Texas Tech basketball sweeps Texas; eyes Big 12 crown

The Texas Tech basketball team beat Texas 70-51 Monday night in Lubbock setting up an opportunity to win at least a share of the Big 12 title Saturday.

The team picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll is now just one win away from winning the regular season conference title. Thanks to a balanced scoring effort that featured four players in double-digits, the Red Raiders beat Texas 70-51 Monday night in Lubbock in front of a raucous senior night crowd and securing the program’s first regular season sweep of the Longhorns since 1996.

Sophomore guard Jarrett Culver led the Red Raiders with 16 points but he struggled with his jump shot and to finish at the rim thanks to the length of the Texas front court as he went just 5-15 from the field. But he made certain to contribute in other ways. The Lubbock native led his team with seven rebounds, dished out three assists, collected two steals and blocked two shots in what was likely his final game in his home town as he is expected to jump to the NBA this summer.

Meanwhile, Matt Mooney added 15 points in his final game in Lubbock while Davide Moretti scored 11 and senior Brandone Francis put up 12. It was an emotional night for Francis, whose mother travel to Lubbock from the Dominican Republic to watch her son play for the first time in either high school or college.

In picking up their eighth-consecutive win, the Red Raiders led the game for over 36 minutes. What’s more, after Tech took its first double-digit lead at the 4:14 mark of the first half when a Matt Mooney free throw made the score 23-13, the home team would hold a double-digit lead for all but three seconds of the final 24:14 of action.

The first half opened with Tech struggling to find its touch from the floor. Making just five of their first fourteen shots, Tech led the Longhorns just 11-9 at the 8:31 mark of the first half.

But as has so often been the case during the Raiders current winning streak, a huge run in the final ten minutes of the first half set Chris Beard’s team up with a comfortable half time lead.

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A 19-6 run over the next six-plus minutes gave Tech a 30-15 lead that would prove to be more than Texas could overcome. During that spurt, Davide Moretti nailed two 3-pointers and both Matt Mooney and Norense Odiase converted old-fashioned 3-point plays.

On the other side of the floor, the team that entered the game having shot 57 more 3-pointers than any other Big 12 team couldn’t find its touch from outside. The Longhorns shot just 4-18 (22.2%) from 3-point range on the night including just 2-8 in the first half. (One of those two makes came at the buzzer and cut the Tech lead to 32-23 at intermission.)

Texas was led in scoring by Matt Coleman III’s 16 points but only one other Longhorn, Elijah Mitrou-Long (11 points) reached double-digits. What’s more, the talented trio of big men on the UT roster, Jericho Sims, Jaxson Hayes and Dylan Osetkowski combined for just 17 points on 5-10 shooting. Certainly, head coach Shaka Smart needed more from his front court with his leading scorer, Kerwin Roach, still serving a team-imposed suspension.

Overall, the Horns made just 16 of 54 shots on the night and only three of those baskets were assisted. Their game plan of letting their guards Coleman and Courtney Ramey try to penetrate off of one-on-one isolation plays led to stagnant offense and a lack of ball movement, which played right into the hands of the best defensive team in college basketball.

With the win, the Red Raiders finished with an 18-1 overall record at home this year. It is the second-consecutive season that Beard has guided his team to a one-loss home record after going 17-1 last season.

But more importantly, the Red Raiders kept their hopes for a Big 12 title alive. Tech enters the final game of the regular season Saturday in Ames against Iowa State with an opportunity to win the program’s first ever Big 12 title and first conference title since 1996.

The Red Raiders remain tied with Kansas State, which beat TCU Monday in Ft. Worth, atop the conference standings. If Tech beats the Cyclones this weekend, the Raiders will be assured of at least a share of the Big 12 crown.

But if Tech wins and Kansas State loses at home to Oklahoma, Tech will win the league outright and end the Kansas Jayhawks’ 14-year run of Big 12 titles. However, if both Tech and Kansas State fall Saturday and Kansas beats Baylor in Lawrence, there will be a three-way tie for the conference title and the Kansas streak will remain alive.

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Regardless of how Saturday shakes out, Tech fans still must not forget just how special this ride has been. Prior to Beard’s arrival, Tech had managed just one winning season in the previous seven years. Now, coming off a run to the Elite 8 in 2018, the Red Raiders are poised for another program first, a Big 12 title.

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