Texas Tech basketball: Top 5 plays of NCAA Tournament thus far

As we await Saturday night when the Texas Tech basketball team will make its first ever appearance in the Final Four, let’s look back on the journey thus far by reviewing the five best plays from the Red Raiders’ first four games of the Big Dance.

By now, most Texas Tech basketball fans have finally been able to come to grips with the unthinkable reality that is the program’s first ever trip to the Final Four.  After 96 years of basketball, Texas Tech has finally arrived on the sport’s biggest stage.

What makes this run so improbable is that as recently as 2017, some viewed the Texas Tech job as one of the toughest in the nation and the hardest in Texas.  And it is easy to see why people viewed the job in such a negative light.  In the eight years from Bob Knight’s final season on the bench (2007-08) and Chris Beard’s first season (2016-17), Tech basketball compiled a record of just 111-134 and had just two winning seasons.

What’s more, Tech had won just eight NCAA Tournament games in program history prior to last season.  But now, Chris Beard is just win shy of doubling that number after two deep March runs.  (Of course, the hope is that he gets to nine career tournament wins at Texas Tech before this season is over.)

Along the way, there have been some tremendous plays that fans will be talking about for quite some time.  But before we get to the top five, let’s mention that senior guard Matt Mooney had several plays that nearly made the cut.

His left-handed wrap-around pass to Tariq Owens for a dunk against Gonzaga and his banked in 3-pointer from an impossible angle to beat the shot clock against Michigan are two that come to mind.  In a normal year, those plays would have easily made this list but this year’s run to the Final Four has provided us with some eye-popping moments.  Here are the top five Texas Tec plays of the NCAA Tournament thus far.