Sunday, March 24
Tulsa, Oklahoma
5:10 p.m.
Texas Tech Athletics
vs
No. 15 Buffalo
NCAA PREVIEW: No. 6 Buffalo
March 23, 2019 | Men's Basketball
No. 3 Red Raiders vs. No. 6 Buffalo | 5:10 p.m., Sunday | BOK Center - Tulsa, Oklahoma | TV: TNT
TULSA, Oklahoma – Two of the hottest teams in the nation will meet in the NCAA Tournament West Region Second Round when No. 3 Texas Tech plays No. 6 Buffalo at 5:10 p.m. on Sunday at the BOK Center.
The Red Raiders (27-6) come into the game having won 12 of 14 games, while the Bulls (32-3) are on a 13-game winning streak after a pair of double-digit wins to start the national tournament in Tulsa. Tech advanced to its second consecutive round of 32 after earning a 72-57 first-round win over Northern Kentucky before Buffalo followed with a 91-74 victory over Arizona State on Friday. The Red Raiders and Bulls have never met before and will be playing for a berth to the NCAA Sweet 16 next weekend in Anaheim, California to face the No. 2 Michigan-No. 10 Florida winner. The other West Region matchups include No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 9 Baylor playing at 6:10 p.m. and No. 4 Florida State taking on No. 12 Murray State at 5:10 p.m. on Saturday.
A win by the Red Raiders would send the team to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in program history and for the second straight year for the first time.
Texas Tech enters the second round of the national tournament second in the country by limiting opponents to 36.9 percent shooting through 33 games and are fourth by holding teams to 59.2 points per game which ranks third nationally. The 15-point win by the Red Raiders over the Norse was the 20th double-digit win of the season and pushed the team's margin of victory up to 13.8. The Red Raiders, who will be playing on a Sunday for the first time this season, have held 12 opponents under 55 points this season, while on offense the team is scoring 73.1 points per game and is shooting 47.3 percent. Jarrett Culver was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and leads the Red Raiders with 18.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in his sophomore season. Davide Moretti leads the nation at 92.5 percent from the free-throw line and is shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 46.4 percent on 3-pointers. At 2.52 blocks per game, Tariq Owens ranks 12th statistically in the NCAA and his 83 blocks are the ninth most in the nation. Tech is shooting 36.7 percent on 3-pointers, a percentage nearly identical to the number they are limiting teams to from the field. Tech's opposition is shooting only 29.9 percent on 3-pointers after holding Northern Kentucky 5-for-22 (22.7 percent) on Friday. Â
The Red Raiders rank 14th in the nation with 5.0 blocks per game after having eight against NKU on Friday. The Red Raiders are 23rd with 15.7 turnovers forced per game with Matt Mooney averaging 1.72 per game which is second out of the Big 12. Owens has at least one blocked shot in every game this season, while Mooney is averaging 10.9 points per game and leads the team with 60 steals. As graduate transfers, Mooney and Owens are making their NCAA tournament debuts in their senior seasons while Culver, Moretti, Brandone Francis, Malik Ondigo, Avery Benson and Parker Hicks are back for the second straight season. Texas Tech's Norense Odiase and Andrew Sorrells are in their third NCAA appearance after also being a part of the 2016 team that earned a berth for the first time since 2007. Kyler Edwards, Deshawn Corprew and Josh Mballa are in their first season with the program and first appearances in the tournament.
POLLS: Texas Tech is at No. 10 in the NCAA NET Rankings, No. 9 in the Associated Press Top-25 and No. 10 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll after winning the program's first-ever Big 12 Conference regular-season championship. The Bulls are ranked No. 15 in the nation. The Red Raiders have now been ranked in the AP Top-25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll for 16 straight weeks after being unranked entering the season following last year's NCAA Elite Eight run. Tech first entered the AP poll in the fourth week of the season at No. 20 and climbed to No. 8 in Week 10. The highest ranking in program history came last season at No. 6.
AWARDS: Jarrett Culver (Big 12 Player of the Year, John R. Wooden Award Finalist, Jerry West Award Finalist, USBWA All-America 2nd Team, Sporting News All-America 2nd Team, All-Big 12 First-Team, NABC All-District, 3-time Big 12 Player of the Week, Big 12 All-Academic Team); Matt Mooney (All-Big 12 Second Team, All-Big 12 Newcomer Team, All-Big 12 Defensive Team); Davide Moretti (All-Big 12 Third-Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District, Academic All-Big 12); Tariq Owens (All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, All-Big 12 Defensive Team, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist); Andrew Sorrells, Avery Benson, Parker Hicks, Norense Odiase, Malik Ondigo (Academic All-Big 12); Chris Beard (Big 12 Coach of the Year; USBWA District Coach of the Year).
PLAYER NOTES: Jarrett Culver was named the first Big 12 Conference Player of the Year in program history and has also earned USBWA and Sporting News All-America honors in a season where he is averaging 18.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. A sophomore from Lubbock, Culver went off for 29 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists in the first-round win over Northern Kentucky on Friday. He enters the second round of the NCAA tournament having scored 1,037 career points after coming into Tulsa having recorded a career-high 31 in the regular-season finale at Iowa State and then his fourth double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals against West Virginia. Culver averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in last year's NCAA Elite Eight run, including scoring 11 points against Florida and Villanova. Culver had 11 points and nine rebounds against Florida to help propel the team to the Sweet 16. This season, he 10-for-17 from the field with three 3-pointers and also knocked down six free throws to help knock off the Norse. Culver is the first player to reach 1,000 points as a freshman-sophomore in program history and is the 42nd player in program history to reach the milestone. His 17.8 points per game in Big 12 play ranked as the program's fifth most. Culver was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week three times this season after he earned the award following his 31 points against ISU that followed 16 points and seven rebounds against Texas in the home finale. He won his second Big 12 weekly honor after going for 26 points against Kansas and followed it by recording his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Oklahoma State. Culver has led the team in scoring in 21 of 33 games and finished the conference campaign averaging 17.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and has 57 assists. Culver is a finalist for the Jerry West Award finalist and John R. Wooden Award along with being on the Oscar Robertson Trophy and Lute Olson Award watch lists. He was named to the Sporting News All-America second-team and earned Big 12 First Team to go along with his Player of the Year honor. He has scored in double figures in 32 of 33 games and is shooting 48.9 percent from the field overall and was 44.6 percent in Big 12 play. Culver had recorded a previous 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 for the first time this season after the performance and followed it by going to New York and scoring 25 points against Duke. Culver is averaging 23.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in March where he is shooting 50 percent from the field and also has 24 assists and 13 steals in those five games.
Davide Moretti was named an All-Big 12 Conference Third Team selection as one of the top shooters in the nation. He currently leads the nation by shooting 92.5 percent at the free-throw line where he has gone 86 of 93 this season. Moretti is shooting 50.0 percent from the field and a program-best 46.4 percent on 3-pointers to go along with his free-throw percentage. A coach's son from Italy, Moretti is averaging 11.5 points and 2.5 assists per game in his second season with the program. He scored 10 points and had five rebounds in the win over NKU on Friday. Moretti averaged 4.8 points per game during last year's NCAA tournament, including scoring seven in the Sweet 16 win over Purdue before going for seven more in the loss to Villanova. He scored 20 points with four 3-pointers at Iowa State in the regular season finale at Iowa State and has now scored in double figures in eight straight games. He hit two 3-pointers in the conference tournament quarterfinal to extend a 21-game streak of making a 3-pointer before going 0-for-4 against the Norse to have the streak end. He is now 22 of 23 from the free-throw line in the last seven games after missing one free throw in the first half on Friday to end a streak of 20 straight made free throws. He would go 2-for-2 in the second half to start a new streak. He led Texas Tech with 20 points after going 12-for-12 from the free-throw line and 2-for-2 on 3-pointers at Oklahoma State and followed it by scoring 15 points at TCU with three more 3-pointers. Moretti, who averaged 13.2 points and 2.7 assists in conference play, has made a 3-pointer in 28 of 32 games this season for the Red Raiders. Moretti recorded a career-high 21 points against Arkansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge after going 6-for-9 from the field with three 3-pointers. He shot 53.5 percent on 3-pointers in conference play and is 64-for-138 from beyond the arc this season. His 64 3-pointers are the most since Toddrick Gotcher hit 62 in the 2015-16 season, while the single-season record is 94 from Cory Carr who made 94 in the 1996-97 season. Moretti scored in double figures in 16 of 18 Big 12 games this season and now has 508 points through 70 games in his career. He has started all 33 games for the Red Raiders this season after making one start in 37 games played as a freshman. Moretti made a career-high five 3-pointers against MVSU in non-conference play.
After losing five seniors off last season's NCAA Elite Eight team, Texas Tech remained 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 was named to the All-Big 12 Second-Team, the Big 12 Newcomer Team and he and Owens were both selected for the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Owens was advanced to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award Semifinalist Watch List. Mooney and Owens were on the original list, making TTU the only team with two members on the original list of 15.
Owens went for 12 points and five blocked shots in the win over Northern Kentucky and has now recorded three or more blocks in five straight games to take his new single-season program record to 83 entering the second round of the national tournament. Owens was 6-for-7 from the field against the Norse and also had three rebounds. He also had a season-high 14 rebounds in the win over the Cyclones in the regular-season finale and then went for 14 points against WVU at the tournament. He would record his third double-double of the season by securing 13 rebounds at TCU where he also added 12 points in Fort Worth. Owens has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games and has averaged 9.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the last five games. He secured his second double-double of the season by scoring 12 points and adding 10 rebounds in the first matchup at Kansas and has at least one blocked shot in all 32 games this season. An Odenton, Maryland native, he had one of his best offensive games of the season after scoring 17 points in the first matchup against TCU where he was 7-for-9 from the field, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers in the first matchup between the two teams. Owens is averaging 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots going into the game against the Bulls. He had 43 blocks in Big 12 play and was fourth in the conference with a 60.2 shooting percentage. Owens, who led the BIG EAST in blocks the past two seasons while playing at St. John's, 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. He had a season-high 18 points against Southern Cal in Kansas City and recorded the team's first double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his eight-block performance against Memphis. Owens transferred to Tech after playing his freshman season at Tennessee and then two years at St. John's. He came to Lubbock with 179 blocked shots and now has 263 in his career.
Mooney established a new career-high with eight assists in the win over NKU and is averaging 10.9 points, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game for the Red Raiders. A graduate transfer, Mooney earned Big 12 Conference Second-Team honors along with being named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team. He arrived in Tulsa this weekend after a game against WVU where he hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points and five assists for the second straight game. He went for 13 points, four steals and five assists in the win over Iowa State in the regular-season finale and now has 51 assists in the past 11 game. His conference season has been highlighted by scoring a season-high 22 points at Texas where he was 8-for-10 from the field with three 3-pointers and scored in double-figures in 10 conference games this season. He now has three games in his collegiate career with five 3-pointers and has 39 3-pointers this season for the Red Raiders after making one against NKU where he finished with nine points. He now has 11 games with five assists or more, including seven games with six assists before his eight against the Norse. Through the 18 conference games, he averaged 11.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 3.1 assists per game in Big 12 play. 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 42.6 percent from the field this season, has scored in double figures in 18 games and leads the team with 60 steals after having five on Friday. He's had at least one steal in 28 of 33 games this season. Mooney transferred to Tech having recorded 1,480 points, 166 steals and 228 assists at Air Force and South Dakota. He now has 1,836 points, 226 steals and 342 assists in his collegiate career.
Odiase has made 106 career starts and played in 121 games as a Red Raider and is averaging 4.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 block per game in his senior season. The most veteran player in the program, Odiase scored the first four points in the win over NKU and also had two blocks in the game. He has played in six NCAA tournament games and has 13 rebounds in those games. He would record back-to-back double-digit rebounding performances with 11 rebounds at OU after having 10 against West Virginia in the regular season and then had a three-block performance against Texas to highlight his success down the stretch for the Red Raiders. Odiase also had five rebounds in the win over ISU in the regular-season finale to finish with nine conference games with five or more rebounds. He had a season-high nine points against the Mountaineers. The career resume boasts 559 rebounds, 601 points and 78 blocked shots in his career as a Red Raider that includes three trips the NCAA tournament. A Fort Worth native, Odiase is shooting 56.3 percent from the field. He had his first career-high 13 rebound performance in the win over Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 13 after a 10-rebound game 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 and finished with 91 rebounds and 20 blocks in conference play.
Francis made two 3s and finished with six points against the Norse and is now averaging 6.2 points and 1.5 assists per game in his senior season where he has made at least one 3-pointer in 24 games. He went for 12 points and four rebounds on his Senior Night after hitting two 3-pointers against Texas and followed it with two big second-half 3-pointers against ISU in the regular-season finale. After scoring five points in the loss to WVU, he now has 38 3-pointers on the season. A reserve in 32 of 33 games this season with an average of 23.7 minutes per game, Francis had a streak of seven straight games with a 3-pointer end at OSU but has made eight in the past five games. 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. Francis scored 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. He has scored 393 points in 70 games in his career for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech sophomore Deshawn Corprew is averaging 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game this season. He was 5-for-6 from the field with 12 points in the win at TCU and followed it by recording seven points and six rebounds in the win over Texas at the end of the regular season. He was coming off a game where he scored seven points against OSU and was 2-for-2 on 3-pointers against KU. During the last 11 games, Corprew is 25-for-42 from the field and 8-for-18 on 3-pointers. A transfer from South Plains College, he recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against UTRGV. Corprew, who made his only start of the season in that game 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. Kyler Edwards is averaging 5.2 points and 1.2 assists per game in his freshman season. He recorded a career-high six assists and added eight points in the win over OU and shot 32.4 on 3-pointers in conference play. He scored nine points in two conference games, first in the home game against KSU and then against Iowa State before going 3-for-3 from the field for eight points in Norman. A guard from Arlington, he has scored nine or more points in eight games this season and has recorded four double-digit scoring performances. Edwards recorded a career-high 19 points against Northern Colorado where he went 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers. Avery Benson scored a career-high five points against Baylor after recording a career-high three steals in 11 minutes against WVU, while Parker Hicks scored a career-high with five points against the Mountaineers. Hicks was 2-for-4 from the field, including hitting one of the eight 3-pointers by the Red Raiders in the 31-point win.
BUFFALO BULLS: Coming into the NCAA Tournament after winning the MAC regular-season and tournament championships, Buffalo opened its trip to Tulsa by running away with a win over Arizona State on Friday afternoon led by Jeremy Harris who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulls won their 13th straight game after shooting 51.7 percent from the field with 10 3-pointers and also owned a 42-26 rebounding advantage. Nick Perkins also scored 21 points as a reserve in the win over the Sun Devils and MAC Player of the Year added 18 points and six rebounds. Perkins earned MAC Sixth Man of the Year this season and comes into the matchup against the Red Raiders averaging 14.6 points per game and leading the Bulls with 7.3 rebounds per game.
Massinburg, a senior from Dallas, leads the team 18.3 points per game and has also added 102 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game. Harris is at 14.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in his senior season, while Dovanta Jordan leads the team with 128 assists. The Bulls average 85.1 points per game and have made 335 3-pointers this season after knocking down 10 on Friday in Tulsa. Nate Oats is in his fourth season leading the program and was named the MAC Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 16-2 conference record.
COVERING TECH: The Red Raiders and Bulls will be featured on TNT on Sunda with Brad Nessler, Steven Lavin and Jim Jackson calling the game. Evan Washburn will be reporting on the game for the network. 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.
NEW CONFERENCE RECORD: Texas Tech established a new program record by winning 14 conference games this season. The Red Raiders broke the previous mark of 11 games that was established last season and also set a new mark by winning nine conference games in a row. Before the last two seasons, Tech had recorded 10 conference wins in the 2004-05, 2001-02 and 1996-97 seasons.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and Buffalo will meet for the first time ever when they square off for a berth to the Sweet 16 on Sunday. The Red Raiders are 5-6 all-time against Mid-American Conference opponents.
COACH NOTES: Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has been named a Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Finalist and is now 72-30 in three seasons as the Red Raider coach. Beard was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year this season after earning the Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year last season and leading the program to its first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance in his second year. Under Beard, Tech is 50-5 at home and has secured a third seed in the national tournament in back-to-back seasons. Beard is 5-2 in the NCAA tournament after leading the Red Raiders to the Elite Eight last season and also guiding Little Rock to an 85-83 first-round win over Purdue on March 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. After Friday's win over NKU, Beard is 3-0 in first-round games at the tournament.
ELITE DEFENSE: Texas Tech has allowed only five opponents to score over 70 points and has limited 11 to under 55 points. Opponents are averaging just 63.3 points per game in the past 10 games and have been limited to 38.3 percent shooting from the field and 35.8 percent on 3-pointers. Texas was held to 29.6 percent shooting in Tech's home finale which made them the sixth opponent this season to shoot under 30 percent, while NKU was held to 37.1 percent to give the Red Raiders 20 opponents to shoot under 40 percent.Â
FAST STARTS: Texas Tech has led at halftime by double-digits in eight of its last 13 games: at TCU (+18), Oklahoma State (+10), Kansas (+25), Baylor (+13), at Oklahoma State (+19), at Oklahoma (+11), West Virginia (+15) and TCU (+16). The only discrepancies during the stretch is a four-point lead over the Norse, a nine-point hole against WVU at the Big 12 tournament, a two-point deficit at Iowa State, a nine-point lead over Texas and a 20-point halftime deficit at Kansas.
25-WIN MILESTONE: The Red Raiders have now won 25 games or more four times in program history and are a 27-win team for the second straight season. The program also won 25 games in the 1975-76 season and set the program record with 30 wins in the 1995-96 season. Tech reached the 20-win milestone with its victory over Oklahoma State and has now recorded 20 wins in a season 13 times in program history. The team went 27-10 last season and has back-to-back 20-win years for the first time since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 under head coach Bob Knight. We are in the midst of the only time in program history with two straight 27-win seasons.
MAINTAINING POSSESSION: Texas Tech has a plus-4.1 turnover margin advantage during the course of the last 10 games after forcing NKU to commit 17 turnovers and losing only 11. The Red Raiders have forced 140 turnovers by their opponents during those games and have only lost 99 possessions during the 10-game span. For the season, TTU has a plus-3.3 turnover margin advantage which was second in the Big 12 and is 24th nationally. Tech committed only nine turnovers at ISU, had seven against Texas and OSU and limited turnovers to eight against KU during a late-season stretch of wins. The team has 11 games with single-digit turnovers this season and had a season-low six turnovers in the non-conference win over Northern Colorado.
ROAD SHOW: Texas Tech went 6-3 on the road in conference play after earning wins at West Virginia, Texas, OU, OSU, TCU and Iowa State. The Red Raiders finished the regular-season 9-4 away from home, including wins over Southern Cal and Nebraska at the Sprint Center and over Memphis in Miami. The team is 4-2 in neutral court games coming into the matchup against Buffalo.
HOME DOMINANCE: Texas Tech matched a program record by going 17-1 at home this season and is 50-5 at home under Chris Beard the past three seasons. In Big 12 play, the Red Raiders finished the year with an 8-1 record on their home court this season and are 22-5 during the Beard era. Tech is currently 93-75 in conference play and 248-90 all-time at the United Supermarkets Arena since the first game on Nov. 19, 1999. The Red Raiders went 9-0 this season at home in non-conference play to extend a 47-game non-conference home winning streak. The Red Raiders pushed that total to 47 with a 67-64 win over Arkansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 26. They will go into next season on a seven-game home winning streak with the only loss this season coming in a 68-64 loss to Iowa State on Jan. 16.
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The Red Raiders (27-6) come into the game having won 12 of 14 games, while the Bulls (32-3) are on a 13-game winning streak after a pair of double-digit wins to start the national tournament in Tulsa. Tech advanced to its second consecutive round of 32 after earning a 72-57 first-round win over Northern Kentucky before Buffalo followed with a 91-74 victory over Arizona State on Friday. The Red Raiders and Bulls have never met before and will be playing for a berth to the NCAA Sweet 16 next weekend in Anaheim, California to face the No. 2 Michigan-No. 10 Florida winner. The other West Region matchups include No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 9 Baylor playing at 6:10 p.m. and No. 4 Florida State taking on No. 12 Murray State at 5:10 p.m. on Saturday.
A win by the Red Raiders would send the team to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in program history and for the second straight year for the first time.
Texas Tech enters the second round of the national tournament second in the country by limiting opponents to 36.9 percent shooting through 33 games and are fourth by holding teams to 59.2 points per game which ranks third nationally. The 15-point win by the Red Raiders over the Norse was the 20th double-digit win of the season and pushed the team's margin of victory up to 13.8. The Red Raiders, who will be playing on a Sunday for the first time this season, have held 12 opponents under 55 points this season, while on offense the team is scoring 73.1 points per game and is shooting 47.3 percent. Jarrett Culver was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and leads the Red Raiders with 18.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in his sophomore season. Davide Moretti leads the nation at 92.5 percent from the free-throw line and is shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 46.4 percent on 3-pointers. At 2.52 blocks per game, Tariq Owens ranks 12th statistically in the NCAA and his 83 blocks are the ninth most in the nation. Tech is shooting 36.7 percent on 3-pointers, a percentage nearly identical to the number they are limiting teams to from the field. Tech's opposition is shooting only 29.9 percent on 3-pointers after holding Northern Kentucky 5-for-22 (22.7 percent) on Friday. Â
The Red Raiders rank 14th in the nation with 5.0 blocks per game after having eight against NKU on Friday. The Red Raiders are 23rd with 15.7 turnovers forced per game with Matt Mooney averaging 1.72 per game which is second out of the Big 12. Owens has at least one blocked shot in every game this season, while Mooney is averaging 10.9 points per game and leads the team with 60 steals. As graduate transfers, Mooney and Owens are making their NCAA tournament debuts in their senior seasons while Culver, Moretti, Brandone Francis, Malik Ondigo, Avery Benson and Parker Hicks are back for the second straight season. Texas Tech's Norense Odiase and Andrew Sorrells are in their third NCAA appearance after also being a part of the 2016 team that earned a berth for the first time since 2007. Kyler Edwards, Deshawn Corprew and Josh Mballa are in their first season with the program and first appearances in the tournament.
POLLS: Texas Tech is at No. 10 in the NCAA NET Rankings, No. 9 in the Associated Press Top-25 and No. 10 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll after winning the program's first-ever Big 12 Conference regular-season championship. The Bulls are ranked No. 15 in the nation. The Red Raiders have now been ranked in the AP Top-25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll for 16 straight weeks after being unranked entering the season following last year's NCAA Elite Eight run. Tech first entered the AP poll in the fourth week of the season at No. 20 and climbed to No. 8 in Week 10. The highest ranking in program history came last season at No. 6.
AWARDS: Jarrett Culver (Big 12 Player of the Year, John R. Wooden Award Finalist, Jerry West Award Finalist, USBWA All-America 2nd Team, Sporting News All-America 2nd Team, All-Big 12 First-Team, NABC All-District, 3-time Big 12 Player of the Week, Big 12 All-Academic Team); Matt Mooney (All-Big 12 Second Team, All-Big 12 Newcomer Team, All-Big 12 Defensive Team); Davide Moretti (All-Big 12 Third-Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District, Academic All-Big 12); Tariq Owens (All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, All-Big 12 Defensive Team, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist); Andrew Sorrells, Avery Benson, Parker Hicks, Norense Odiase, Malik Ondigo (Academic All-Big 12); Chris Beard (Big 12 Coach of the Year; USBWA District Coach of the Year).
PLAYER NOTES: Jarrett Culver was named the first Big 12 Conference Player of the Year in program history and has also earned USBWA and Sporting News All-America honors in a season where he is averaging 18.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. A sophomore from Lubbock, Culver went off for 29 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists in the first-round win over Northern Kentucky on Friday. He enters the second round of the NCAA tournament having scored 1,037 career points after coming into Tulsa having recorded a career-high 31 in the regular-season finale at Iowa State and then his fourth double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals against West Virginia. Culver averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in last year's NCAA Elite Eight run, including scoring 11 points against Florida and Villanova. Culver had 11 points and nine rebounds against Florida to help propel the team to the Sweet 16. This season, he 10-for-17 from the field with three 3-pointers and also knocked down six free throws to help knock off the Norse. Culver is the first player to reach 1,000 points as a freshman-sophomore in program history and is the 42nd player in program history to reach the milestone. His 17.8 points per game in Big 12 play ranked as the program's fifth most. Culver was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week three times this season after he earned the award following his 31 points against ISU that followed 16 points and seven rebounds against Texas in the home finale. He won his second Big 12 weekly honor after going for 26 points against Kansas and followed it by recording his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Oklahoma State. Culver has led the team in scoring in 21 of 33 games and finished the conference campaign averaging 17.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and has 57 assists. Culver is a finalist for the Jerry West Award finalist and John R. Wooden Award along with being on the Oscar Robertson Trophy and Lute Olson Award watch lists. He was named to the Sporting News All-America second-team and earned Big 12 First Team to go along with his Player of the Year honor. He has scored in double figures in 32 of 33 games and is shooting 48.9 percent from the field overall and was 44.6 percent in Big 12 play. Culver had recorded a previous 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 for the first time this season after the performance and followed it by going to New York and scoring 25 points against Duke. Culver is averaging 23.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in March where he is shooting 50 percent from the field and also has 24 assists and 13 steals in those five games.
Davide Moretti was named an All-Big 12 Conference Third Team selection as one of the top shooters in the nation. He currently leads the nation by shooting 92.5 percent at the free-throw line where he has gone 86 of 93 this season. Moretti is shooting 50.0 percent from the field and a program-best 46.4 percent on 3-pointers to go along with his free-throw percentage. A coach's son from Italy, Moretti is averaging 11.5 points and 2.5 assists per game in his second season with the program. He scored 10 points and had five rebounds in the win over NKU on Friday. Moretti averaged 4.8 points per game during last year's NCAA tournament, including scoring seven in the Sweet 16 win over Purdue before going for seven more in the loss to Villanova. He scored 20 points with four 3-pointers at Iowa State in the regular season finale at Iowa State and has now scored in double figures in eight straight games. He hit two 3-pointers in the conference tournament quarterfinal to extend a 21-game streak of making a 3-pointer before going 0-for-4 against the Norse to have the streak end. He is now 22 of 23 from the free-throw line in the last seven games after missing one free throw in the first half on Friday to end a streak of 20 straight made free throws. He would go 2-for-2 in the second half to start a new streak. He led Texas Tech with 20 points after going 12-for-12 from the free-throw line and 2-for-2 on 3-pointers at Oklahoma State and followed it by scoring 15 points at TCU with three more 3-pointers. Moretti, who averaged 13.2 points and 2.7 assists in conference play, has made a 3-pointer in 28 of 32 games this season for the Red Raiders. Moretti recorded a career-high 21 points against Arkansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge after going 6-for-9 from the field with three 3-pointers. He shot 53.5 percent on 3-pointers in conference play and is 64-for-138 from beyond the arc this season. His 64 3-pointers are the most since Toddrick Gotcher hit 62 in the 2015-16 season, while the single-season record is 94 from Cory Carr who made 94 in the 1996-97 season. Moretti scored in double figures in 16 of 18 Big 12 games this season and now has 508 points through 70 games in his career. He has started all 33 games for the Red Raiders this season after making one start in 37 games played as a freshman. Moretti made a career-high five 3-pointers against MVSU in non-conference play.
After losing five seniors off last season's NCAA Elite Eight team, Texas Tech remained 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 was named to the All-Big 12 Second-Team, the Big 12 Newcomer Team and he and Owens were both selected for the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Owens was advanced to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award Semifinalist Watch List. Mooney and Owens were on the original list, making TTU the only team with two members on the original list of 15.
Owens went for 12 points and five blocked shots in the win over Northern Kentucky and has now recorded three or more blocks in five straight games to take his new single-season program record to 83 entering the second round of the national tournament. Owens was 6-for-7 from the field against the Norse and also had three rebounds. He also had a season-high 14 rebounds in the win over the Cyclones in the regular-season finale and then went for 14 points against WVU at the tournament. He would record his third double-double of the season by securing 13 rebounds at TCU where he also added 12 points in Fort Worth. Owens has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games and has averaged 9.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the last five games. He secured his second double-double of the season by scoring 12 points and adding 10 rebounds in the first matchup at Kansas and has at least one blocked shot in all 32 games this season. An Odenton, Maryland native, he had one of his best offensive games of the season after scoring 17 points in the first matchup against TCU where he was 7-for-9 from the field, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers in the first matchup between the two teams. Owens is averaging 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots going into the game against the Bulls. He had 43 blocks in Big 12 play and was fourth in the conference with a 60.2 shooting percentage. Owens, who led the BIG EAST in blocks the past two seasons while playing at St. John's, 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. He had a season-high 18 points against Southern Cal in Kansas City and recorded the team's first double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his eight-block performance against Memphis. Owens transferred to Tech after playing his freshman season at Tennessee and then two years at St. John's. He came to Lubbock with 179 blocked shots and now has 263 in his career.
Mooney established a new career-high with eight assists in the win over NKU and is averaging 10.9 points, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game for the Red Raiders. A graduate transfer, Mooney earned Big 12 Conference Second-Team honors along with being named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team. He arrived in Tulsa this weekend after a game against WVU where he hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points and five assists for the second straight game. He went for 13 points, four steals and five assists in the win over Iowa State in the regular-season finale and now has 51 assists in the past 11 game. His conference season has been highlighted by scoring a season-high 22 points at Texas where he was 8-for-10 from the field with three 3-pointers and scored in double-figures in 10 conference games this season. He now has three games in his collegiate career with five 3-pointers and has 39 3-pointers this season for the Red Raiders after making one against NKU where he finished with nine points. He now has 11 games with five assists or more, including seven games with six assists before his eight against the Norse. Through the 18 conference games, he averaged 11.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 3.1 assists per game in Big 12 play. 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 42.6 percent from the field this season, has scored in double figures in 18 games and leads the team with 60 steals after having five on Friday. He's had at least one steal in 28 of 33 games this season. Mooney transferred to Tech having recorded 1,480 points, 166 steals and 228 assists at Air Force and South Dakota. He now has 1,836 points, 226 steals and 342 assists in his collegiate career.
Odiase has made 106 career starts and played in 121 games as a Red Raider and is averaging 4.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 block per game in his senior season. The most veteran player in the program, Odiase scored the first four points in the win over NKU and also had two blocks in the game. He has played in six NCAA tournament games and has 13 rebounds in those games. He would record back-to-back double-digit rebounding performances with 11 rebounds at OU after having 10 against West Virginia in the regular season and then had a three-block performance against Texas to highlight his success down the stretch for the Red Raiders. Odiase also had five rebounds in the win over ISU in the regular-season finale to finish with nine conference games with five or more rebounds. He had a season-high nine points against the Mountaineers. The career resume boasts 559 rebounds, 601 points and 78 blocked shots in his career as a Red Raider that includes three trips the NCAA tournament. A Fort Worth native, Odiase is shooting 56.3 percent from the field. He had his first career-high 13 rebound performance in the win over Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 13 after a 10-rebound game 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 and finished with 91 rebounds and 20 blocks in conference play.
Francis made two 3s and finished with six points against the Norse and is now averaging 6.2 points and 1.5 assists per game in his senior season where he has made at least one 3-pointer in 24 games. He went for 12 points and four rebounds on his Senior Night after hitting two 3-pointers against Texas and followed it with two big second-half 3-pointers against ISU in the regular-season finale. After scoring five points in the loss to WVU, he now has 38 3-pointers on the season. A reserve in 32 of 33 games this season with an average of 23.7 minutes per game, Francis had a streak of seven straight games with a 3-pointer end at OSU but has made eight in the past five games. 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. Francis scored 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. He has scored 393 points in 70 games in his career for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech sophomore Deshawn Corprew is averaging 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game this season. He was 5-for-6 from the field with 12 points in the win at TCU and followed it by recording seven points and six rebounds in the win over Texas at the end of the regular season. He was coming off a game where he scored seven points against OSU and was 2-for-2 on 3-pointers against KU. During the last 11 games, Corprew is 25-for-42 from the field and 8-for-18 on 3-pointers. A transfer from South Plains College, he recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against UTRGV. Corprew, who made his only start of the season in that game 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. Kyler Edwards is averaging 5.2 points and 1.2 assists per game in his freshman season. He recorded a career-high six assists and added eight points in the win over OU and shot 32.4 on 3-pointers in conference play. He scored nine points in two conference games, first in the home game against KSU and then against Iowa State before going 3-for-3 from the field for eight points in Norman. A guard from Arlington, he has scored nine or more points in eight games this season and has recorded four double-digit scoring performances. Edwards recorded a career-high 19 points against Northern Colorado where he went 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers. Avery Benson scored a career-high five points against Baylor after recording a career-high three steals in 11 minutes against WVU, while Parker Hicks scored a career-high with five points against the Mountaineers. Hicks was 2-for-4 from the field, including hitting one of the eight 3-pointers by the Red Raiders in the 31-point win.
BUFFALO BULLS: Coming into the NCAA Tournament after winning the MAC regular-season and tournament championships, Buffalo opened its trip to Tulsa by running away with a win over Arizona State on Friday afternoon led by Jeremy Harris who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulls won their 13th straight game after shooting 51.7 percent from the field with 10 3-pointers and also owned a 42-26 rebounding advantage. Nick Perkins also scored 21 points as a reserve in the win over the Sun Devils and MAC Player of the Year added 18 points and six rebounds. Perkins earned MAC Sixth Man of the Year this season and comes into the matchup against the Red Raiders averaging 14.6 points per game and leading the Bulls with 7.3 rebounds per game.
Massinburg, a senior from Dallas, leads the team 18.3 points per game and has also added 102 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game. Harris is at 14.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in his senior season, while Dovanta Jordan leads the team with 128 assists. The Bulls average 85.1 points per game and have made 335 3-pointers this season after knocking down 10 on Friday in Tulsa. Nate Oats is in his fourth season leading the program and was named the MAC Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 16-2 conference record.
COVERING TECH: The Red Raiders and Bulls will be featured on TNT on Sunda with Brad Nessler, Steven Lavin and Jim Jackson calling the game. Evan Washburn will be reporting on the game for the network. 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.
NEW CONFERENCE RECORD: Texas Tech established a new program record by winning 14 conference games this season. The Red Raiders broke the previous mark of 11 games that was established last season and also set a new mark by winning nine conference games in a row. Before the last two seasons, Tech had recorded 10 conference wins in the 2004-05, 2001-02 and 1996-97 seasons.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and Buffalo will meet for the first time ever when they square off for a berth to the Sweet 16 on Sunday. The Red Raiders are 5-6 all-time against Mid-American Conference opponents.
COACH NOTES: Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has been named a Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Finalist and is now 72-30 in three seasons as the Red Raider coach. Beard was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year this season after earning the Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year last season and leading the program to its first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance in his second year. Under Beard, Tech is 50-5 at home and has secured a third seed in the national tournament in back-to-back seasons. Beard is 5-2 in the NCAA tournament after leading the Red Raiders to the Elite Eight last season and also guiding Little Rock to an 85-83 first-round win over Purdue on March 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. After Friday's win over NKU, Beard is 3-0 in first-round games at the tournament.
ELITE DEFENSE: Texas Tech has allowed only five opponents to score over 70 points and has limited 11 to under 55 points. Opponents are averaging just 63.3 points per game in the past 10 games and have been limited to 38.3 percent shooting from the field and 35.8 percent on 3-pointers. Texas was held to 29.6 percent shooting in Tech's home finale which made them the sixth opponent this season to shoot under 30 percent, while NKU was held to 37.1 percent to give the Red Raiders 20 opponents to shoot under 40 percent.Â
FAST STARTS: Texas Tech has led at halftime by double-digits in eight of its last 13 games: at TCU (+18), Oklahoma State (+10), Kansas (+25), Baylor (+13), at Oklahoma State (+19), at Oklahoma (+11), West Virginia (+15) and TCU (+16). The only discrepancies during the stretch is a four-point lead over the Norse, a nine-point hole against WVU at the Big 12 tournament, a two-point deficit at Iowa State, a nine-point lead over Texas and a 20-point halftime deficit at Kansas.
25-WIN MILESTONE: The Red Raiders have now won 25 games or more four times in program history and are a 27-win team for the second straight season. The program also won 25 games in the 1975-76 season and set the program record with 30 wins in the 1995-96 season. Tech reached the 20-win milestone with its victory over Oklahoma State and has now recorded 20 wins in a season 13 times in program history. The team went 27-10 last season and has back-to-back 20-win years for the first time since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 under head coach Bob Knight. We are in the midst of the only time in program history with two straight 27-win seasons.
MAINTAINING POSSESSION: Texas Tech has a plus-4.1 turnover margin advantage during the course of the last 10 games after forcing NKU to commit 17 turnovers and losing only 11. The Red Raiders have forced 140 turnovers by their opponents during those games and have only lost 99 possessions during the 10-game span. For the season, TTU has a plus-3.3 turnover margin advantage which was second in the Big 12 and is 24th nationally. Tech committed only nine turnovers at ISU, had seven against Texas and OSU and limited turnovers to eight against KU during a late-season stretch of wins. The team has 11 games with single-digit turnovers this season and had a season-low six turnovers in the non-conference win over Northern Colorado.
ROAD SHOW: Texas Tech went 6-3 on the road in conference play after earning wins at West Virginia, Texas, OU, OSU, TCU and Iowa State. The Red Raiders finished the regular-season 9-4 away from home, including wins over Southern Cal and Nebraska at the Sprint Center and over Memphis in Miami. The team is 4-2 in neutral court games coming into the matchup against Buffalo.
HOME DOMINANCE: Texas Tech matched a program record by going 17-1 at home this season and is 50-5 at home under Chris Beard the past three seasons. In Big 12 play, the Red Raiders finished the year with an 8-1 record on their home court this season and are 22-5 during the Beard era. Tech is currently 93-75 in conference play and 248-90 all-time at the United Supermarkets Arena since the first game on Nov. 19, 1999. The Red Raiders went 9-0 this season at home in non-conference play to extend a 47-game non-conference home winning streak. The Red Raiders pushed that total to 47 with a 67-64 win over Arkansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 26. They will go into next season on a seven-game home winning streak with the only loss this season coming in a 68-64 loss to Iowa State on Jan. 16.
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— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 23, 2019
Now you know.#4To1 | #MarchMadness
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Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballFind A Way - Episode 5
Monday, September 29
McCasland Media Session
Wednesday, September 24
Find A Way - Episode 4
Monday, September 22
Find A Way - Episode 3
Wednesday, September 17