Texas Tech basketball: Tariq Owens a semifinalist for defensive POY
The backbone of the Texas Tech basketball team’s defense, Tariq Owens, has been named one of ten semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
All season, the Texas Tech basketball team has played defense at a remarkable level so it stands to reason that one of the key members of that defense is in the running for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Senior forward Tariq Owens has been named as one of ten semifinalists for the award given annually to the top defender in the nation.
The graduate transfer leads the Big 12 with 63 blocks (2.4 per game) and is 20th in rebounding with 5.3 per game. He is currently on pace for the third-best season in program history in blocks per game behind Tony Battie’s 2.54 in 1996-97 and Brodney Kennard’s 2.46 in 1999-00. What’s more, he is just nine blocks shy of setting a new Texas Tech single-season record.
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Thus far, the 6-foot-10 Maryland product has ten games with at least three blocks. In December, he set a school record with eight in the Red Raiders’ 78-67 comeback win over Memphis in Miami. He also had six against Incarnate Word in his Texas Tech debut.
And that work has helped the Red Raiders become the top defensive team in the country. Tech ranks No. 1 in the KenPom.com adjusted defensive efficiency rankings allowing just over 83 points per 100 possessions.
As a result, Tech is second overall in points allowed per game at 57.2, trailing only Virginia. And no team in the nation is holding teams to a lower shooting percentage than the 36.1% the Red Raiders are allowing this year.
Owens is one of only two Big 12 players still up for consideration for the Defensive Player of the Year along with Barry Brown of Kansas, who leads the Big 12 in steals. Other notable semifinalists include Brandon Clark of Gonzaga, Tre Jones of Duke (who had five steals against the Red Raiders in December), Grant Williams of Tennessee and Zion Williamson of Duke (because what college basketball list would be complete without his inclusion?). The list will be trimmed to four players on March 17 and the winner will be named on April 7th.