Texas Tech basketball: Looking back at top 5 games of 2018-19
No. 4: Texas Tech 68, Texas 62
Anytime Texas Tech fans get to see their Red Raiders beat the Texas Longhorns at anything, it is going to be a huge moment. But in taking down the Horns on their own court for the first time since 1996, the Red Raiders broke one of the longest curses in school history, regardless of sport.
And just like in the game against Memphis, the first heroic performance as a Red Raider from a grad transfer was what propelled Tech to the win. Matt Mooney was unconscious in the second half on his way to 22 points as Tech held off UT 68-62 for a rare win in the Erwin Center.
Four of the five Red Raider starters scored in double figures with Jarrett Culver adding 14, Davide Morettin 13 and Owens 12. And that was key because the Tech bench added only five points, all from Brandone Francis, as Deshawn Corprew played only four minutes with a calf strain.
But the importance of this win went beyond just being able to finally stick it to Texas in Austin. This was the game in which the Red Raiders announced their arrival as a Big 12 title contender.
Moving to 4-0 in league play, the Red Raiders took sole possession of first-place in the league. Prior to this game, most still did not take Chris Beard’s team serious as a contender to take the conference title but by sitting atop the standings after the first two weeks of play, Beard’s team gained quite a bit of early-season notoriety.
As the Big 12 and national media watched Tech knock off UT in front of thousands of boisterous and rowdy Red Raider fans, eyes started to open around the conference. And, all season, Tech fans made a habit of showing up on the road and that was certainly the case in Austin where even local UT beat writers commented on the hell being raised by those in scarlet and black.
And what the Red Raider fans saw was Matt Mooney turn in the type of performance we had been expecting to see all season to that point. It was one of two 20-point games as a Red Raider for the senior (the other we will discuss later) and it was the first time that he took over a game the way he had so often at South Dakota.
In a game that was within five points for the vast majority for the second half, the Red Raiders finally figured out how to keep from wilting in Austin. That should have been our first sign that this year’s version of the Red Raiders was destined for greatness.