PREVIEW: vs. No. 1 Kansas

Saturday, March 7

Lubbock, Texas

1 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

No. 1 Kansas

March 05, 2020 | Men's Basketball

GAME NOTES PRESS CONFERENCE ESPN RADIO BROADCAST LIVE STATS

Red Raiders vs. No. 1 Jayhawks | 1 p.m., Saturday | Lubbock, Texas | TV: ESPN

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – An opportunity to knock off the No. 1-ranked team in the nation at home on the final day of the regular season is here for Texas Tech which hosts the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders will be hosting the No. 1-ranked team in the nation for the third time in their program's history and are 1-0 against the top-ranked team in the polls this season after earning a 70-57 victory over Louisville at the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 10 when the Cardinals owned top billing.

Tech (18-12, 9-8 Big 12) is coming off a 71-68 overtime loss at No. 4 Baylor on Monday, while the Jayhawks (27-3, 16-1 Big 12) extended their winning streak to 15 games and secured at least a share of the conference's regular-season title with a 75-66 victory over TCU on Wednesday. In the first matchup between the two teams this season in Lawrence, Kansas on Feb. 1, KU won 78-75 in a game where Tech battled back from a 15-point deficit led by freshman Jahmi'us Ramsey who scored his conference-high with 26 points by hitting five 3-pointers and senior TJ Holyfield's 19 points and eight rebounds. Tech is 2-3 against the Jayhawks in the past five meetings, including earning a 91-62 win in Lubbock last season where the team hit 16 3-pointers to establish a new program record including Davide Moretti hitting three and Kyler Edwards knocking down two.
Prior to the start of Saturday's game, the program will honor Holyfield, Chris Clarke and student manager Cooper Anderson in a Senior Day ceremony. Holyfield and Clarke are both graduate transfers who joined the program this season, while Anderson (The Godfather) is in his third season as a student manager.

The Red Raiders have hosted a top-ranked Kansas team two times prior to this season in 1997 and 2016 and are 1-6 all-time against the nation's No. 1-ranked team following their win over Louisville earlier this season. Tech is 0-4 against the Jayhawks when they have been No. 1 and this marks only the second time in program history that the Red Raiders will be playing No. 1 two times in a season. Following the overtime loss at No. 4 Baylor, the Red Raiders are now 1-3 against top-10 opponents this season and 2-5 against ranked opponents.

With a 72.2 winning percentage (190-73) as a NCAA coach, Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard has the 11th best percentage among active coaches and is 94-43 leading the Red Raiders. Beard, who was an assistant coach at Texas Tech for Bob Knight and Pat Knight from 2001-11, has led the Red Raiders to a 13-3 record at home this season and to a 63-8 record at home over the past four years. Under Beard the past three seasons, Tech is 14-7 in the month of March. The Red Raiders are led in scoring by Ramsey (15.4 ppg.) who is fifth in the Big 12 and graduate transfer Chris Clarke who is at 6.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game along with a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio which all rank in the top-10 within the Big 12. Davide Moretti is second on the NCAA active career leader list in free-throw percentage at 90.5 percent (209 of 231) and leads the Big 12 this season at 89.8 percent (12th nationally). Beard was named the 2019 AP National Coach of the Year and the 2018 and 2019 Big 12 Coach of the Year.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Texas Tech leads the Big 12 by shooting 35.7 percent on 3-pointers (216 of 605) after hitting seven against Baylor and Texas in the past two games and with 15.5 assists per game (24th nationally). The Red Raiders are second in the conference with 16.2 turnovers forced per game, a 1.11 assist-to-turnover ratio, a 45.5 shooting percentage, 75.7 free-throw percentage, a 2.3 turnover margin and are third at scoring 72.3 points per game and with 7.8 steals per game. Defensively, Tech is limiting opponents to 63.4 points per game which ranks fifth in the conference and is holding teams to 40.7 percent shooting. Individually, Ramsey is fifth in the conference at 15.4 points per game which is the 12th most for a freshman nationally. He leads the Big 12 by shooting 42.3 percent on 3-pointers (58 of 137), is fifth at 44.5 percent from the field (146 of 328) and is 10th with 1.35 steals per game. Moretti ranks 12th nationally by going 88 of 98 from the free-throw line this season, while Clarke is second in the Big 12 in assists per game (4.7) and ninth with his 6.6 rebounds per game.

BIG 12 STANDINGS: Texas Tech comes into the final game of the regular season tied for third with Texas in the conference standings with both teams at 9-8 and having split their regular-season series against each other. At 8-9 in Big 12 play, Oklahoma and West Virginia are right behind the Red Raiders and Longhorns going into Saturday's games. Texas hosts Oklahoma State (6-11), while WVU plays at Baylor (15-2) and Oklahoma is at TCU (7-10). The Jayhawks have secured a share of the Big 12 regular-season title, while the Bears need a win over the Mountaineers and a Red Raiders victory to share the title.

GAME COVERAGE: The game between Texas Tech and Kansas will be broadcasted on ESPN with Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale and Kris Budden 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 follow the game at @TexasTechMBB.

PROGRAM MARKS: Texas Tech experienced its best season in program history after going 31-7 overall 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 and an appearance in the NCAA tournament this season would be the first time in program history that the Red Raiders have made the tournament three straight seasons.

POLLS: Texas Tech dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll on Monday after being at No. 22 last week and is at No. 22 in the NCAA NET Rankings after its overtime loss at No. 4 Baylor. Tech has been ranked in 12 of 18 weeks after starting the season ranked No. 13 in the preseason poll for the highest ranking in program history coming into a season. The Red Raiders, who have been as high as No. 11 this season, are 2-7 this season against teams currently ranked, including earning a 70-57 win over Louisville (ranked No. 1 at time) and splitting with West Virginia.

ATTENDANCE: Along with winning on their home court, the Red Raider fans are establishing themselves as one of the top fan bases in the nation. The program has had five sellouts this season (Eastern Illinois, Bethune-Cookman, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas) and is averaging 13,992 per game which ranks 19th nationally, third in the Big 12 and is the best in the state of Texas.

PLAYER NOTES: Texas Tech is led by junior Davide Moretti who has competed in 105 games (76 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.

Holyfield is averaging 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and is sixth in the Big 12 with 1.6 blocked shots per game after having 29 in the past 12 games (47 total). He had 19 points and four blocked shots in the first matchup against Kansas where he was 7-for-12 from the field at Allen Fieldhouse. At Baylor, Holyfield had nine points and two blocked shots in the first game of his career where he played as a reserve. A grad transfer from SFA, Holyfield has scored 1,346 points in his career where he has played in 131 games with 130 starts. He has recorded three or more blocks in eight games this season with four in games against Kansas and West Virginia before having three against OU and then the season-high five in the first matchup against Texas. Holyfield matched a season-high with 21 points in the home game against OU when he went 8-for-12 from the field and was 2 of 2 on 3-pointers after scoring 19 at Kansas with a season-high three 3-pointers. He leads the Red Raiders with a 54.6 shooting percentage and has made 13 3-pointers this season. Along with scoring 21 against OU, he also had 21 in a non-conference win over Houston Baptist and 20 against Bethune-Cookman. Those performances earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 11, 2019. In Big 12 play, Holyfield is averaging 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Clarke, who scored his conference-high with 11 points at Oklahoma to go along with six rebounds last Tuesday, is a grad transfer who played three seasons at Virginia Tech before transferring to Texas Tech. He is coming off a game at Baylor where he had eight rebounds, five assists and six points for the Red Raiders. He is averaging 6.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 5.7 points per game for the Red Raiders and comes into this weekend having scored 892 points, securing 708 rebounds and contributing 346 assists through 108 games in his collegiate career. A guard from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Clarke leads the Red Raiders with two double-doubles this season with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Iowa and then 14 points and 11 rebounds against Southern Miss. Clarke has led Tech in rebounding in 17 games and has five or more rebounds in 21 games. He recorded a career-high 11 assists in the win over Houston Baptist. Clarke, who was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 23 after averaging a double-double in wins over Southern Miss and UTRGV, has led Tech in rebounding in 16 games this season with a high of 12 coming against Tennessee State and Louisville.

Ramsey was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season on Monday, Feb. 24 after going for 25 points in the win over Iowa State where he also had a career-high seven assists and is coming off games against Texas and Baylor where he scored 13 points. He is second in the Big 12 by shooting 42.3 percent on 3-pointers (Desmond Bane – 43.4 percent) and is fifth in scoring at 15.4 points per game. A freshman from Arlington with 400 total points this season, Ramsey is currently 58-for-137 on 3-pointers and has made at least two in the past nine of the past 11 games and in 16 games overall after hitting three at Baylor. A 6-foot-4 guard, he has scored in double-figures in 21 of 26 games played this season with a Big 12-high coming at Kansas where he scored 26 by going 5-for-8 on 3-pointers after scoring 21 against West Virginia by also connecting on 5 of 8 shots from beyond the arc. Ramsey, who was 5-for-8 on 3-pointers against the Jayhawks in the first matchup, has hit five 3-pointers in four games this season and has three or more in 10 games. He was named an All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention selection coming into the season before earning three weekly awards so far this year. Ramsey scored a career-high 27 points in a win over Long Island where he hit five 3-pointers for the first times this season and has already scored 20 or more points in seven of 26 games played. He missed four games due to a left hamstring injury he suffered with 10 minutes remaining against Iowa, but has started 20 straight games since his return. In conference play, Ramsey is averaging 15.0 points per game and is shooting 41.5 percent on 3-pointers (39-for-94).

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.

A guard from Italy, Moretti is averaging 12.8 points per game after going for 11 points in the past two games against Texas and Baylor. In his third season at Tech, he has scored 951 career points with 164 made 3-pointers and going 209-for-231 from the line. He's averaging 12.5 points per game through 17 conference games this season with a career-high 25 points against West Virginia after dropping 15 against Kentucky in the final non-conference game on the schedule. Moretti has started 68 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 28 of 30 games this season and in 80 of 105 games in his career. Moretti, who was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team on Feb. 20 for the second straight year and to the Big 12 All-Academic First Team, 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. Before his career-high 25-point performance in the home win West Virginia, Moretti had a career-best 23 points earlier this season against Creighton where he made three 3-pointers. His free-throw prowess is highlighted by him going 12-for-12 from the line last season against Oklahoma State, an 8-for-8 showing to help knock off Louisville and then 9-for-9 display against the Mountaineers. Moretti has led Tech in scoring eight times this season and 13 times in his career. In the first matchup against Kansas this season, Moretti scored nine points with one 3-pointers. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 16 straight games since not making one in the first matchup against Baylor and has led Tech in scoring in eight games this season and 13 times in his career. He currently ranks ninth all-time in program history with the 164 3-pointers made in his career and is only 49 points shy of 1,000.

Edwards is averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game after scoring eight points, contributing four assists and having four rebounds at Baylor. He has recorded four assists in five of the past seven games. A sophomore from Arlington, he has started all 30 games this season after playing a reserve role in all 38 as a freshman where he averaged 5.5 points per game. This season, more than doubling that average, Edwards has scored in double figures in 16 games with a career-high 24 points in the first matchup at Kansas State where he went 9-for-14 from the field with three 3-pointers before going 5-for-6 on 3-pointers in the 22-point performance in the first matchup against the Cyclones. He earned Big 12 Player of the Week after the two-game stretch and is currently averaging 12.2 points per game through the first 16 conference games. He now has three or more assists in 19 games with a career-high six at No. 3 Kansas and had a career-high nine rebounds at West Virginia. As a freshman, he scored a season-high 19 points after going 7-for-7 from the field with four 3-pointers against Northern Colorado and then had 12 points against Virginia in the NCAA National Championship Final. He's currently scored 20 or more points three times this season and is at 559 points for his career, including scoring eight points in the first matchup against Kansas.

Shannon scored 10 points and had five rebounds in 20 minutes of play against Texas last Saturday before contributing five rebounds and four points at Baylor on Monday. He is now averaging 9.9 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game. A freshman guard from Chicago, Shannon is second on the team with 85 free throws made (82.5 percent) and has scored in double figures in 14 of 28 games played. He scored a career-high 24 points in his hometown return at DePaul on Dec. 4 where he was 9-for-18 from the field, hit two 3-pointers and was 4-for-5 from the free-throw line. Shannon scored a conference-high 23 points in the home win over West Virginia after going 12-for-14 from the free-throw line and also making 5 of 8 shots from the field. He had a season-high 11 rebounds at Kansas and also had eight points against the Jayhawks. Shannon, who has five or more rebounds in 12 games this season, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 16, 2019 after scoring 18 points against Southern Miss and 13 in the win over Louisville. He comes into the second matchup against Kansas averaging 7.9 points per game in conference play. Shannon scored eight points to go along with his 11 rebounds at Kansas where he was 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.

Kevin McCullar has started the past five games where he is averaging 10.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He is coming off scoring 13 points at Baylor and 12 points against Texas after going for a team-leading 13 points at Oklahoma where he also had five rebounds and three assists. In conference play, McCullar leads Tech with 24 steals with four in games against Kansas State and Oklahoma. He had one against Baylor and leads the Red Raiders with 1.25 steals per game (35 total) this season. He recorded a career-high with 11 rebounds and also had six points at Iowa State after he made the first start of his career against Kansas State where he scored nine points and led the Red Raiders with six rebounds. McCullar, who is averaging 9.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the past 10 games, was coming off a career-high 15 points at Oklahoma State where he was 6-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line. A redshirt freshman from San Antonio, McCullar graduated 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 23 games this season before starting the past five games and is averaging 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game for the season. Prior to his career-high 15 points in Stillwater, McCullar had scored 10 points in games against Kansas State, UTRGV, Long Island and TCU where he was 3-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. A 6-foot-6 guard, he had a career-high two blocked shots against the Longhorns three weeks ago in the nine-block game by the Red Raiders. He's currently shooting 50.8 percent from the field (62-for-122) after going 4-for-4 at Baylor and 5-for-6 against Texas in the past two games. After his 11-rebound performance at Iowa State, he has led the team in rebounding in five games this season.

Avery Benson, who is in his third year at Texas Tech and is averaging 1.3 ppg. and 1.5 rebounds per game, 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 had a career-high four assists performance where he also had three rebounds against TCU and followed the performance by scoring four points in 12 minutes at OSU. He has a Big 12 career-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 9 of 23 (39.1 percent) on 3-pointers and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line this year. Russel Tchewa started for the first time in his career at Baylor on Monday where he played five minutes and had one rebounds. He matched his season-high with six points after going 3-for-4 from the field against TCU at home and also had three rebounds in nine minutes of play. A 7-foot center from Cameroon, Tchewa is averaging 1.6 points in 22 games played this season while freshman guard Clarence Nadolny is at 2.0 points per game and redshirt freshman Andrei Savrasov is at 1.1 ppg. Savrasov, who redshirted last year during the run to the NCAA National Championship Final, was named to the All-Big 12 Academic Team and has scored a career-high six points against Creighton and at home against TCU. 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 29 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 12-5 with the starting rotation of Holyfield, Moretti, Edwards, Shannon and Ramsey. The Red Raiders had gone with the starting lineup of McCullar, Moretti, Ramsey, Holyfield and Edwards the previous four games against Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas before starting Russel Tchewa, Moretti, McCullar, Edwards and Ramsey at Baylor for the first time.

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 a 94-43 record coming into the second matchup against Kansas. 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. Along with being six wins away from 100 at Tech, Beard is 190-73 as a collegiate head coach after prior leadership at Little Rock, Angelo State and McMurry.

KANSAS AT A GLANCE: The Jayhawks travel to Lubbock with the 15-game winning streak and opportunity to win the Big 12 regular-season title outright with a win over the Red Raiders. KU leads the conference by shooting 48.7 percent from the field, limiting opponents to 37.7 percent shooting, scoring 74.9 points per game and with a 14.2 scoring margin of victory. Devon Dotson leads the Big 12 in scoring with 18.2 points per game after going for 18 on Wednesday night against TCU, while Udoka Azubuike leads the conference with 10.4 rebounds per game and is coming off scoring 31 points and securing 14 rebounds in the game against the Horned Frogs. A senior from Nigeria, Azubuike also leads the conference by shooting 75.1 percent from the field and is second with 2.6 blocks per game. Dotson, a sophomore guard from North Carolina, led KU with 21 points in the first matchup against the Red Raiders while Marcus Garrett had 15. Garrett leads the Big 12 with 4.7 assists per game and is averaging 9.2 points per game to go along with 4.4 rebounds per game. In Big 12 play, Azubuike is averaging a double-double with 13.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

Kansas, which is ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll, NET Rankings and Coaches Poll, has not lost since a Jan. 11 defeat to Baylor at home. On the road, KU is 8-0 in conference play including knocking off Kansas State last Saturday in Manhattan along with earning a 64-61 win against Baylor on Feb. 22 in Waco.

A NEW SHINE: Through 18 weeks, Texas Tech has already had four different players earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Week with Ramsey earning three Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors. The weekly award has gone to TJ Holyfield (Nov. 11), Jahmi'us Ramsey (Nov. 25/Feb. 3/Feb. 24), Terrence Shannon, Jr. (Dec. 16) and Clarke (Dec. 23).
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. Linguistically, Tchewa speaks French, Italian and English for the most languages on the team that also includes Moretti (Italian, English), Nadolny (French, English), Savrasov (Russian, English) and Ntambwe (French, English).

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.

KNOCKING OFF NO. 1: The Red Raiders earned their first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team with a 70-57 victory over No. 1 Louisville in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 10, 2019 at Madison Square Garden. Moretti led Tech with 18 points after going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, while Shannon had 13 points and Benson went 3-for-3 from the field and scored a career-high 10 points. Tech limited the Cardinals to only 34.0 percent shooting in the game and forced 18 turnovers.
WIRE-TO-WIRE: Texas Tech started on a 5-0 run in its home win over Kansas State for its sixth wire-to-wire victory that also includes never trailing against Eastern Illinois, Bethune-Cookman, Tennessee State, Iowa State (Jan. 18), West Virginia (Jan. 29), TCU (Feb. 10). The loss at Kansas is the only game the Red Raiders have not had a lead in this season.

HISTORIC MARGIN: Texas Tech earned a 46-point win over TCU on Feb. 10 for the largest Big 12 margin of victory in program history after shooting 61.5 percent from the field and making a season-high 13 3-pointers. The previous mark was also established this season with a 35-point win over Oklahoma State in the conference opener on Jan. 4. Prior to this season, an 81-50 win over West Virginia on Feb. 4, 2019 was the largest conference margin of victory in program history. Tech now has three Big 12 wins of over 30 points this season after its 87-57 victory over Iowa State on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Ames.

OVERTIME GAMES: Texas Tech fell to 0-4 in overtime games this season after its 71-68 loss at Baylor. Along with back-to-back overtime losses against DePaul (65-60) and Creighton (83-76) and then the 76-74 overtime decision against Kentucky in the non-conference finale, Texas Tech is now 51-53 all-time in overtime contests and 4-7 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. Tech is 0-1 in Big 12 overtime games this season.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Davide Moretti scored a career-high 25 points in the win over WVU after hitting four 3-pointers, while Terrence Shannon, Jr. went for 23 with a 12 of 14 performance from the line and Jahmi'us Ramsey went for 21 points with his third game of the season with five 3-pointers. The Red Raiders had three players score 20 or more points in a game for the first time since Jan. 11, 2017 against Kansas when Keenan Evans had 25, Niem Stevenson went for 22 and Zach Smith scored 21 in an 80-79 loss at the USA.

3-POINT DISPLAY: The Red Raiders hit a season-high 13 3-pointers against TCU where they finished the game 13-for-22 with five players hitting shots from beyond the arc. Moretti and Edwards both had four 3-pointers each in the game, while Ramsey and Savrasov hit two and Holyfield one. Tech was just three 3-pointers away from the program record of 16 that last year's team made against Kansas in a home victory over the Jayhawks. Tech has made 209 3-pointers this season at a 35.9 percentage.

30-POINT MARGINS: Texas Tech has five wins this season of 30 points or more, including a program-record three in conference play, giving Beard 19 wins by that margin (or more) during his four seasons leading the Red Raiders. Those 19 wins are the second most in program history behind only 20 by Polk Robison. Under Bob Knight, Tech won 16 games by a 30-plus margin. This season, Tech has won by the 30-plus margin over Bethune-Cookman (35), Long Island (30), Oklahoma State (35), TCU (46) and Iowa State (30). Last year's team established the program record with six.

UP NEXT: Texas Tech will compete in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships next week in Kansas City which will be held from March 11-14 at the Sprint Center. The Red Raiders have not won the tournament in their program history.