PREVIEW: vs. No. 12 West Virginia

Wednesday, January 29

Lubbock, Texas

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

No. 12 West Virginia

January 27, 2020 | Men's Basketball

PRESS CONFERENCE GAME NOTES ESPN+RADIO BROADCAST LIVE STATS

Red Raiders vs. No. 12 Mountaineers | 7 p.m., Wednesday | TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | RADIO: TTSN

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech returns to Big 12 play when it hosts No. 12 West Virginia at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (12-7, 3-3 Big 12) are 9-2 at home this season after falling 76-74 in overtime to No. 13 Kentucky in a Big 12/SEC Challenge battle, while the Mountaineers (16-3, 4-2 Big 12) earned a 74-51 win over Missouri last Saturday. WVU secured a 66-54 win over Tech in the first matchup between the two programs on Jan. 11 in Morgantown, West Virginia. Davide Moretti led the Red Raiders by hitting four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points in the game and Miles McBride led WVU with 22 points and Oscar Tshiebwe had 17 rebounds for the Mountaineers.

Tech is currently 1-3 against ranked opponents this season with its win coming against Louisville with a score of 70-57 on Dec. 10 when the Cardinals were at No. 1. The Red Raiders and Mountaineers have split their last four meetings and WVU owns a 14-5 all-time advantage in the series.

With a 73.0 winning percentage (184-68) as a NCAA coach, Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has the ninth best percentage among active coaches and is 88-37 at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are led in scoring by freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey (14.9 ppg.) who is eighth in the Big 12 and graduate transfer Chris Clarke who is at 7.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game which both rank in the top-10. Clarke is currently 48th nationally in assists (105 total) and 42nd with a 2.33 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Moretti is sixth nationally with a 90.9 percentage at the free-throw line. Kyler Edwards was named the Big 12 Player of the Week last Monday after averaging 23.0 points per game against Kansas State and Iowa State two weeks ago, including scoring a career-high 24 at Kansas State and then dropping 22 with a career-best five 3-pointers last Saturday against Iowa State. He was the first Red Raider to earn Big 12 Player of the Week this season after the team was honored with Big 12 Newcomer of the Week selections by TJ Holyfield, Ramsey, Terrence Shannon, Jr. and Clarke.

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 and NCAA National Championship Final for the first time in program history. 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.

HOME DOMINANCE: Beard has helped lead the Red Raiders to a 59-7 record at home in his four seasons, including starting this year with a 9-2 record with Big 12 home wins over Oklahoma State and Iowa State. Tech, which had its 54-game non-conference winning streak end with the loss to Kentucky, has gone 17-1 at home in the past two seasons with 8-1 records in conference play on its home court. Along with home court winning, the program's attendance has dramatically risen under Beard. The team has sold out four games this season and currently ranks 18th nationally with 14,110 fans per game. Tech's attendance this season ranks second in the Big 12 and is the best in the state of Texas followed by the University of Texas which is drawing 9,605 fans which is 40th nationally, Baylor (7,593), Texas A&M (6,664), Houston (6,619) and TCU (6,136).

GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Kentucky will be broadcasted on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Clay Matvick and Bryndon Manzer 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. ESPN+, which is the digital home of Big 12 Now, is available via the ESPN App, ESPN.com or espnplus.com for just $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year) and can be canceled at any time. Subscribers can watch ESPN+ on the ESPN App via most major mobile and connected-TV platforms, including iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Android devices, Roku, Chromecast, FireTV, XBOX One, Playstation 4, Oculus Go and Samsung connected TVs. It is also available via ESPN.com on the web.

STAT RANKINGS: Texas Tech enters this week ranked 17th nationally with 17.53 turnovers forced per game, 19th in the nation with 16.3 assists per game and 21st with a 3.6 turnover margin. The Red Raiders rank second in the Big 12 with 291 free throws made, a 75.6 free-throw percentage and are third with a 1.17 assist-to-turnover ratio. The team is fourth in the conference by limiting opponents to 62.5 points per game and by scoring 72.7 points per game on offense. Tech has limited nine opponents to 60 or less points this season. West Virginia comes into this week second in the conference by limiting teams to 60.1 points per game and leads the Big 12 by holding opponents to 35.8 percent shooting. The Mountaineers are also third offensively by scoring 73.3 points per game and top the conference with 804 total rebounds, including 15.05 offensive rebounds per game. Tshiebwe leads WVU with 11.8 points per game and is second in the conference with 9.42 rebounds per game, while Derek Culver is at 9.32 rebounds per game which ranks third in the Big 12.

POLL REPORT: Texas Tech dropped out of the national rankings after being ranked for six straight weeks in the Associated Press Top 25. Tech is at No. 38 in the NCAA NET Rankings. Tech, which was at No. 18 in last week's poll, fell out after the pair of losses last week. The team has been ranked in 10 of 13 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.

PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 94 games (70 wins) with the Red Raiders, sophomore Kyler Edwards, a dynamic freshmen class 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 a sharpshooting guard who is currently ninth all-time in program history with 140 3-pointers made and the program's all-time leader at the free-throw line where he is at 91.0 percent. Moretti, who has scored 815 points in his career, is coming off a game against Kentucky where he finished with 15 points after going 6 of 7 from the free-throw line and is now 60 of 66 this season and 181 of 199 in his career. He is shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 37.6 percent on 3-pointers and 90.0 percent at the line this season where he is averaging 13.1 points per game. He has scored in double figures in 14 games this season, including scoring a career-high 23 points against Creighton on Nov. 29. Moretti has started 56 straight games for the Red Raiders after a sophomore season where he started all 38 and averaged 11.5 points per game, shot 49.8 percent from the field, 45.9 percent on 3-pointers and led the nation at 92.4 percent. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 17 of 19 games this season and in 69 of 94 games in his career. Moretti was named to the 2019 All-Big 12 Third Team and earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award last season before being selected to the Bob Cousy Award Watch List prior to the start of this season.

Clarke will play in the 99th game of his career on Wednesday night against WVU and is currently second in the Big 12 with 5.53 assists per game and seventh in rebounding at 7.89 through 19 games this season. A 6-foot-6 guard from Virginia Beach, Clarke is in his first season at Texas Tech after playing three seasons at Virginia Tech. A graduate transfer, he has scored 851 points, has 667 rebounds and 315 assists in his career. Clarke had a career-high 11 assists in the win over Houston Baptist earlier this season and is coming off a game against Kentucky where he had five assists, eight points and seven rebounds. He scored a season-high 17 points against Creighton and leads the Red Raiders with two double-doubles coming with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa before going for 14 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Miss. He leads the Red Raiders with six games in double-figure rebounding, while he's had 10 games with five assists or more. Clarke has provided 105 assists through 19 games this season. At Virginia Tech, Clarke recorded the first triple-double in program history with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against the Citadel and scored a career-high 22 points in games against Florida State and UMBC during his sophomore season. Clarke had seven assists, six points and six rebounds in the first matchup against the Mountaineers.

Edwards led Tech in scoring for the fourth time this season after going for 18 points last Saturday against Kentucky by shooting 7 of 13 from the field with two 3-pointers. A sophomore from Arlington, Edwards has now hit two or more 3-pointers in eight games this season and is third on the team with 29 3-pointers this season. Through 19 games, Edwards is averaging 12.2 points, 2.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game with 19 starts. A reserve in all 38 games last season as a freshman, he has now played in 57 games in his Tech career and has scored 439 points and has 173 rebounds and 98 assists on his resume. Edwards was named the Big 12 Player of the Week last Monday after dropping a career-high 24 points on Kansas State on Jan. 14 in Manhattan before going off for 22 with a career-best five 3-pointers a game later against Iowa State at home. Edwards is shooting 40.4 percent from the field this season and has scored in double figures in 11 games. Along with his 18 points against Kentucky he would add seven rebounds and a blocked shot. He secured a career-high nine rebounds in the first meeting this season against WVU along with scoring nine points.

Holyfield is the most experienced player on the roster having started and played in 120 games in his collegiate career. A grad transfer who played three seasons at SFA, Holyfield led Tech with eight rebounds last Saturday against Kentucky and also contributed five points. He is averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and leads the team with 18 blocked shots. He scored a season-high 21 points by going 9 of 10 from the field with a 3-pointer against Houston Baptist after scoring 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting against Bethune-Cookman during the early part of the year and scored 10 points last week at TCU. He has a Big 12-high of 17 points in the conference-opener against Oklahoma State by going 7 of 10 from the field. He leads the Red Raiders by shooting 53.4 percent from the field and has secured five or more rebounds in 12 of 19 games with a season-high nine rebounds against UTRGV. A forward from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Holyfield has scored 1,242 points, secured 686 rebounds and has 151 blocks in his career. He earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 11 after his performance against HBU and was on the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List.

Ramsey leads the Red Raiders and is eighth in the Big 12 by averaging 14.9 points per game this season after scoring six against Kentucky. A guard from Arlington, Ramsey has been one of the most electric freshman in the nation this season including going off for a career-high 27 points against Long Island and 25 against Houston Baptist. Currently fifth in the conference by shooting 39.2 percent on 3-pointers, he has hit five 3-pointers in games against LIU and then Baylor where he finished with 20 points. Missing four games due to injury, he's scored in double figures in 11 of 15 games played this season including dropping 15 against UTRGV on Dec. 29 in his return after sitting out against Creighton, DePaul, Louisville and Southern Miss as he rehabbed from a left hamstring injury. In his best Big 12 performance to date, Ramsey was 7 of 17 from the field and 5-for-10 on 3-pointers against the Bears for his 20 point performance. Last Tuesday against TCU he would finish with a team-leading 15 points and also had five rebound and two assists. He had a career-high nine rebounds against Bethune-Cookman where he also had 13 points and has had three assists in four games and two or more 3-pointers in seven contests. Ramsey was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 25 after his performance against LIU and was an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection prior to playing his first collegiate game.

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.

Terrence Shannon, Jr. returned to the starting lineup last Saturday where he scored 12 points and added three rebounds against Kentucky. Following missing two games with injury, he had played in a reserve role against Iowa State and TCU after an absence against WVU and Kansas State. A 6-foot-6 freshman guard, Shannon is averaging 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game this season with a career-high 24 points coming in his hometown return against DePaul on Dec. 4 in Chicago. He has scored in double figures in 11 of 17 games played this season, including the past three where he had 11 points against Iowa State and 10 at TCU. He leads the Red Raiders with 60 free throws made this season at the free-throw line where he's shooting 84.2 percent and is at 45.0 percent from the field. Along with his 24-point performance at DePaul where he went 9 of 18 from the field with two 3-pointers, he also had 18 points against Southern Miss and 13 against Louisville during the non-conference schedule. He went 4 of 10 from the field against the Wildcats for his 12 points on Saturday and was 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.

Avery Benson and Kevin McCullar continue providing sparks from the bench for the Red Raiders with McCullar averaging 4.2 points per game after scoring six against Kentucky and Benson at 2.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. A redshirt freshman from San Antonio, McCullar graduate high school early and enrolled at Texas Tech in the 2019 spring semester where he redshirted last season. He has played in a reserve role in all 19 games this season and has scored 10 points in games against Kansas State, UTRGV and Long Island. A 6-foot-6 guard, he is averaging 2.1 rebounds per game to go along with his scoring and also has 18 steals. Last Tuesday at KSU, McCullar matched his career-high by going 3 of 6 from the field and also knocked down four free throws. He's currently shooting 46.9 percent from the field and had a season-high five rebounds in the wins over Louisville and KSU. Benson, who is in his third year at Texas Tech, is a redshirt sophomore from Arkansas who scored a career-high 10 points against Louisville by going 3-for-3 from the field with a 3-pointer. He was coming off a game against Iowa State where he had three points, but was held scoreless in the past two games against TCU and Kentucky. He has a Big 12-high of five points at WVU in the first matchup where he also provided four rebounds in 18 minutes. Benson played in 20 games last season and is currently 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) on 3-pointers and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line this year. Against Kentucky, freshman Russel Tchewa scored four points and had one blocked shot. He is currently averaging 1.8 points per game in 15 appearances while fellow freshman Clarence Nadolny is adding 2.1 points per game with a career-high nine points against Houston Baptist.

Two players on the Tech roster have not played this season with Joel Ntambwe having his NCAA transfer request denied and Tyreek Smith missing all 18 games due to injury. Ntambwe averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game at UNLV as a freshman last season before deciding to transfer to Tech. He scored a career-high 31 points against Wyoming last year where he started all 31 games and recorded four double-doubles.

Texas Tech is currently 8-3 with the starting rotation of Holyfield, Moretti, Edwards, Shannon and Ramsey. The starting five of Holyfield, Clarke, Moretti, Edwards and Ramsey had started the past four games before Shannon returned to the starting five against the Wildcats.

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 88-38 record coming into the second matchup of the season against WVU. 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. MacAllister 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 184-68 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.

A NEW SHINE: Through 13 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.

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. Burnett was named to the McDonald's All American Games on Jan. 23 to become the first player in Red Raider history to earn the honor. 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, who was named to the 2020 Naismith High School Award Watch List, 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) and then the 76-74 overtime decision against Kentucky, Texas Tech is now 51-52 all-time in overtime contests and 4-6 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 this weekend with a game against No. 3 Kansas at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Lawrence. The Red Raiders and Jayhawks have split their regular-season series the past two seasons.