PREVIEW: Iowa State

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 23 Texas Tech is back on its home court when it hosts Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday in a matchup of last year's Big 12 regular-season and tournament champions at the United Supermarkets Arena following splitting a two-game road trip.

The Red Raiders (11-5, 2-2 Big 12) are coming off a 77-63 win at Kansas State on Tuesday, while the Cyclones (8-8, 1-3 Big 12) took a 68-55 loss to No. 2 Baylor on Wednesday in Waco. The two programs have split their last four meetings. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday for all fans.

Texas Tech is 17th nationally in assists with 16.6 per game and leads the Big 12 with 266 total assists, 17.25 turnovers forced and 255 free throws made. The team is second in the conference with a 1.21 assist-to-turnover ratio, 75.2 free-throw percentage and 338 free throws attempted. The Red Raiders are 28th nationally with a 3.5 turnover margin and 36th with an 11.7 scoring margin that includes a 35-point win over Oklahoma State in the conference opener for the largest margin of victory in a Big 12 game in program history. Scoring 73.9 points per game has the team third in the conference coming into the game against the Cyclones who are second in the Big 12 by scoring 76.9 points per game and with a 45.4 shooting percentage.

With a 73.5 winning percentage (183-66) as a NCAA coach, Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has the eighth best percentage among active coaches and is 87-36 at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are led in scoring by freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey (16.3 ppg.) who is fifth in the conference and graduate transfer Chris Clarke who is at 8.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game which both rank in the top-10. Clarke is currently 31st nationally in assists and 28th with a 2.58 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Davide Moretti is ninth nationally with a 91.2 percentage at the free-throw line.

The Red Raiders are currently 8-1 on their home court this season and 58-6 at home under Beard. Tech had a 15-game home winning streak end with its 57-52 loss against Baylor in its last home game. The program maintains a 54-game non-conference home winning streak going into next week's game against Kentucky which ranks second in the nation behind Butler which owns a 58-game streak. Tech has not lost back-to-back home games since the 2015-16 season.

POLL REPORT: Texas Tech is nationally ranked for the fifth straight week after being slotted No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 along with coming in at No. 36 in the NCAA NET Rankings. Tech, which was at No. 22 in last week's poll, dropped one spot following losses to No. 2 Baylor and No. 12 West Virginia last week. The team has now been ranked in nine of 11 polls this season, including starting at No. 13 in the preseason ranking for the highest point in program history following its run to the NCAA National Championship Final last season.

GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Iowa State will be broadcasted on ESPNU with Ted Emrich and Robbie Hummel and on the Texas Tech Sports Network's flagship station Double T 97.3 in Lubbock with Geoff Haxton and Chris Level. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the ESPN app and can follow the game at @TexasTechMBB.

SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech and Iowa State split last year's season series with the road team winning and have split the past two seasons. The Cyclones own a 20-15 advantage in the all-time series with the Red Raiders owning a 10-6 advantage in Lubbock. ISU is 4-2 against Tech in the Beard era.

PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 91 games (69 wins) with the Red Raiders, dynamic freshmen and graduate transfers Chris Clarke and TJ Holyfield who bring experience to a team that lost four starters and the leading reserve off last year's historic team. Moretti is averaging 13.1 points per game this season after dropping 14 on Kansas State and leading the team with 16 at West Virginia. A junior from Italy, Moretti is a 40.1 shooter from beyond the arc in his career having made 134 through 91 career games. He is the active NCAA leader at the free-throw line at 91.1 percent (173 of 190) and is currently leading the conference this season at 91.2 percent having made 52 of 57 free throws after going 5-for-6 at KSU. Moretti scored a career-high 23 points earlier this season against Creighton where he was 8-for-19 from the field with three 3-pointers. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 14 of 16 games this season and is 7 of 15 in the past three games after knocking down four at WVU last Saturday. He has scored in double figures in 12 games this season and is shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 37.6 percent on 3-pointers and is averaging 2.3 assists per game. Moretti was named to the All-Big 12 Third Team as a sophomore where he started all 38 games and averaged 11.5 points per game. He is currently eighth in the Big 12 with his 35 made 3-pointers this season.

Jahmi'us Ramsey leads the Red Raiders and is fifth in the Big 12 by scoring 16.3 points per game this season after going for 10 at Kansas State. A freshman from Arlington, Ramsey leads the conference by shooting 44.8 percent on 3-pointers this season (30 of 67). He has two games this season with five 3-pointers, including hitting five against Baylor where he finished with 20 points. Ramsey has scored in double figures in 10 of 12 games he's played in, including scoring a career-high 27 points in a win over Long Island after dropping 25 against Houston Baptist. In his 27-point performance, Ramsey was 10 of 16 from the field with five 3-pointers and would be named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. Prior to the start of the season he was named an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection following a stellar prep career where he helped Duncanville HS to the Class 6A State Championship. Ramsey missed four games this season due to a hamstring injury he suffered with 10 minutes remaining against Iowa and returned on Dec. 21 against UTRGV where he scored 15 points. He is currently averaging 5.1 rebounds per game to go along with his team-leading scoring production.

For a season, Texas Tech has only been led in scoring by two freshmen with Jordan Tolbert averaging 11.5 points per game in the 2011-12 season and Rick Bullock who had 13.8 ppg. in 1972-73.

Kyler Edwards is coming off scoring a career-high 24 points at Kansas State after a career-best nine rebounds at West Virginia last Saturday. A sophomore from Arlington, he comes into the game against Iowa State averaging 11.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game for the Red Raiders. Against KSU, Edwards finished the game shooting 9 of 14 from the field which included going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers. He has now led the Red Raiders in scoring in two games this season and has scored in double figures in nine game. Edwards, who provided four blocked shots against Baylor and scored 10 points, had a previous career-high of 20 points earlier this season against CSU Bakersfield where he also had three 3-pointers. As freshman last season, Edwards had a season-high 19 points after going 7-for-7 from the field with a career-high four 3-pointers against Northern Colorado and also scored 12 points in the NCAA National Championship Final against Virginia. He played a reserve role in all 38 games last season and has started all 16 this year. He has scored 390 points and secured 157 rebounds through 54 games in his career. Edwards has helped Texas Tech to a 42-12 record in his two seasons in Lubbock.

Chris Clarke is currently second in the Big 12 with 5.81 assists per game and seventh in rebounding at 8.44 per game following providing eight points, eight rebounds and four assists in the win at KSU. A grad transfer from Virginia Tech, Clarke is averaging 6.9 points per game this season with a season-high 17 against Creighton. He leads the Red Raiders with two double-doubles coming with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa and then 14 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Miss. Clarke had a career-high 11 assists in the win over Houston Baptist and a season-high 12 rebounds against Tennessee State and Louisville. He has played in 95 games in his career and had a career-high 16 rebounds while at Virginia Tech against UAB. Clarke comes into the matchup against the Cyclones with a career resume of 839 points, 652 rebounds and 303 assists. At his current assist rate, he ranks fourth in program history with John Roberson leading the category with 6.42 assists per game during the 2008-09 season.

TJ Holyfield comes into the game against Iowa State averaging 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game this season and having played and started in 117 games in his career. A grad transfer who started his career with three seasons at SFA, Holyfield has scored 1,223 points and has 672 rebounds in his career. He scored a season-high 21 points against Houston Baptist after scoring 20 against Bethune-Cookman during a two-game span where he shot 17 of 22 from the field and earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. An Albuquerque, New Mexico native, Holyfield has secured five or more rebounds in 11 of 16 games with a season-high nine rebounds against UTRGV. In the Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State he would provide 17 points, seven rebounds and a season-best three blocked shots. He currently leads the Red Raiders with 14 blocks this season and is coming off a game against KSU where he scored six points and had five rebounds.

Terrence Shannon, Jr., who has missed the past two games against KSU and WVU due to injury, is averaging 11.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Red Raiders through 14 where he had started each game. He led the Red Raiders with seven rebounds against Baylor after a game against Oklahoma State where he scored 13 points and had five rebounds. Shannon leads Tech 53 free throws made which ranks fourth in the conference and his 84.1 percentage is sixth. He scored a career-high 24 points at DePaul in the team's only true road game to this point after going 9 of 18 from the field and also hitting four free throws. Shannon was limited to four points against Baylor for his lowest scoring performance in a season where he has scored in double digits in eight games. A guard from Chicago, Shannon also added eight rebounds in his hometown return against DePaul to start a streak of four straight double-figure scoring performances. He finished the game on Saturday against Oklahoma State going 5 of 7 from the field and provided five rebounds. He had a season-high nine rebounds against Iowa in Las Vegas and was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line against Southern Miss where he scored 18 points. Shannon leads the Red Raiders with 53 free throws made and is shooting 84.1 on free-throws this season.

Avery Benson and Kevin McCullar have provided the Red Raiders a spark from the bench through 15 games of the season. Benson is averaging 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game after scoring five at WVU after having a career-high 10 points in the win over then-No. 1 ranked Louisville where he hit the first shot of the game for the Red Raiders with a 3-pointer and also had a blocked shot at the halftime buzzer. Along with scoring five points with one 3-pointer against the Mountaineers, Benson pulled down four rebounds and matched a career-high with three steals on Saturday. A redshirt sophomore from Arkansas, Benson finished the game against the Cardinals shooting 3 of 3 from the field and is currently shooting 50-percent for the season. He played in 20 games last season during the historic run and has played in all 16 this season. McCullar scored 10 points for the third time this season on Tuesday at Kansas State where he was 3-for-6 from the field and 4-for-7 at the free-throw line. He also matched a career-high with five rebounds against the Wildcats after having four rebounds and six points at West Virginia. A redshirt freshman from San Antonio, McCullar is averaging 4.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game through 16 games played this season. He also had 10 points in the win over Long Island and had a career-high five rebounds in the win over Louisville at Madison Square Garden.

Texas Tech is currently 8-2 with the starting rotation of Holyfield, Moretti, Edwards, Shannon and Ramsey. The starting five of Holyfield, Clarke, Moretti, Edwards and Ramsey has started the past two games with Shannon sidelined with his injury.

PROGRAM MARKS: Texas Tech is coming off its winningest season in program history after going 31-7 and 14-4 in Big 12 play last year. The Red Raiders won the Big 12 regular-season championship before advancing to the Final Four for the first time in program history. The program is now 1,436-1,118 all-time after its loss to West Virginia on Saturday. Tech is 8-2 in the NCAA Tournament over the past two years after making the 2018 NCAA Elite Eight and reaching the NCAA National Championship Final. The 8-2 mark is the best in the nation over that span.

TEXAS TECH COACHING STAFF: The Red Raiders are led by head coach Chris Beard who is in his fourth season. Beard was named the Associated Press National Coach of the Year last season along with earning Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Beard has led the Red Raiders to an 87-36 record coming into the game against Kansas State. Beard is joined on the coaching bench by assistant coaches Mark Adams, Brian Burg and Ulric Maligi, Tim MacAllister (Chief of Staff), Bob Donewald (Player Development), Sean Sutton (Executive Advisor), John Reilly (Strength & Conditioning), Mike Neal (Athletic Trainer) and graduate assistants Casey Perrin, Ronald Ross, Matt Temple, Elliott De Wit, Khristian Smith, Joey Kuhl, Rusty Grafel and Mike Fallone, Jr. Adams was named the TABC Assistant Coach of the Year last season for his role in helping Beard and the Red Raiders reach the national championship final. Burg was listed by The Athletic as one of the top rising assistants in the game as he enters his fourth season at Tech and fifth with Beard after also being at Little Rock with Beard and Adams. Maligi is in his first season at Texas Tech after working at Texas A&M last year. Neal is also new to the program, joining the Red Raiders after working at Little Rock where he was also a player before going into athletic training. Adams and Burg were previously on Beard's staff at Little Rock along with athletic trainer Mike Neal who is in his first season at Tech. Adams was announced as an inductee into the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Thursday, Jan. 16. From 2004-13, Adams accumulated 233 victories with the Hawks to coincide with three conference championships. Adams reached the pinnacle of NJCAA basketball with the 2010 national championship and NJCAA Coach of the Year honor. The title was the first in program history for Howard. Under Adams' tutelage, a pair of former student-athletes garnered NJCAA Player of the Year honors in Charles Burgess and current NBA star Jae Crowder. MacAllister, who was a student assistant for ISU head coach Steve Prohm from 2011-13 at Murray State, was named to the NABC 30 Under 30 list after last year and enters his second season with the Red Raiders. Along with being 13 wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 183-66 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.

A NEW SHINE: Through 10 weeks, Texas Tech has already had four different players earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Week with Chris Clarke most recently after his performances against Southern Miss and UTRGV where he averaged a double-double. The weekly award has gone to TJ Holyfield (Nov. 11), Jahmi'us Ramsey (Nov. 25), Terrence Shannon, Jr. (Dec. 16) and Clarke (Dec. 23). The Red Raiders, who have 10 newcomers and three returners on the roster, are the only team in the conference to have three or more players receive a weekly award.

OPPONENT 17: Iowa State travels to Lubbock with an 8-8 overall record and 1-3 in Big 12 play following a 68-55 loss at No. 2 Baylor on Wednesday night in Waco. The Cyclones are 0-3 on the road this season, including an 81-79 overtime loss at TCU on Jan. 4 to open conference play. Coming off a season where they won the Big 12 tournament, ISU is scoring 76.9 points per game and has its lone conference win coming in an 81-68 victory at home over Oklahoma. Tyrese Haliburton leads the team with 15.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game along with a conference-best 117 assists. A sophomore from Wisconsin, Haliburton is scoring 12.0 points per game through four conference games while Rasir Bolton is leading the team with 15.3 points per game in conference play. For the season, Bolton is scoring 14.8 points per game and is averaging 3.3 rebounds per game after scoring nine at Baylor. Haliburton was limited to six points but led ISU with nine assists and eight rebounds against the Bears. Bolton is a sophomore transfer from Penn State who played in 32 games and averaged 11.6 points per game. The Cyclones are also getting 9.3 points per game form George Conditt and 7.5 ppg. from Prentiss Nixon in conference play.

ATTENDANCE: Under coach Beard, Texas Tech has seen attendance soar over the past four years and is currently drawing 13,928 fans per game this season which is the most in Texas, the second best in the Big 12 and is 18th nationally. The Red Raiders have sold out three games at 15,098 capacity this season in games against Baylor, Eastern Illinois and Bethune-Cookman. In the state of Texas, Tech's attendance is followed by Texas which is drawing 9,264 to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin which ranks 42nd nationally, Baylor (7,231), Houston (6,623), Texas A&M (6,513), TCU (6,073) and UTEP (5,843). Prior to Beard's hiring, Texas Tech averaged 8,418 fans in the 2015-16 season. That figure grew to 9,027 in his first season, to 10,740 in the second year and was at 12,098 last season. The program record for season attendance is 13,743 in the 2001-02 campaign. Tech sold out four games last season and 11 times during the Beard era.

SPANNING THE GLOBE: The Red Raiders are represented by eight players by five international players: Moretti (Italy), Nadolny (France), Ntambwe (Congo), Savrasov (Russia) and Tchewa (Cameroon). The program his two players from Arlington, Texas in Kyler Edwards and Jahmi'us Ramsey, Kevin McCullar is from San Antonio and four from out of state: Avery Benson (Arkansas), TJ Holyfield (New Mexico), Tyreek Smith (Louisiana) and Terrence Shannon, Jr. (Illinois). Ntambwe will redshirt this season after having his transfer waiver denied by the NCAA, while Smith has not played his season after suffering an injury during the preseason.

SIGNING CLASS: Beard announced the signings of Chibuzo Agbo, Nimari Burnett and Micah Peavy to their national letter of intent for the 2020-21 academic year on November 13. The trio of talented recruits is ranked No. 5 nationally by Rivals.com and join a program that has advanced to the 2018 Elite Eight and to the 2019 NCAA National Championship Final over the past two season. Agbo signs with Texas Tech as a 4-star prospect by Rivals and 247Sports after being named the 2019 Western League Player of the Year playing for Saint Augustine High School. He enters his senior season as the 2019-20 San Diego Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 20 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and shooting 42.0 percent on 3-pointers as a junior. He is currently ranked No.70 by 247Sports and No. 87 nationally by Rivals. Agbo chose Texas Tech over USC and was also recruited by Arizona, Cal, San Diego State and Marquette. Burnett is the highest rated recruit to sign in Texas Tech basketball history with a 5-star ranking by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports. A Chicago, Illinois native, Burnett is ranked No. 19 nationally in the 2020 signing class by ESPN, No. 22 by Rivals and No. 28 in the 247Sports rankings. Peavy helped lead Duncanville High School to a Class 6A State Championship last season as a junior where he averaged 16 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He signs with Texas Tech as a 4-star prospect by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports and is the No. 2-ranked prospect in Texas according to Mike Kunstadt's Texas Hoops. Peavy is the No. 32-ranked player in the nation by ESPN and No. 34 by Rivals.

DEPARTURES: Texas Tech was tasked with following the winningest team in program history that is now without Jarrett Culver, Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens, Brandone Francis and Norense Odiase. Culver declared for the NBA Draft after his sophomore season and was selected No. 6 overall. After leading the Red Raiders with 18.5 points per and 6.4 rebounds per game and earning Big 12 Player of the Year and Consensus All-America honors, Culver is now on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mooney was the team's third leading scorer behind Culver and Moretti and signed a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 15 after playing with the Memphis Hustle in the G-League, while Owens established a new program single-season record with 92 blocked shots and was with Odiase on the Northern Arizona Suns (G-League) before signing a two-way contract on Jan. 15 with the Suns. Francis was a member of the 2018 Elite Eight run and 2019 runner-up team and is on the Iowa Wolves roster. Along with players from last year's team, Max Lefevre is now with the Timberwolves working in video and athletic trainer Chris Williams joined the Timberwolves and Iowa Wolves athletic training staff.

OVERTIME GAMES: With back-to-back overtime losses against DePaul (65-60) and Creighton (83-76), Texas Tech is now 51-51 all-time in overtime contests and 4-5 under coach Beard. The Red Raiders were 1-1 in overtime last season with an 84-80 overtime win over Oklahoma in conference play before falling 85-77 in overtime to Virginia in the championship final. Tech has had back-to-back overtime games twice now under Beard after falling to West Virginia and Iowa State in the 2016-17 season on Feb. 18 and 20. The program has had four occasions of back-to-back overtime games with the only time that three straight games have gone to overtime coming in the 1984-85 season against Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico State.

UP NEXT: Texas Tech will return to the road to play TCU at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Fort Worth. The Red Raiders swept last year's series against the Horned Frogs and is 83-51 in the all-time series after winning the past four meetings. Tech hosts Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 25 in a Big 12/SEC Challenge matchup at the United Supermarkets Arena.

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Players Mentioned

Brandone Francis

Avery Benson

Chris Clarke

Jarrett Culver

Kyler Edwards

TJ Holyfield

Kevin McCullar

Matt Mooney

Davide Moretti

Norense Odiase

Tariq Owens

Jahmi'us Ramsey

Terrence Shannon, Jr.

Tyreek Smith

Texas Tech University Athletics