Texas Tech basketball: Jarrett Culver’s career night sparks Red Raiders

Saturday, the Texas Tech basketball team received a career night from sophomore star Jarrett Culver who had 30 points as the Red Raiders defeated Abilene Christian 82-48.

On a night when Texas Tech basketball fans said good by to a local landmark, it was only fitting that one of Lubbock’s native sons stole the show.  Sophomore Jarrett Culver scored a career-high 30 points on 12-13 shooting as the Red Raiders won the final basketball game ever to be played in the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum 82-48 over Abilene Christian.

The win moved Tech to 10-0 on the season, its best start in the modern era, and set up a potentially program-defining showdown with No. 2 Duke Thursday night in New York City.  Culver was joined in double-figures by senior Matt Mooney (14 points) and freshman Kyler Edwards (10 points) as Tech shot 55.6% from the field.

The No. 11 Red Raiders separated themselves from the Wildcats via a 12-2 run in the middle of the first half to go up 22-11 with 10:10 to play.   ACU was able to claw back to within four points at 25-21 but by the intermission, Tech had all but put the game away thanks to a 16-6 run that established a 41-27 lead.

Culver was the catalyst for the Red Raiders’ first half dominance putting up 20 points in the first 20 minutes.  But after the game, the typically humble star credited his teammates for putting him in position to score.

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"“My teammates got me open a lot, set some good screens, had good passing and there was great space on the floor tonight so I got going early and didn’t look back” he said."

ACU entered the game shooting 54.7% overall from the field as a team and averaging 80.7 points.  But like so many other teams to face Tech in the Chris Beard era, the Cats found the suffocating Red Raider defense to be more than they bargained for.

Shooting just 28.3% overall and 23.8% from three-point range, ACU was held to its lowest point total this year.  Their previous low on the season was the 60 points they scored in a victory over UC Riverside.

Junior Jalone Friday led the Wildcats with 14 points (the only ACU double-digit scorer) but none of his teammates were able to help carry the load as coach Joe Golding’s team fell to 9-2 on the season.  Leading scorer Jaren Lewis was held to nine points (six below his season average) and the ACU bench mustered only seven going 1-14 from the field.

Now, the Red Raiders can finally turn their full attention to the Duke Blue Devils.  In what will be the most anticipated non-conference game in program history, the Red Raiders have an opportunity to make a name for themselves nationally by beating the most prominent program in the game at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.

Fortunately, they did not miss an opportunity to close out a West Texas landmark in style by looking ahead.  In front of a near capacity crowd of over 7,000, Tech defended for one last time a home court that was one of the most unique and unpredictable in the game for over 60 years of Red Raider hoops.

Now, tech will try to take another iconic venue by storm on Thursday night.  If Jarrett Culver plays as well in Madison Square Garden as he did Saturday night, both he and the Red Raiders will skyrocket to the top of the college basketball world.