Oklahoma State on the road in a pair of Tuesday night games. TTU is looking to improve to 15-1 for only the second time in program history (1995-96), to 4-0 in Big 12 play for only the second time (2003-04) and win in Austin for the first time since a 75-58 victory on Feb. 24, 1996 (22 straight losses). Tech's only loss this season came to No. 1-ranked Duke at Madison Square Garden which has been followed up by four straights wins over UTRGV, West Virginia, Kansas State and OU. The Longhorns are currently 7-3 on their home court this season and had won three in a row before falling in Stillwater.

Texas Tech is coached by Chris Beard who has led the Red Raiders to a 59-25 record over the past three years. Beard graduated from The University of Texas in 1995 and is currently 3-3 in his coaching career against the Longhorns. The home teams have won each of the past three years in the series and the programs have played in the Big 12 Championship the past two years.

UP NEXT: The Red Raiders will return home to host Iowa State at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena. TTU is currently 10-0 at home this season and 43-4 at home under Beard. The Cyclones (12-3, 2-1 Big 12) host Kansas State on Saturday before traveling to Lubbock next week.

QUOTES (Full Press Conference)
Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard
"We'll have to play against multiple defenses and different kinds of offenses because they play a different way depending on each game. They have an identity but they can also change from game to game. It's a tough scouting report because you have to expect the unexpected, but I think our guys will be prepared and it will come down to who plays best."

"Just like when we went to West Virginia we embrace the reality that we had never won in West Virginia before. If you're ever going to make history you have to start chipping away at doing things that have never been done before. It's been a long time since Texas Tech has won in Austin and the reason is that they are really good."

"This is certainly an opportunity. In my opinion Texas is one of the best teams in the country and have NBA players. They have experience and young talent and Shaka has done a great job like he always does. This team seems to be playing its best basketball right now with conference starting. I've been telling our guys all week that we'll have to play our best game of the season to this point. We'll have to play a full 40 minutes to be competitive and put ourselves in a position to win this game."

POLLS/STAT RANKINGS: Texas Tech is back in the AP Top-10 following the conference wins over WVU and KSU last week that elevated it from No. 11 to No. 8 this week. The Red Raiders are ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press Top-25, No. 8 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, No. 6 in the ESPN Power Rankings and is No. 4 in the NCAA NET Rankings. Statistically, the Red Raiders lead the nation by limiting opponents to only 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 24.8 percent on 3-pointers. TTU ranks second in the nation by limiting opponents to 53.5 points per game, is seventh with a 19.5 scoring margin, 18th with 79 total blocks and 30th with a 3.7 turnover margin advantage. The team is second in the Big 12 with a 71.1 free-throw percentage and is third with 7.7 steals per game. Individually, sophomore Jarrett Culver is third in the Big 12 and 64th nationally by scoring 19.0 points per game and is also third in the conference with a 56.4 shooting percentage. Tariq Owens is 13th nationally and second in the conference with 2.53 blocks per game, while Matt Mooney ranks third in the conference in steals per game. Culver is also fourth in the conference with 59 total assists and third with 285 total points. Back to the polls, the team has now been ranked in seven straight polls after starting the season unranked through three weeks. The Red Raiders finished the 2017-18 season at No. 6 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and were in its Top-10 rankings seven times during the season. The No. 6 ranking to finish the season matched a program-best set on Feb. 12, 2018 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll and on Feb. 19, 2018 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

SERIES HISTORY: The Red Raiders will be playing for the 71st time in Austin on Saturday and have a 21-49 all-time record against Texas on its home court. The Longhorns own an 86-58 all-time advantage in the series, but the Red Raiders have won the past two with a 73-71 overtime win on Jan. 31, 2018 in Lubbock followed by a 73-69 win in the Big 12 Championship on March 8, 2018 in Kansas City. Those two wins followed a 67-58 loss on Jan. 17, 2018 at the Frank Erwin Center to run the string of losses in Austin to 22 games. The two programs met for the first time on Dec. 15, 1939 with the Longhorns earning a 48-28 win… Texas Tech won for the first time over Texas on Dec. 18, 1940 with a 44-40 win in Austin.

PLAYER NOTES: Jarrett Culver leads the Red Raiders with 19.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game after recording his first double-double of the season with 23 points and a career-high 13 points on Tuesday against Oklahoma. Culver now has three career double-doubles and is currently averaging 16.7 points and 8.7 rebounds through three conference games. A sophomore from Lubbock, he had 16 points and nine rebounds in the first game against Texas last season and then went for 13 points and 11 rebounds in the next one for his second double-double of his freshman season. Culver is on the John R. Wooden Award, Jerry West Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy and Lute Olson Award watch lists and was a Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention Selection. He has scored in double figures in 14 of 15 games, led the Red Raiders in scoring in 13 and has scored over 20 points in seven games. Culver recorded a career-high with 30 points against Abilene Christian on Dec. 20 where he went 12-for-13 from the field and hit four 3-pointers. He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week after the performance and followed it by going to New York and scoring 25 points against Duke. Culver, who is shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 39.6 percent on 3-pointers, comes into the matchup against Texas having scored 700 career points in 52 games as a Red Raider. He is coming off the 23-point performance against OU where he was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line and also added two assists and two steals.

Texas Tech sophomore Davide Moretti is averaging 14.3 points and 1.7 assists in conference play coming into Saturday's game in Austin. He's coming off scoring 12 points against the Sooners after recording a career-high 19 points against Kansas State where he also matched a career-high with four rebounds. Moretti was 7-for-11 from the field with three 3-pointers against the Wildcats and followed it with two more 3-pointers and going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line against OU. He started Big 12 play by hitting a 3-pointer with two minutes remaining to give the Red Raiders a 55-54 lead at West Virginia. Moretti finished the game at WVU with 12 points after hitting two 3-pointers to give him 15 for the season. Moretti has started all 15 games for the Red Raiders this season after making one start in 37 games played as a freshman. A coach's son from Italy, Moretti is averaging 9.6 points and 2.4 assists per game in his second season with the program. He had previously scored a career-high 17 points in wins over Southern Cal and Mississippi Valley State and has two games with six assists. Moretti made a career-high five 3-pointers in his 17-point performance against MVSU and has scored in double figures in four games. He currently leads TTU with 20 3-pointers and is shooting 37.0 percent from beyond the arc.

After losing five seniors off last season's NCAA Elite Eight team, Texas Tech found a way to remain a veteran team through recruiting by adding graduate transfers Matt Mooney (University of South Dakota) and Tariq Owens (St. John's) to go along with returners Norense Odiase and Brandone Francis to make up a senior class of four for the Red Raiders. Mooney opened Big 12 play with 14 points in both games against KSU and WVU and is averaging 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He is currently third in the Big 12 with 1.9 steals per game. An Illinois native, Mooney started his career at Air Force before playing two seasons at South Dakota where he led his team in scoring both years. He is shooting 43.5 percent from the field this season, has scored in double figures in eight games and leads the team with 28 steals. Mooney scored seven points on Tuesday against OU. An Odenton, Maryland native, Owens led the Red Raiders with four blocks against the Sooners after having eight rebounds and three blocks against KSU. He led the BIG EAST the past two seasons in blocked shots and currently third in the Big 12 with 2.5 blocks per game (38 total). He established a new Texas Tech single-game record with eight blocks in the win over Memphis on Dec. 1 in Miami after starting his Red Raider career with six blocks against Incarnate Word in the season opener. Owens is averaging 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game after he also contributed four points and four rebounds after having six rebounds and four points against the Sooners. He had a season-high 18 points against Southern Cal and has recorded the team's first double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his eight-block performance against Memphis.

Odiase is in his fifth season at Texas Tech and has played in 105 games. He matched a season-high by scoring eight points against Oklahoma after going 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 at the free-throw line. He currently has 462 career rebounds with 66 this season. A Fort Worth native, Odiase is averaging 4.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 65.7 percent from the field. He had a career-high 13 rebounds in the win over Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 13 after a 10-rebounds performance against Mississippi Valley State. Odiase scored seven points to go along with his seven rebounds against Duke after going 3-for-4 from the field. Francis has played a valuable reserve role in his senior season and is coming off scoring eight second-half points against Oklahoma. Francis was 2-for-3 on 3-pointers in the game and helped spark the Red Raiders to the win. He also had eight points against West Virginia and UTRGV and now has 11 3-pointers on the season. A Dominican Republic native, he started his career at Florida before transferring to Lubbock where he averaged 5.1 points per game with 33 3-pointers as a junior during the Elite 8 run, including a career-high 17 points in the win over West Virginia. He's currently averaging 5.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for the Red Raiders. Francis had a season-high 13 points in the opener against UIW and would contribute 10 points and a career-high six assists in the neutral-court win over Memphis.

Kyler Edwards leads the TTU reserves with 6.7 points per game to start his freshman season. He scored nine points with a 3-pointer and a 4-for-4 performance at the free-throw line last Saturday against KSU but was held scoreless for only the third time this season on Tuesday against OU. A freshman from Arlington, he has scored nine or more points in seven games this season. He has recorded four double-digit scoring performances, including going off for a career-high 19 points against Northern Colorado where he went 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers. Edwards is shooting 45.0 percent from the field with 12 3-pointers. Texas Tech sophomore Deshawn Corprew had a career-night where he recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against UTRGV but has been held to two points at WVU, three against KSU and is coming off a four-point performance against OU to start of conference play. Corprew, who made his first career start against UTRGV, was 6-for-8 from the field to match a previous career-high of 13 points that he also had against Northern Colorado. He also pulled down four offensive and six defensive rebounds for a new career-high in rebounding in the last non-conference game before Big 12 play. A transfer from South Plains College, Corprew is averaging 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 56.2 percent from the field.

TEXAS PLAYER NOTES: Kerwin Roach II leads the Longhorns with 13.3 points per game and has also added 45 assists and 19 steals, while Matt Coleman III is at 10.2 points and Dylan Osetkowski leads the team with 7.9 rebounds per game and is averaging 10.0 points. Jaxson Hayes tops the team and the conference with 39 blocked shots and is also adding 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds and Jericho Sims is providing 5.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 11 starts. The Longhorns opened Big 12 play with wins over Kansas State and West Virginia before falling at Oklahoma State on Tuesday with Roach leading the team with 18 points and seven rebounds against the Cowboys. Hayes added 13 points and four blocks in the game and Coleman and led the team with four assists.

The Longhorns come into Saturday's game shooting 43.1 percent as a team and are limiting opponents to 39.1 percent and 63.6 points per game. Roach leads the team with 22 3-pointers, Coleman has 20 and the team is shooting 32.3 percent from beyond the arc. Texas is currently 7-3 on its home court this season.

COVERING THE RED RAIDERS: Texas Tech and Texas will be televised on the Longhorn Network with Lowell Galindo and Lance Blanks calling the game. On the radio, Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will broadcast on Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 in Lubbock. Fans can interact with the broadcast by following @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.

Texas Tech University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Brandone Francis

Deshawn Corprew

Jarrett Culver

Kyler Edwards

Matt Mooney

Davide Moretti

Norense Odiase

Tariq Owens

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