RECAP: No. 8 Red Raiders 70, Texas 51

Monday, March 4

Lubbock, Texas

8 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

25-5, 13-4

Texas

16-14, 8-9

Texas

Texas Tech

March 05, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score HIGHLIGHTS PRESS CONFERENCE

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Big 12 Conference regular-season title will come down to the final day of the season after No. 8 Texas Tech earned a 70-51 win over Texas on Senior Night at the United Supermarkets Arena and No. 18 Kansas State won on the road at TCU on Monday as the teams remain tied atop the standings going into Saturday.

The Red Raiders (25-5, 13-4 Big 12) extended their winning streak to eight games, improved to 17-1 at home for the second straight season and are in position to win their first conference regular-season title since earning a Southwest Conference championship in 1996. Tech held an opponent under 55 points for the 12th time this season and under 30 percent shooting for the sixth after limiting the Longhorns (16-14, 8-9 Big 12) to only 29.6 percent shooting on the night. After 17 rounds of the Big 12 Conference fight, a win at Iowa State would clinch at least a share of the conference title.

"It feels great, honestly," TTU senior Norense Odiase said. "We have worked so hard for this moment to be 40 minutes away from the championship. We just lock in every possession, every practice, and every walk through. It is paying off right now, so it feels good."

Texas Tech will now travel to play the Cyclones at 1 p.m. on Saturday in its regular-season finale, KSU hosts Oklahoma at 5 p.m. on Saturday and No. 13 Kansas (11-5) plays Baylor in Lawrence on the final day of the season after its game against Oklahoma on Tuesday.

"This is what it's all about," said Chris Beard, who improved to 50-5 at home in three seasons as Tech's head coach. "This is the thing we talk about. We always want to be a part of the fight. You want to be trying to play your best basketball during March. Of course I want to coach all of March and into April. This is what we are here for. I am so proud of our players."

Texas Tech honored its senior class of Odiase, Brandone Francis, Tariq Owens and Matt Mooney along with Andrew Sorrells who will be graduating in May before the game. Odiase has now been a part of 102 wins during his five years at Tech and would finish with three blocked shots to help lead the team to the win. Each senior scored and would combine for 36 points in the 19-point win to close out their careers on their home court.

"That's one of the most rewarding things as a coach," Beard said. "It's obviously about trying to win games and championships but there's another more important side. Let's talk about these five guys, each one of them has their degree, three of them are working towards their graduate degrees, just all unselfish guys."

Jarrett Culver led the Red Raiders with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Matt Mooney had 15 points, Brandone Francis added 12 to lead the reserves and Davide Moretti went for 11 points after going 3-for-3 on 3-pointers. Texas Tech senior Tariq Owens established a new single-season program record after having three blocks and now has 72 on the season to pass Tony Battie who had held the record since 1996-97. Owens has recorded a block in every game this season and would also have five rebounds and two steals in the win.

Texas Tech led 32-23 at halftime to jump out to its eighth straight double-digit halftime lead after shooting 14-for-26 (53.8 percent) from the field and limiting the Longhorns to only 29.6 percent from the field and 2-for-9 on 3-pointers. Mooney led the Red Raiders at halftime with 11 points after going 5-for-7 from the field in the opening 20 minutes and Deshawn Corprew added seven points and six rebounds. Corprew finished the game with that same stat line that helped the Red Raiders own a 22-15 advantage in bench scoring.

The Red Raiders, who are now outscoring opponents by a 14.6 margin this season and by a 20.4 margin during the eight-game winning streak, had a 15-point lead on a jumper by Mooney with 1:30 remaining in the first half and took a 50-34 lead on a Francis 3-pointer midway through the second half. Tech's lead hit 20 for the first time in the game with Culver hitting a 3-pointer with 8:38 remaining and the largest advantage of the game was at 21 when Andrew Sorrells hit another 3 in the final minute of play. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 9-for-18 from beyond the arc and was 11-for-16 at the free-throw line.

Moretti is now 11-for-15 on 3-pointers in the past four games and leads the team with 58 3-pointers this season at a 47.2 percentage. Moretti, who leads the nation by shooting 93.0 percent on free throws, didn't get to the line in the game. Culver scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and has now scored in double-digits in 28 of 30 games and leads the team with 17.9 points per game. He also now has 110 assists this season going into the regular-season finale.

Texas Tech swept the season series over the Longhorns for the first time since 1996 and had their largest margin of victory over them since earning 29-point and 30-point wins back in 1984. The Red Raiders have now won four straight over Texas after also taking a 68-62 victory earlier this season in Austin. Tech's eight-game conference winning streak extends the program record and the Red Raiders are now a win in Ames away from securing at least a share of their first Big 12 Conference regular-season title in program history. Beard is now 70-29 overall in his three seasons as the team's head coach and earned his 100th victory as a NCAA Division I head coach after leading Little Rock to a 30-5 record in the 2015-16 season before returning to Lubbock.

8?? in a row.

1??3?? Big 12 wins.

2??-0?? in March.

Let's keep this train rolling. #4To1

??#WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/OrbkDNaY8Q
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 5, 2019

QUOTES
Chris Beard
On the growth and maturing of the 5 graduating senior:
"That's one of the most rewarding things as a coach. It's obviously about trying to win games and championships but there's another more important side. Let's talk about these five guys, each one of them has their degree, three of them are working towards their graduate degrees, just all unselfish guys. I told the team after the game, we have things we believe in, our process and our culture. When we shoot, if you miss two shots in a row you hold yourself accountable, it's a pushup or jumping jack. I was watching practice today and Andrew misses two good shots in a row and then goes over and does a push up when nobody is looking, that's culture, that's discipline. The world is going to talk about Keenan Evans, but people like Andrew are just as important."

We've got a new #TexasTech BLOCK record. @Sneaky_Bounce with three already against Texas and passes Tony Battie in the Red Raider record book. #4To1

??#WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/sFE7bNvTI3
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 5, 2019

On the team's defense against Texas:
"It means a lot coming from Shaka I have a lot of respect for him and what he does there. I think tonight was a great example that they came up with a game plan gave us all we could handle and we found a way to separate a little bit in the second half but defense is our identity, it's our DNA, its no surprise, its what we recruit to, practice for, embrace and teach, demand, execute. When our team plays defense like we did tonight we are more than competitive.
On the team's position after tonight:
"This is what it's all about. This is the thing we talk about. We always want to be a part of the fight. You want to be trying to play your best basketball during March. Of course I want to coach all of March and into April. This is what we are here for. I am so proud of our players."

Norense Odiase
On winning tonight's game:
"It feels great, honestly. We have worked so hard for this moment to be 40 minutes away from the championship. Just every possession has been tough for us. We just lock in every possession, every practice, and every walk through. It is paying off right now, so it feels good."

On having his family's support at tonight's game:
"It was amazing. Obviously I am leaning on my family and my family here at Tech to bring me up. Also, I just want to thank you guys for the so many letters that people have written. All I can do is show my gratitude and how thankful I am for everybody. I try to return all the letters that I receive, but I am just telling you that I really appreciate it in more ways than I can really express. It has been hard but I am leaning on these guys and these fans and community to get me by."

On being close to earning the championship title:
"It feels great but we know that you can't take any game for granted. This was a huge game and every game is gets bigger, so we will be locked in. We definitely will be ready to play this game because all we have to do is win one and all of our dreams will come true."

On playing for coach Chris Beard:
"I love it. Whenever you get a tough nose coach that is really about his players, he never stops getting on you about anything. Even after this game he will keep pushing. I like that obviously. I am not going to relax and the other guys are not going to relax. It makes you better and gets you to this point. We are one game away to being the champions, so it is special."

On how the team is playing:
"We are playing our best ball, but I didn't know that we had an eight game streak. Honestly, I just have been taking it one day at a time. Especially with this game coming up. Everyone else looks at the bigger picture, but we look at each game and each opponent. That is how we got to this point"

Brandone Francis
On the win over Texas in the home finale:
"I just very fortunate and grateful. As you can tell I don't even want to take my jersey off right now. I'll probably go to sleep with it on. It has been a dream of mine to play for coach Beard and for my teammates. Norense is the older guy that we respect and he is one of my all-time favorite players. Lubbock is a great place. If I had a chance to do it again, I would think twice about it."

On having his mom in the crowd tonight:
"It was very special. I was trying to not think about it as much, but it is my mom and I haven't seen her in a long time. I cannot that coach (Beard) and the whole Texas Tech staff for making it happen. I was very special and I am happy that we got the win tonight. It has been three years. You know I have just been thankful for the people around me. I am just trying to get my own because that is how I am going to pay them back."

On playing for the last time at the USA:
"There was a lot of emotions going throughout the whole program. We know that we have to go out there and play good basketball, and I think we did a great job taking care of the ball. I think that our chemistry is super amazing on and off the court. It starts at the top with coach Beard. To be honest, I just felt like after the game we just lock in and focused on basketball, but it was great. It was a great experience."